Do I Need New Struts?

Hello,

We are having a problem with my daughter’s car. The tires were making a roaring noise and there was some shaking in the steering after you reach certain speeds with just a little bit of pull to the right side. We took it to our local tire man, and he said that we needed new shocks and struts for a price of almost $900.00. He also said that the struts would wear out the brake rotors. I took it to mechanic #2, and he drove it around the block and said that the front struts/shocks needed replacing, and also the mounts to the struts were making the rattling noise when you hit a small or large bump. He said the back was fine. His price was around $600.00, alignment and all. Here is what mechanic 3# said. One guy drove it, couldn’t figure it out, so he had two more guys drive it. When they got it back to the shop, they raised it up and after about 20 minutes of looking under it, they said that the right front strut was damaged, and they could replace the whole system for about $700.00. On to mechanic #4. He said that the struts looked good all the way around. What he did notice was that the back tires had some “feathering” on the inside. The tires are fairly new, but he also said that the front tires were newer than the back tires. Anyway, he did the do-it-yourself-test by shaking the corners, and it did not continue to do ANY bouncing. He suggested new tires to get rid of the roaring noise and the other sound that the car is making. So, my question is: Are you as confused as I am right now? Does anyone have any ideas or advice for me? I don’t know who to believe. Thank you for all the advice you can give me.

Robbin

From what you have, I would go along with #2. Price seems a little high, but that could be due to where you live.

You may very well need new struts, but that’s not going to cause a roaring noise as the vehicle is driven.

So either the noise is coming from the tires or something else like a wheel bearing.

Tester