Shocks??

[ClodKing]

Hopefully someone can answer this for me.

I am driving home from work today. Nothing serious. A little speeding, like 20 over on the service road. I just wanted to get home.

Coming out of a right hand slow sweeping curve my car starts my whooping motion. Like one of my wheels was mounted off center, but I was driving 10 instead of 100 (kilometers).

I pulled off the road onto a gravel parking lot covered with snow. I got out and checked the car. It was diving towards the front passenger tire...

Now that the car is parked in the back lot it is sitting level again, so the diving thing might have been the parking lot, I don't really know...

I was thinking that the spring gave out, and the car was only being supported by sway bar, but maybe the shock absorber gave out, and the spring is still supporting the car.

Can a shock absorber just give out instantly?? I thought it was a gradual thing...



Oh yeah, I also went out and practised my winter sliding. But almost all turns were right hand, which would put more pressure on the left wheel. So I don't know if that really affected it.

Either way, ideas, questions, answers, all are welcome.

And I am pretty sure the shocks have never been replaced before.

[twright]

It's not the shock.  These don't hold up the car.  Look for a broken spring or something else under that corner of the car.

[ten2doyle102]

Takes about 2 secs to jack up the car and pull the wheel to check it out.  if something is busted, you'll see it.  

You said that it seemed like the wheel was knocked off center??  was it shaking when it happened??

[ClodKing]

The car is still sitting level. Definately not the spring. I think the car looked like it was dipping because of the crappy parking lot I had pulled into.

You said that it seemed like the wheel was knocked off center?? was it shaking when it happened??

I meant it had the sensation of that. The car felt like it was on a washboard section of a dirt track, only not so severe. A rythmic up and an down motion.

I think I forgot to mention this, but I heard a thump from under the hood. Like a brick dropped or something. But I have so much stuff in the car that it's hard to tell tell the difference between a bad noise, and a tool box moving, or change jingling, or CD cases, or whatever. Maybe I should clean the car out...

I'll take a look under the car. But I am pretty sure it's the shock.

We have speed limiter bumps on the main street outside my house. Whenever I hit one of those babies, the car dives to the passenger side wheel, and then rebounds. So the spring is there, but nothing is controling it.

[ClodKing]

And another question. Do the "is" cars use the Bilstien HD's? Or the sport shocks.

And is the removal and installation a straight forward ordeal, or do you need special tools, like coil removers, and such?

[ten2doyle102]

Ok.  Well if you push down on that corner of the car, does it just come right back to level or does it bounce up and down a couple of times.  The struts main purpose is to dampen the springs movements so if it is shot, that could explain the problems your experiencing.  However, you keep saying that the car is diving to that side which leads me to think it something else since the struts don't have much affect on stuff like that.  Just cause the car looks like its sitting level also doesn't mean that a spring isn't broken.  My friends ford focus busted a spring but you couldn't tell just by looking at it.  She was driving it like normal but it would make a lot of noise form that side.

The question of the what struts to use depends on what you have done to the car, not which car it is.   Bilstein sports are for lowered car and HD's are more for stock height cars.

Removal is pretty straight forward.  You'll (could be wrong) need a 13mm wrench, 15mm wrench, 17mm wrench, 19mm wrench, deep well 19mm, spring compressor, and a couple of pipe wrenches or a vise.  13mm's I think are for the brake calipers and upper strut bearings.  The 15mm wrench is needed for the caliper as well.  I think that the tie rod end's are 16mm or 17mm and the control arm is a 19mm.  Also, the upper strut bearing nut is a 19 deep well.  I had to modify my socket to fit in the top.  Once you got all that stuff out, I just use two pipe wrenches to remove that big strut nut, one wrench on the nut outer ring and the other on the strut tube.

[ten2doyle102]

Wtf!