Did my strut die?

[Jayce]

Oh boy... glad I asked!

Calling around for other quotes. My preferred mechanic is off for the week (meh) so I'm calling some other guys just to hear some quotes. Midas, Meineke, etc. So far the best deal I've found is 540 at Midas, which includes all labor, front end alignment, etc. I sorta-kinda need the car for this weekend as I'm taking a 3 hour trip, so I might have to just bite on one of these deals as I doubt the local mechanic would be significantly lower to justify waiting (and risking) till next week...

EDIT - I just got a quote from Pep Boys whhich was less than 400 bucks... I even asked him to re-add everything and he did and confirmed 385 yet again. Hmm... They can have it done today too...

I even called a totally different Pep Boys just to make sure. Same price.

Dear Midas. No ty.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

$540 is cheap IMO, as around here, for both sides on the front end in parts alone, if everything was being replaced would run $400, then alignment here runs $60 or so, so that seems like a great deal, but, does that include new struts, springs, strut mounts, and isolators, or just the struts?

 

[Jayce]

I'm not positive. The one guy I spoke to was kind of talking to himself as he was adding things up, and there were quite a few things he said. I don't recall specifically hearing the strut mounts being said, which was the only thing that got me curious. When I spoke to the local mechanic when he was in last week he said majority of the time the strut mounts are fine to re-use. Not sure how accurate that is, but so far everything this guy has told me has been a home run so I just took it for what it was worth.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

A lot of the times they can be re-used, but, it just depends upon the condition of the mount, that mount, is what allows the strut and spring to spin around with the wheel when turning, it keeps the spring from binding up. Usually, the only time you know they are bad is when they squeak/creak when driving, it's due to the bearing being rusty/dry.

 

[Jayce]

I didn't hear anything at all when cornering, turning, etc. I didn't hear anything at any point in time actually. The only thing that happened was the darn thing just stopped compressing up/down.

I dropped off the car tonight, so I hope to have it back tomorrow morning or so. I did a "bounce test" on the back of the car, and they definitely have a ton of give to them on the back of the car, so me thinks I have some life left in them.

Something that scared me tonight was driving home when I would hit certain bumps, my lights would dim to 50% brightness. It reset itself each time I turned the car off and back on, but once I hit a decent bump it happened again. I didn't get the chance to check out the battery terminals and alternator connections to make sure everything is solid and secure, but I hope I don't have an electrical problem to worry about now.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Curious, what region do you live in? Could be corrosion, a good scrubbing with a wire brush on the wires, and terminals, and some liquid electrical tape at the ground bolts for the engine to frame and battery to frame bolts helps a lot, along with some terminal protection spray.

 

[Jayce]

Curious, what region do you live in? Could be corrosion, a good scrubbing with a wire brush on the wires, and terminals, and some liquid electrical tape at the ground bolts for the engine to frame and battery to frame bolts helps a lot, along with some terminal protection spray.

I'm from Lancaster PA. I have a short list of things to check when I get the car back... but I only noticed it on the way from work to the shop, and I wasn't about to say "oh by the way can you check this out" for the small price of a lot of monies. I figured I'd self inspect first when I got it back, then go from there.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Heh, I used to live in Coatsville PA.

 

[Trotter]

I did some work in Lancaster, helped put tile down in a restaurant. The main contractor we worked for was out of Lancaster, too. Nice place to be in PA... there and Allentown were the only places I saw that were nice while I was there.

 

[Jayce]

I did some work in Lancaster, helped put tile down in a restaurant. The main contractor we worked for was out of Lancaster, too. Nice place to be in PA... there and Allentown were the only places I saw that were nice while I was there.

I like this area quite a lot. It doesn't really scream IT opportunity like bigger cities do, but I'm currently house hunting and trying to save up for a place in this area. There's still some deals to be had so I'm trying to snag one!