Shocks and Struts

ummmm od question but i know the answer lol....you rub your feet against the bottom of the trampoline < with socks on> and maybe jump around a little then put your fingure close enough to someone< like a 1/2 inch> and that should do the trick.... doesnt work every time tho FBALL50 thanks for answering this question i have been looking for this quiet a long time now commander2000

There are several types of front suspensions that allow your vehicle to both steer and go over bumps in the road. One such suspension type is called the MAC-PHERSON STRUT. The intent of the Mac-Pherson Strut was to reduce the " unsprung weight" of the wheel and suspension components. Doing that can significantly improve handling and provide better contact between tires and the road.

Strut components can wear out, and when they do they need to be replaced so that the vehicle will operate safely. Commonly, strut inserts (similar to a shock absorber), springs and bushings may wear or otherwise fail, seriously degrading the performance of your vehicle.

ES 1000's are not adjustable .

I converted my 1990 LSC with a kit from strutmasters and notice very little diffference overall, and have noticed bodyroll is less in the slalom with the springs.

The short answer is YOU don't. The smartest thing to do is get the shop manual, read that section, talk yourself out of it, then drop the car off at your local garage and pay a professional. If you're still in a do-it-yourself mood, read on. Jack the car up and support the front end with jackstands. Remove the wheel. Unbolt the brake line bracket from the strut. Remove both of the big nuts/bolts holding the strut to the spindle. Open the hood and remove the 3 bolts from the strut tower. The strut assembly should have fallen out onto the ground. Here's where the fun begins. Use your strut compressor to unload the spring. Remove the big nut on the top and pull off the upper bearing and spring seats. Remove the spring and carefully (carefully! it CAN kill you) set it aside. Reassemble everything in order and reinstall your spring. Use the air ratchet to preload the top nut. Tighten to spec. Release the spring compressor. Put the strut assembly back up the the tower, lining up the 3 boltholes up top. Replace the 3 nuts, tighten to spec. Pull your spindle back up with a c-clamp and install the 2 large nuts/bolts. Tighten to spec. Replace the brake line bracket bolt. Tighten to spec. Carefully drive to the nearest alignment shop because your alignment will be way off. you can take srut assembly out as mentioned above then have auto parts store change struts for you and put back whole strut assembly back in.they charge about$20 for changing each strut and is well worth the job .

form_title=Shocks and Struts Replacement form_header=Getting your shocks and struts replaced will restore vehicle handling and control while greatly improving ride comfort. What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?=_ How many miles do you have on your car?=_ When was the last time your shocks and struts were replaced?=_

if doing yourself just buy quick struts for the car if they make them for that model they cost more but they save a lot of time gas charged struts are junk

Struts in the front, shocks in the rear.

It has macpherson struts in the front and torsion springs at the rear.

There are two methods of changing control arm bushings. One method involves removing the damaged bushing arms and pressing out the bad units. When doing so it may be best to replace the bushings of both sides of the car. Since the control arm has been removed anyway and if the vehicle is of mileage it also may be the best opportunity to replace the ball joints. The second method would be purchasing a complete control arm assembly with new bushings and ball joints already installed.

Pretty easy actually... First you need to loosen the lug nuts on the wheel, jack up the car and put it on stands, and finish removing the wheel. Mark exactly where the strut connects with the wheel assembly so that you can maintain the same camber when you put in the new one. Next you want to remove the two nuts that connect the strut to the wheel assembly, you'll need to push the bolts out with something, another smaller bolt will do... There should be a small bolt or clip that holds the brake line in place so remove that too. Lower the wheel assembly down and place something beneath it so that the brake line isn't stretched. While you are holding on to the strut (slightly easier with a friend holding on to the strut) remove the three nuts on the top of the strut. These are actually in the engine bay. Make sure your friend is holding on to the strut as it will fall once the three nuts are un-done. Pull it out and that's step 1 done! Next you are going to remove the spring from the strut so you need to rent or buy a spring compressor. I used the small ones that are actually just two hooks on a giant bolt, you'll see what I mean when you get it. Compress the spring and remove the nut on the top of the strut. This will let you take the top off and remove the spring. Your new strut should have the bottom bracket already on it but if not you will need to remove that from the old strut and put it on your new one. Extend the center pole of the strut out and put the spring back in there making sure that the end of the spring is sitting in the little in indent in the base and put the top on doing the same thing. Put the nut back on and decompress the spring. Go slow with this as you don't want the spring to take your finger off... Once you have removed the compressor, head back over to the car and put it back in. So slide it into place, replace the three nuts on the top first, then move the wheel assembly up into place and put the two bolts back. Make sure everything lines up with your original marks and tighten it all up. Bob's your uncle! Honestly, should take about an hour per side, not such a difficult job. It's like a 4/10 difficulty. Back is pretty much the same but the top nuts are under the back seat cushion and there is an extra bolt that holds a control bar you'll need to take off. Have fun and good luck! Dave

Use a stun gun

Get her up in the air and see if she has the conventional set up. If regular shocks, should be bolted in on the top and bottom. Make sure replacement shocks look the same before removing the old ones, unless u have another vehicle. BE SAFE! Get a set of good jack stands and have a good selection of tools. If u do not have all this, take it to a shop and ask for mid grade or better shocks. Wear safety glasses while u are working under the vehicle and again, Safety First.

