I did my first ever strut change on my old Buick. Bought Gabriel struts through eBay. Borrowed the strut compressor from the local store. Didn’t have any power tools, so I had to crank down both sides of each strut with my little 3/8" drive ratchet. And crank, and crank, and crank some more. And then still a lot of cranking to back them off again once the new strut was in. I couldn’t find a box end wrench with enough offset to tighten down the nut for the upper spring seat, so I had to haul them to a mechanic with an air gun anyways.
I put them on the car and discovered that all of the 17 year old elastomerics decided to start groaning on every bump, and every brake application, and every time I turned the wheel. It also turned out that I probably bought a defective strut, eBay is a bit of a crap shoot like that.
That’s when I threw in the towel, ordered some Monroe Quick Struts, changed them out in a couple of hours, had the car re-aligned, and the thing drove like new until I scrapped it.
Oh, and it was that job that made me buy a better quality socket for the strut-to-knuckle bolts, after I split the first one by jumping on the breaker bar trying to get them loose…
As much as I was looking forward to using some quick struts, I was only able to find a set from Monroe and don’t like how many have given negative feedback on them. Unfortunately, KYB doesn’t seem to have a strut plus unit that is available to fit my car model. I wasn’t able to find quick struts from Sachs or Bilstein. That said, if someone can point me at their quick models please do so, otherwise I will be doing this the long way. I will find the best deal I can get from one of the suggested companies.
Since enough have mentioned replacing the mounts and bump rubbers, I’ll add that to the job. AlanY suggested replacing the bearings as well. Is there much involved with that? Does anyone else suggest the replacement?
My mileage is at ~130k, the reason I am getting this done is because I took it in to the service center after I saw a tire wear pattern(see photo) that made me think I was running with positive camber. The service center said it was the struts. At my previous visit for service(~May) the rear struts were pointed out for replacement.
Attached Photo is of Driver side front tire. went from fine to that in about 10-12 weeks. I drive a lot and mostly highway.
THAT is not caused by worn struts, That is too much positive camber or too much toe in. Bad struts cause a waffle-y or cuppy, uneven tread surface pattern. Your “Service Center” should have checked alignment. I suspect they wanted to sell you and alignment AND struts.
Replacing bearings must mean the steer bearings. Once you take apart the front strut and spring assembly, you will see the bearing just dropped into place on top of the spring and under the upper strut mount. Yeah, they should be replaced when you change a strut.
Mustangman is correct. The problem is alignment and possibly due to a bent suspension component.
As to Monroes, I’ve never had an issue with them. However, I have gotten involved with some Bilsteins ($$$$) several times at a dealer where I worked. Per customer request they wanted the theoretically improved handling and ride/hang the expense.
In both cases those Bilsteins started dying within weeks and months; one at a time. Per the usual, the customers were upset with us about parts failures over which we had no control.
The service manager finally wised up and refused to have us install anything other than OEM across our parts counter.
I would really hate to throw all this money out there when it’s unnecessary. Is there a sufficient way for me to diagnose the cause of this? When I went to the service center I said it needed to be aligned and have it’s camber checked. When I received the call about it, they said struts. Should I get a 2nd service centers opinion? Or like I said if I can check this myself I would prefer that option.
Do you have a short carpenters level? If you have one that is 18" or shorter, then find a good flat parking lot and park in the flattest section possible. Side to side is most important to be flat. Make sure the steering wheel is level and the tires pointed straight ahead.
Put the level up against the tire or wheel vertically and see if the bubble is near the center of the level. Ideally is should be dead center on both wheels. If it is, you don’t need struts or a lower control arm. On Honda’s, the camber is not adjustable and putting in new struts won’t fix it unless the strut is bent from an accident.
What you may have is a bad bushing in the trailing link or a bent trailing link, or a worn bushing at the back of the control arm if you have the type that does not use a trailing link. To bend these things, you would have been in an accident.
You could have a bad ball joint or tie rod or have bent the tie rod from road debris or a big pothole. What you most likely don’t need is new struts, not for this anyway unless you took a hard hit by someone in the wheel well area. Honda’s use good struts and they last a long time.
The service center rep is trying to upsell you. They get a commission if they do. I think you just need an alignment by a competent shop with a freshly calibrated machine.
I think Harbor Freight sells a value priced spring compressor tool. I agree w/other here though that the better method probably is to use one of the pro-quality type tools you can rent, usually for free, from retail auto parts stores where you buy the struts.
That tire wear pattern could be do to alignment, suspension parts wear (struts, ball joints, bushings, etc), but it also just be normal for your car and driving style. Think about the physics. When you go around corners, say you are turning to the left, the car’s weight gets thrown to the right tire, the car tilts to the right, and the wear occurs greatest on the outside edge of that right front tire. This wear pattern is more common with vehicles that have a high center of mass, like trucks and SUVs, but it can happen in regular cars too. So what would I do if it were my car?
hmmm … well, I’d be inclined to take it to a well-recommended inde alignment specialty shop and get their opinion. If they thought it was struts, I’d replace the struts. If they thought it was bushings, I’d replace the bushings. If they thought it needed a re-alignment … well, you get the idea. This is the kind of problem these shops see every day so its a good idea to follow their advice. It may take several iterations before you get things right though. In any event as part of all this I’d either replace all four tires or at least the two front ones, and watch them for how they wear.
