Strut rattling when cruising

volvo
s60
#1

Hello, 2007 Volvo s60 2.5t driver, here. I’ve got an odd one that I wish I could call Tom and Ray about. Okay, my front struts are busted. I’ve had two mechanics tell me this–the guys down the street think it’ll run me about $1200 to $1500, while the European specialist quoted me around $2100. With a tall bill like that, I’ve been putting it off, and I asked both guys if I’m putting myself in any serious danger by driving with busted struts. They both seemed to think that as long as I don’t mind the rattling sound and the feeling that I’m on the high seas anytime I go over a slight bump that it’s mostly going to be annoying rather than dangerous.

But lately the rattling noise under my hood (that I’ve been led to believe is from the struts) has shifted and gotten much louder. Like, an extremely loud rattle, and mainly when the car is decelerating, but without applying the brake. If I’m driving and accelerating or if I’m braking, the noise mostly goes away. But as soon as my foot is off either pedal, it’s just “G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G” etc. And I’m sorry, I’m not a car guy, so I haven’t been able to locate exactly where the strut is and what it’s resting on–or to see what else might be out of position causing this noise. I’m going to finally shell out the bucks to get this repaired, but I can’t do it until next week. My main question is: is my car dangerous to drive right now? What could possibly be causing this banging to go away when either the gas or brake is applied, but come back as soon as I’m cruising? Because it’s very loud and feels kind of dangerous. I’m worried it’s banging on a brake line or something (knowing nothing, I’m just letting my imagination run wild). Any advice would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks!

#2

Get ready to spend $1200 to $1500 down the street. Forget the European specialist, you are paying European prices there.

#3

The rattle isn’t good… a worse part is if there is looseness in the steering or vague handling.

You answered your own question, didn’t you? If you are THIS concerned it is time to get this fixed. Struts hold the car up as well as damp the road motions so any issues can magnify the danger pretty quickly. Get it fixed before it causes more damage, or worse, you hurt yourself or someone else.

Considering the standard struts cost $85 each or $285 each for the electronically controlled struts (not sure what you have) I’d say $2100 is waaay too high and the $1200 is far closer to a reasonable price.

#4

If the rattling noise is caused by broken strut springs,

there’s a chance a broken spring can tear open a tire.

STRUT SPRING TIRE DAMAGE.jpg3072x2304 1.61 MB

If this is the case, I wouldn’t drive the vehicle until the struts were replaced.

Tester

#5

Holy s… trut

#6

This like so many other posts that I don’t understand. Someone has a problem that could cause a fatal accident and has been told what was needed to fix it. But yet they ask on a forum if they could continue to drive. I have no way to know of someone’s financial status but it seems even if they have to put the repair cost on a credit card that has a balance it will still be less expensive than a wreck involving body repair and towing ( not to mention the possible injury of someone else ).

#7

Kevin, you know what the problem is and you’ve gotten a few quotes. It won’t fix itself. Pick a shop and get it fixed. As Others pointed out, and Tester so graphically illustrated, it could become much more serious and much more expensive if allow to continue deteriorating.

Man, tester, those photos are NASTY!! And they make the point beautifully.

#8

It is at least a little unsafe. How unsafe, depends on the nature of the failure. the strut is a structural element, supports the weight of the body of the car above the axles. So if it broke completely, that could be very dangerous. You might lose ability to steer for example.

If you just have unwanted play in the struts, that usually wound’t show up as a safety issue in neighborhood driving. Where it would show up is higher speed driving, like on the freeway, where you hit a bump, or a semi drives past you and changes the wind direction suddenly. Both of those things might make it difficult to maintain control of the car. For example there’s a bump in the northern segment of the Golden Gate Bridge whose bump-i-ness depends on ambient temperature. The bridge expands and contracts with temperature, and so they have to put in a splined gadget to take up that difference in length. And that gadget makes a bump. I’ve seen cars hit that bump going too fast, the suspension bottoms out, they lose control, and the car turns around 180 degrees in traffic. If they are lucky all that happens is they end up facing oncoming traffic at the margin, the car sitting against the ocean side cement barrier.

#9

This site has a very good free repair cost calculator: driverside.com

Estimate
$526.38

Parts (75%)
Labor (25%)
Print
Estimate Details
Strut Assembly Replacement for 2007 Volvo S60
Parts (75% of total cost)

Strut
Parts: #8667253 x 2$390.78
Labor (25% of total cost)

Installing Strut
$113.00 per hour x 1.2 hours$135.60
Using standard rate at ZIP 12901. Customize Labor Rate

Total$526.38