Oh Crap. What Broke? Loud pop, now a rattle. - EDIT: Coil Spring Snapped.

[kelemvor]

OK, No ide what happened today but as I started to back out from my parking space at work there was a loud Pop/Crack type sound from the front driver's side tire area. No idea what it was. I was able to drive home fine and it seemed OK but every time I hit a little bump I heard a rattling sound from the same area.

I snapped a couple pictures and it looks like the car is sitting lower on that side now.

Drivers Side: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/kelemvor/DriversSide.jpg
Passenger Side: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/kelemvor/PassengerSide.jpg

Anyone have any guesses? I'm going to jack it up and see what I can find but something tells me it won't be good.

[nice96gt]

I would check to make sure the spring didn't snap...

[TorquePower]

Maybe the actual housing is giving way under the hood? The owner previous to my car had the same problem on the passenger side, not sure of the symptoms, but he said it was a pop, he ignored it and then when he hit a big bump smack! to the hood. Now there's an ugly dent in the hood and I need to get it replaced anyway.

[kelemvor]

*sigh*

Where's the spring?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/kelemvor/Wheresthespring.jpg

Ah #^@#*!, there it is
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/kelemvor/Thereitis.jpg

So where's the tutorial on replacing the struts and springs?

I called one shop and they quoted me $90 each strut, $130 for a set of 2 springs, $80 to put them in, $60 for an alignment. Total of $450-$500.

Not sure this is something I can do myself or not.... But they are the original parts and have 95k miles on them so I guess it was bound to happen...

[kelemvor]

Is it safe to drive the car with the Spring not working right? I'd rathe rnot have to pay to have the car towed somewhere...

[kelemvor]

Really need an answer about driving without the spring to get the car to the shop. Could I damage anything worse than it already is or would it be fine?

Thanks!

[rixGAphx]

DO NOT DRIVE that thing!!!

-Rick

edit - PS:
There is no longer anything to support the vehicle weight, so the strut can/will punch thru the strut tower and hood.
Whaen that happens, you will loose directional stability of the left front wheel.
Might also take-out the CV joint.

*Most* shops have a deal with a tow truck, for special low or no-cost delivery of a car to their shop for repairs.
Check with the shop in the morning.
AAA is a GA owner's best friend :roll: Consider getting membership just for the free towing/jump starting/discounts (10% at NAPA).

[kelemvor]

Originally posted by rixGAphx
DO NOT DRIVE that thing!!!

-Rick

edit - PS:
There is no longer anything to support the vehicle weight, so the strut can/will punch thru the strut tower and hood.
Whaen that happens, you will loose directional stability of the left front wheel.
Might also take-out the CV joint.

*Most* shops have a deal with a tow truck, for special low or no-cost delivery of a car to their shop for repairs.
Check with the shop in the morning.
AAA is a GA owner's best friend :roll: Consider getting membership just for the free towing/jump starting/discounts (10% at NAPA).

We're actuall ylooking at AAA right now anyway but they only tow up to 5 miles or something according to their website. It's about 10 miles to the shop that can fix it. *sigh* I'll call the place in the morning and see if they have a deal or anything. Otherwise we'll try AAA and see what they'd charge for the second half of the trip.

Will they have to hook it up in any special way as not to put any pressure on the tires? I don't know the normal towing procedures for my GA as I'v enever had it towed anywhere.

[AznGA]

Broken spring - that really sucks.

Don't drive it until you get a new spring installed. Our stock springs don't last that long. I have seen a few GA's with broken springs.

[kelemvor]

Now I'm assuming that since they are the original struts I should jsut go ahead and have them replaced too right? Or would it be worth it to save money and just replace the spring(s)?

I don't know how long struts are usually supposed to last...

[adamlust]

Originally posted by kelemvor
We're actually looking at AAA right now anyway but they only tow up to 5 miles or something according to their website. It's about 10 miles to the shop that can fix it. *sigh*

Are you sure AAA only towes 5 miles?? I am a AAA plus member (since 2004) and they will tow my car up to 100 miles for free.

Adam

[gicts]

call me crazy but I could have sworn there was a nice how to on the n-body site. I can't find it anymore. Didn't look that hard at all

[kelemvor]

Yeah the AAA plus thing offer the big towing but the normal AAA offers the little one. My wife's parents have AAA but I'm not sure which plan. But I'll call the repair place in the morning and see if they have a deal worked out with a local towing place. or something.

It's so neat how I can get quotes from $450 to $900 for the same repair work. heh. Even calling different locations of the same chain.

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by kelemvor
We're actuall ylooking at AAA right now anyway but they only tow up to 5 miles or something according to their website. It's about 10 miles to the shop that can fix it. *sigh* I'll call the place in the morning and see if they have a deal or anything. Otherwise we'll try AAA and see what they'd charge for the second half of the trip.

Will they have to hook it up in any special way as not to put any pressure on the tires? I don't know the normal towing procedures for my GA as I'v enever had it towed anywhere.
1. Yeah, 5 miles tow comes with the 'basic' AAA membership.
AAA membership comes in different 'levels' depending on annual fee.
I have AAA+ with 100 miles towing with my membership.

2. Additional milage for a tow is like $2-3 per mile, payable right there.
Also, tip the driver just like you would a waiter, haircutter, or somebody else doing personal service; about 15%.