At 130,000 miles the struts are worn and the car will benefit from replacement.
Without seeing the alignment report it’s hard to tell whether the struts are the cause of the tire wear or not. I can tell you that a bent strut (caused by a curb shot or pothole) can cause the camber to go out of spec.
I find myself relieved that my car isn’t nearly as messed up as I was lead to believe. The only thing I have to replace are the front tires. This all started when I took my car to AAA service center and received the following report.
The end result was over $2000 of work. Naturally I’m not taking their work for it, and wanted a 2nd opinion. I asked around and posted here. I went to the Honda dealership near my home for a diagnostic on the suspension and brakes. This is their report.
This report tells a very different story… and the end diagnosis was low air pressure in the tire lead to the abnormal wear pattern. My earlier post has a photo of the wear pattern. Additionally, I was told by AAA I needed new pads and rotors for my front brakes… Honda said they were perfectly fine. I am compelled to write a letter to AAA which I will send to their service center and corporate office, complete with figures included. They will see no more business from me.
All that being said… I’m a little disappointed I now have nothing to take apart and put back together…
I have to fully agree with db on this one. The tire wear shown in the picture indicates that either there is a very positive toe or a very positive camber on that drivers side wheel. Your toe is negative but the camber is slightly positive. Honda’s are very sensitive to their alignments so that camber could be the problem.
I think the 07 Accord still uses upper and lower control arms so my first suspect would be the upper ball joint. As far as I can remember, the camber is not adjustable but is affected by things like ball joint wear and control arm bushings so all these things need to be inspected by someone who specializes in suspension systems. BTW, the struts do not affect the camber on this car.
If everything looks normal, an alignment check on a different machine is in order. The machines do need to be calibrated from time to time, but they are probably more affected by the competency of the operator than anything else. This is another reason to get a front end specialist involved.
Be sure to check out any shop you select with the BBB and any other sources you have (friends, co-workers). There are good ones and bad ones. The good ones tend to be very very good and the bad ones very very bad.
BTW, if you just had an alignment just before, or that was the after printout from an alignment at the dealer, then just disregard what I have just said and get new tires. Keep the pressure up to specs or even 3 psi above recommended. 35 psi seems to work on Accords pretty good.
In response to the original question, Honda sells the entire strut assembly, which is exactly what I put on my 2004 Accord. They were about $600 for four corners. I wasn’t having any problems but with 225k on the original struts, I figured how much longer can they last. As it turns out, the old struts looked as good as new when I pulled them. But the new ones have given me a definite ride improvement.
I have found a diagnostic shop nearby that several friends recommended. They are car guys that have been tinkering with their cars for years so I trust it should be a honest diagnostic. However, I think I would like to take that as a secondary option.
what I have in mind is to use my calipers to get a solid measure of the tire wear pattern on my front tires as they currently stand. Purchase replacements for them. Then going forward with the new tires, take a PSI and caliper measurements weekly to see how the wear pattern is developing on them. If it is approaching the pattern that is seen on the current tires, I can take it in for a diagnostic at the shop I was recommended. I’m even considering going to the extent of telling them not to dispose of the old tires so I can bring them with me to the diagnostic shop when the time comes.
Good idea or bad idea? I would like to try to fully diagnose this myself but lack the experience for it.
What you’re suggesting certainly will not hurt but the others are correct. That picture you provided of the tire wear does not show strut or underinflation issues. It does show a camber or toe problem.
Underinflation will scrub off both sides of the tire; overinflation will wear down the middle.
Excessive positive camber or toe-in can often be caused by a curb strike or large pothole, etc. Sometimes these events occur with not much thought given to them and may be forgotten very quickly; and I don’t mean this to be taken as a sign of being a bad driver. It happens to most of us.
I’d get it checked out first. If you have a problem and you put on new tires, you will set up a bad wear pattern with the new tires that will affect the handling after the repairs are made.
Took it to a diagnostic shop… They say my tires were never rotated. My tires apparently can only be rotated from front to back, not left to right. They said my struts in the rear are weak and the tire pattern in the rear is wavy/cupping to indicated this. They are recommending a rear strut replacement, 4 new tires (cooper brand), and an alignment afterwards.
I wanna cheap out and get only the front tires then replace the rears at my next oil change so they can properly rotate. Bad idea to cheap out? or good?
I’m curious, will my rear tires fit for a Honda Accord 2004 EX? My gf, could use them if that is the case, and I’ll just get 4 new tires for mine.