072311

I just completed this procedure and you should not attempt, unless you have a helper that has done this, or you have the workshop manual and are a skilled and patient home auto mechanic. This job is much more difficult than doing brakes because of the need for large sockets and open end wrenches ( 21mm, 24mm, 30mm), the need to compress the spring for removal and installation on the shock, and the need to manhandle the very heavy spring/shock assembly. I have a well stocked tool box and I still spent $100 just for tools I did not have. You also need a very good torque wrench as the shock absorber base is 350 ft-lbs. OK, I admit I just went to the max of my 250 ft-lb wrench..

You also need good skills working with rusted bolts and nuts, especially the top shock absorber holddown nut, and the hexholds. Note that compressing a truck spring is NOT FUN, its doable, but just takes a long time and lots of checking to uniformly compress and sufficient to remove and install. Consider placing the shock absorber base in a vice and compress the springs while on the absorber.

You also have to understand how to correctly rotate nuts on the two, relevant steering linkages as they have a hexhold feature to prevent the applied torque from damaging the linkage. If you did not understand this, do not pass go, go directly to your local brake service center. It took me 12 hours of very hard and frustrating work to do the right side and only three moderately strenuous hours to do the other side! Again, the spring-absorber assembly is like 50 lbs and its a tight fit.

The basic procedure below is just to illustrate that that there are relatively few steps. However, much information is not included, like torques, hexhold features, things that can go wrong, and tips to prevent scratched knuckles. Your spring supplier should loan you for free the spring compressor (outside version)

1) jack up the car and remove the tire

2) loosen the three shock absorber top nuts

3) detach the stabilizer bar at the lower arm

4) detach the tie-rod end at the wheel knuckle

5) Remove the shock absorber lower bolt.

6) Remove the spring/absorber assembly.

7) compress the spring until loose from the absorber.

8) Mark the relative location of the absorber top plate to the absorber for reassembly, as the top plate bolts are not symmetric, then remove the absorber top nut

9) Remove the absorber top plate, upper shock mount and dust tube.

10) Remove the (very heavy) spring.

10) To install reverse the procedure.

Note - the spring ends have to align properly into the absorber base plate and upper shock mount. Remember to properly align the top plate to the absorber, or you will have to do lots of rework, like recompress the spring (not fun..)!

Note - Do Note tighten the stabilizer bar nut until after you have completely lowered the wheel. When lowering the wheel, do it slowly and guide the stabilizer bar into its attachment.

11) Have the front end aligned.

Shocks- some are air shocks. Shocked?

On the shocks themselves you will notice a hole for one of your tools in your tool kit. If you don't have the tool kit, just look at the shock and you will see, towards the bottom of the shock, just beneath the spring, a hole. This "Hole" also fits into one of a number of grooves on the shock itself, 1-5. By changing what groove that "hole" is in, you can make the shocks harder or softer. 5 is hardest, 1 is softest. If they aren't numbered, the groove that lets that "hole" get closest to the spring is 1, and the one that keeps it the furthest away is 5.

yes it does there can be upgraded very cheeply tho

Miatas don't have struts. They use coil sprngs over shock absorbers at all four corners.

Longer body mount bolts and hockey pucks with holes drilled through dead center is the cheapest, of course you will need to get extended break lines same as on any body lift kit just way cheaper

you wont need extended break lines with a 2" body lift you will need to pop some break line mounts and carefully bend existing ones to work just fine

Yes

if you or your mechanic cant figure it out then you could switch to a passive system. these struts or shocks dont have wires coming out of them.they come with two relays that plug into the wires from the car and send an ok signal to the onboard computer. but i have a problem with my service suspention message still coming on. so i am waiting for two more relays to come .its always something.

KYB definitely

Bounce your car. Get it bouncing good and jump off. If it bounces more than three times before stopping, your shocks are shot. You could also have a buddy follow you while you drive down a rough road. If your buddy sees daylight under your tires, you need new shocks.

You should check the air suspension switch, located on the passenger's side of the trunk. If the switch is off, the light will come on, also check the air suspension fuse. If both of these are OK, then the pump could possibly be going out.

The Saturn is equipped with Struts on all four wheels. They are easy to replace with the propper tools and patience. you can expect to pay around $60 each unit at a local parts store if you are planning on repairing them yourself. To give you an Idea, Here is a list of the tools required for strut replacement.

Floor Jack

Jack stands

19mm lug wrench or socket with ratchet

18mm socket

21mm socket

13mm socket

Strut spring compressor tool (available for rent at autozone)

visegrip

Some other words for "shocked" are surprised, startled, stupefy and emotional disturbance.