3. The tow MUST be by flatbed, not a conventional 'hook tow'.
There's too much plastic overhang at each end of a GA for them to hook tow.
When you call AAA, tell them the vehicle model (Grand Am), and that you need a flatbed.
It may take an extra hour or so for them to have a truck available.

Good luck.
-Rick

[AznGA]

If you are keeping the GA for a long time, I would go ahead and replace struts and all the parts that go with it, such as strut mounts, bearing plates, etc. If they have never been replaced, it's definitely time.

[kelemvor]

Originally posted by rixGAphx

3. The tow MUST be by flatbed, not a conventional 'hook tow'.
There's too much plastic overhang at each end of a GA for them to hook tow.
When you call AAA, tell them the vehicle model (Grand Am), and that you need a flatbed.
It may take an extra hour or so for them to have a truck available.

Good luck.
-Rick

Do I need to worry about a nice and bumpy tow truck ride over there causing any damage with the spring being broken? Not sure if I shuld remove the tire and put it under the car to rest on or anything like that or if it should be fine. I'd just hate to have something break even more on the way over there.

Guess it's time to make some calls.

[kelemvor]

OK, after doing some more research I think I'm going to try to replace the struts and springs myself. So that leads me to a couple questions.

I've gotten pricing that will be $62.89 each strut and about $45 each spring. That's about $110 each wheel. OR I can get the QuickStrut things that have the strut, spring, mount plate, etc all in one for $178.

Other than ease of installation, is there any benefit to spending the extra $70 on the Quick Strut? I know the mounting plate thing at the top of ths trut *could* be bad but I'm not replacing the struts because they are bad, just because the spring broke and the struts are old anyway.

Any advice on that at all?

And the info I got from a differnt thread is:

Jack up front end and secure with jack stands
Remove Wheels
Lift hood and remove 3 bolts holding the top of the strut in.
Remove 2 nuts on lower strut mount.
Drive the bolts out either with a brass punch, or just back the nuts off to the end of the bolt and hit with a hammer (this'll keep you from damaging the threads)
Remove strut assembly from the vehicle
Compress spring (free loan-a-tool service at AutoZone is cool)
Remove large nut at the top of the strut rod.
Remove upper mount and spring from strut assembly.
Then just reverse the process to put it all back together.

Is it normally that simple assuming I have a spring compressor thing? Anything else to know?

Thanks!

[antirice]

don't forget the alignment, camber and toe will be effed after you get the strut back in

[SE2000]

Remember that you need to replace struts in pairs not just one. I would replace the mount as they do wear out. Buy the pieces and borrow/rent the tools. scribe the struts before you remove anything so you can put things back as close to original as possible. If you get it towed, you will have to leave the wheel on. The tow won't damage it further. A regular tow truck can tow SE since there is more clearence than GT's

[AznGA]

Who sells the QuickStrut things?

[kelemvor]

Well I've decided to do it myself. I'm going to get the QuickStrut package since it's the strut, spring, mount, etc all in one package. $179 per wheel and I'm doing both fronts.

Hopefully everything goes well. Tomorrow night that's what I'll be doing.

And yes, I will be getting an alignment as soon as I'm done with it.

Quick Strut: http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=MON&mfrpartnumber=171672&parttype=49&ptset=A

[AznGA]

Good idea. Swapping will be very easy. I don't understand why they don't have QuickStrut for rear?

[bailey]

if you have a murray's nearby, buy their frequent spender card, $20 or so, I got Monroe quickstruts from them for $138 each. They are fully assembled with spring, spring isolators, bearings, mounts, jounce bumpers, dust boots. It took less than an hour to replace both. I didn't do an alignment afterward everything is fine. I didn't see any adjustments in the strut the bolts in the clevis were splined press fit. (read hammered in/out) Only reason quickstrut should change anything is if Monroe designed or manufactured their struts wrong.

[bailey]

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/images/QStrut.jpg

[jcasemore]

Quote:
Jack up front end and secure with jack stands
Remove Wheels
Lift hood and remove 3 bolts holding the top of the strut in.
Remove 2 nuts on lower strut mount.
Drive the bolts out either with a brass punch, or just back the nuts off to the end of the bolt and hit with a hammer (this'll keep you from damaging the threads)
Remove strut assembly from the vehicle
Compress spring (free loan-a-tool service at AutoZone is cool)
Remove large nut at the top of the strut rod.
Remove upper mount and spring from strut assembly.
Then just reverse the process to put it all back together.

I'm digging up this thread to add my experiance...
Use the quickstut, it makes the job way easier.

I was driving around and heard a tire rubbing sound, pulled over and found a broken spring slashing my tire to shreds....

With Quickstrut all you need is...
Jack up front end and secure with jack stands
Remove Wheels
Lift hood and remove 3 bolts holding the top of the strut in.
Remove 2 nuts on lower strut mount.
Drive the bolts out either with a brass punch, or just back the nuts off to the end of the bolt and hit with a hammer (this'll keep you from damaging the threads)
Remove strut assembly from the vehicle
Then just reverse the process to put it all back together.

All you need:
-Jack/Jackstands or blocks... something to get the car off the ground and suspension in full drop.
-3/4 socket to get wheels off
-21mm socket to get bottom bolts off
-impact(preferred but not neccesary for the bottom mount bolts)
-Hammer to get bottom bolts off
-I think it was a 13mm socket for the top nuts
-The quickstrut comes with a 10mm bolt as a replacement

Took all of 15 minutes to change both assemblies and 20 minutes to get the vehicle in the air and tires off.