Questions Answered

[EricTheCarGuy]

If you have a repair questions this is one place to post it. Everyone is welcome to offer an answer and I’ll check in often to offer anything I can. You can also start a new thread for a particular problem and we can all have a go at it. This is an opportunity for me to learn as well and I look forward to how this works out for us, ask away!

Topic

[vankatalopen]

Hi Eric. I have issues with the drum brakes on my 40 year old russian military offroader. Because there are still brand new parts available I bought new cylinders and pads but the vehicle was siting for a while and the new cylinders are blocked by rust. What lubricant i should use to move them a bit?

[tmounib]

Is it possible that my drive shaft has extended in length? I am unable to re-install my knuckle because the upper and lower ball joints won

[jwapiennik]

Hello Gents,

Eric I watched your Youtube video on identifying suspension noises. I found the video helpful, and I’ll be using it to look more into the problem I’m experiencing. I’d like to share some information with you guys and see if anyone here could possibly offer me some insight.

Vehicle: 2008 Toyota Camry (2.4L)
Mileage: 66,000

With time off last month I decided it would be a good idea, considering the mileage, to replace all four struts and both front strut mounts. I used Monroe OESpectrum struts and Monroe Strut mount kit that came with a new bearing. I had done this work on a couple other cars and found the Camry to be even more simple than any other car I’ve done.

I drove the vehicle around the block to test drive it. One of the first things I noticed was a clunking noise on the front passenger side. It didn’t sound like something was loose. It had more of a ball joint pop to it. I brought it back, checked torque and made sure sway bar links were on tight. Drove the car again and it produced same results. I had the alignment done anyway because I needed to drive the car. The wheel doesn’t wobble, the vehicle drives straight as an arrow, and cruising down the highway is extremely comfortable.

I hear this “clunking” noise often when there are no bumps on the road, and the clunk is significant when I’m going uphill and turning right. I don’t hear the clunk while going downhill or on flat surfaces. The most obvious symptom is when I go over speed bumps on flat surfaces I hear a audible “CLUNK” on the same wheel.

I thought for some reason it could possibly be the end links. I removed the right side and the same noise produced, and then I removed both and heard the same noise, so I feel confident the end links are still operational.

I don’t want to believe it’s the strut mount bearing, but if my symptoms sound familiar to the bearing being defective I’d like to hear your opinion. Also, I’ve read on a forum that it’s possible that one can actually hyperextend the lower control arm bushing when the strut is removed and the control arm is hanging on the bushing. Could that be a possibility? Did I damage my lower control arm bushing during installation by letting the arm hang on that one bushing?

Anywho, I’m going to use my ball join fork tomorrow and see if I can see any play in the bushings/ball joints. If I can’t produce any evidence I’m going to take it to a mechanic I have absolute confidence in. It’s always nice taking care of this kind of stuff on your own though. You guys know how it is.

Any input is going to be well appreciated.

[kills07]

Hello everyone, I seem to have a problem with my car (2001 Nissan Maxima, 3.0 V-6, 120,000 miles).
It had been sitting for around 3 months due to a crash and it was being repaired, the only damage the car had was the fron fenders fenders, radiator, condenser and headlights. My question is, what do i have to check or replace in the car before i can drive it normally again? (fluids, battery, stuff like that, I’m not really sure what i should check for)
Thanks in advance, have a good day.

[jwapiennik]

Quoted From jwapiennik:

Hello Gents,

Eric I watched your Youtube video on identifying suspension noises. I found the video helpful, and I’ll be using it to look more into the problem I’m experiencing. I’d like to share some information with you guys and see if anyone here could possibly offer me some insight.

Vehicle: 2008 Toyota Camry (2.4L)
Mileage: 66,000

With time off last month I decided it would be a good idea, considering the mileage, to replace all four struts and both front strut mounts. I used Monroe OESpectrum struts and Monroe Strut mount kit that came with a new bearing. I had done this work on a couple other cars and found the Camry to be even more simple than any other car I’ve done.

I drove the vehicle around the block to test drive it. One of the first things I noticed was a clunking noise on the front passenger side. It didn’t sound like something was loose. It had more of a ball joint pop to it. I brought it back, checked torque and made sure sway bar links were on tight. Drove the car again and it produced same results. I had the alignment done anyway because I needed to drive the car. The wheel doesn’t wobble, the vehicle drives straight as an arrow, and cruising down the highway is extremely comfortable.

I hear this “clunking” noise often when there are no bumps on the road, and the clunk is significant when I’m going uphill and turning right. I don’t hear the clunk while going downhill or on flat surfaces. The most obvious symptom is when I go over speed bumps on flat surfaces I hear a audible “CLUNK” on the same wheel.

I thought for some reason it could possibly be the end links. I removed the right side and the same noise produced, and then I removed both and heard the same noise, so I feel confident the end links are still operational.

I don’t want to believe it’s the strut mount bearing, but if my symptoms sound familiar to the bearing being defective I’d like to hear your opinion. Also, I’ve read on a forum that it’s possible that one can actually hyperextend the lower control arm bushing when the strut is removed and the control arm is hanging on the bushing. Could that be a possibility? Did I damage my lower control arm bushing during installation by letting the arm hang on that one bushing?

Anywho, I’m going to use my ball join fork tomorrow and see if I can see any play in the bushings/ball joints. If I can’t produce any evidence I’m going to take it to a mechanic I have absolute confidence in. It’s always nice taking care of this kind of stuff on your own though. You guys know how it is.

Any input is going to be well appreciated.

I went under the car with a ball joint fork and poked around. I found the lower control arm bushing to be in decent shape. Both my stabalizer end links are showing the same symptoms after being retorqued. I wonder if the strut job basically finished both end links?

I would imagine the grease loss + five years + 66,000 might cause these end links to both be in poor condition. What do you guys think?

[Author]

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