Rear rightside spring issue

[heshan]

hi guys,

I just heard a noise today and it was of my rear rightside spring being lsely held at its mounts.

I lifted the car on that side and removed that tire and at that point the shocks were at its tallest point and I shook the spring and its moving around the mount from the top and the bottom and I check on the left spring and that doesnt move at all.

what is this problem? could the spring have broken after long years or a mount broken?

I'd appreciate if one could give me some advice.

thanks,
Heshan.

[firehawk]

When you have the car lifted up with the shocks fully extended, measure the shocks to see that they're the same length. If they are, the shocks are probably OK and it's just the the right side coil spring that's broken.

Take a look first at the bottom of the spring where the coil ends. You should be able to see if the end has been sheared off or if it still has the clean factory cut. If the lower end looks OK, grab a flashlight and take a look at the top of the spring. There should be a rubber "donut" which grabs the top of the spring and the broken piece may be stuck to it. If the piece is gone, you should still see that the coil ends abruptly and doesn't level off into a flat top like it should.

[heshan]

thanks mate. I'll check it out 1st thing tomorrow. Hopefully its none of the above.

[heshan]

Hey Firehawk,

It WAS the rubber donut mount that was missing on the right side. I replaced it on bothsides as the tires were rubbing on the fenders.

Thanks man..appreciate it.

Heshan.

[Apolan]

Hey, glad to hear you resolved your problem, so i'll just use this thread for my small question.

I will be assembling my front struts (non adjustable). So im just wondering about this rubbery-donut you are talking about.. i have new springs, but the top mounts are not - and the rubbery part that covers the bearing was tottaly destroyed..

So how do i correctly assemble my struts? Do i need to buy something, and how di i tighten the top shock bolt, do i need a SST or sth?

cheers,sašo

[Ivan141]

Apolan,

Tightening the top shock bolt is often done with an impact gun, although most manufacturers recommend against it. Otherwise you can do it by hand, most shocks have a couple of flat sides on the shaft where you can put a wrench on. A bit of the shaft slots into the top mountplate as well, so you could also use that to hold the shaft in place, but in practice it gets damaged easily if you do it like that.

Dunno about the rubbery bit though..