I just replaced my Toyota Solora 2005 Front Struts on Thursday to pass State Inspection. On Friday we had a mild snow storm(2 inches) and when taking a turn, the brake didn’t work properly and the tires slipped and my car went over the curb and hit a pole. I was going at about 30 mph. My tires are a little old but since they passed the inspection on Thursday I’m guessing that they weren’t that bad.
My question is did replacing the struts have anything to do with this or was this just my distracted driving…
I’d say replacing the struts and old tires ‘‘passing inspection’’ caused…
a false sense of security.
Tires are always key in winter drivability.
‘a little old’ means the sipes are gone and the good biting edges are worn…they’re old…period.
It’s still just…
a car…
in the snow…
on worn tires !
I understand. I was just concerned if the struts/realignment was related to this and if I should go back to the dealership. Coz if it is, I’m never going back there again.
Otherwise I get that it’s a car on worn tires in snow.
Replacing the struts does not require touching the brakes. What did you mean by the brakes did not work properly? Did the brake pedal go to the floor with no resistance? Was it extra hard to push down? Or did it just lock up and you went sliding?
Do you have anti-lock brakes (ABS) and did you feel any pulsing in the brake pedal? If you felt pulsing, then the ABS was working. If you felt this, did you let up on the pedal thinking something was wrong?
@Srin ask the shop if they removed the brake hoses in order to replace the struts. On some vehicles the brake hose actually is routed through a hole in the strut.
You had a panic reaction to your ABS deploying on fresh snow which is second only to glare ice for loss of traction. ABS doesn’t stop you faster on fresh snow, it just lets you steer while stopping.
Sear replaced my struts once many years ago on a Toyota Tercel. The did not reattach the brake lines to the struts. As a result the brake hoses AND lines were bouncing around and eventually the line on one side broke and started spraying brake fluid everywhere resulting in a complete loss of brakes on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Because it was a manual transmission I was able to nurse it to my sister’s house in Washington Heights but, after I made them fix it, Sears never touched my car again.