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Old 01-19-2015, 07:25 PM   #1
spookybathtub
 
Drives: 2007 Yaris HB
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Creaking struts

Very often, when I go over speed bumps, I hear a creaking noise from under the car. Maybe it's nothing to worry about, but it's annoying.
Today when I jacked up the front end, I noticed that turning the steering wheel back and forth causes a creaking noise. I tracked it down to the top attachment point of the front struts. The rubber piece is actually twisting slightly as the steering wheel turns. I'm not sure if this is related to the noise I hear when driving, but should I try tightening this?

I know the maintenance schedule recommends tightening chassis bolts sometimes, but I've never done that, and the car has 175K miles. I wonder if there's an easy guide showing all the bolts and their torque specs.

Here's a little video showing the problem: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...aris_strut.mov
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Old 01-20-2015, 04:34 PM   #2
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I'm pretty sure that means that your bearing that your front struts sit on are toast. This causes them to lock up and therefore turn at the spring and rubber plate as opposed to the bearing. They are relatively easy to change yourself with some air tools and spring compressors.
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Old 01-20-2015, 07:15 PM   #3
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That sounds fairly inexpensive. But how in the world do you remove the upper nut holding the strut? Some forums say use a box wrench, but it doesn't fit. It would need to be an offset wrench, which I don't have. Even if I go buy one, how can you get the correct torque when putting it back together? The torque wrench will interfere with the 6mm hex key.
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Old 01-20-2015, 08:38 PM   #4
sheekeebut
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Feel? Work out the torque in lbs/kg force at the end of your wrench, and pull till it feels right?
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Old 01-20-2015, 08:46 PM   #5
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I guess that's the only way. I guess one did this for a living, one would develop a pretty good feel for it.

I did get the struts removed, and the bearings seem to spin well in my hands, but I will try to find some new ones for comparison. To me it seems like the stiffness is coming from where the rod spins inside the shock itself. I'm thinking of maybe replacing the entire struts. I've never noticed any handling issues while driving, but they do have 175K miles.
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Old 01-22-2015, 09:36 AM   #6
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If you have that many miles on your original struts and you have them off the car then definitely change them out. On a light car like the Yaris the typical "bounce" test will not necessarily show worn struts. My father in law thought the struts on his 4Runner were good until he changed them out. It was absolutley ridiculous how s=much smoother they were when driving on back country dirt roads going out for a camping trip. There wasn't really any tell tale signs of warm struts in that case either.

If you lived in the salt belt then I'd say replace the bearings since the struts are off. Since you live in Cali then the bearings should last a long long time and if they spin fine then I'd say just re install them.

To access the top strut bolt easily so that you can use an impact driver, you need to remove the black plastic cowling and wiper blades/motors. Take a short bit of extra time but makes removing and untorquing the strut bolts easier.
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Old 02-02-2015, 02:34 PM   #7
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Finally my parts are arriving today. I noticed something in the manual I didn't see before:
INSTALL STRUT MOUNTING BEARING
(a) Using a brass bar and press, install the strut mounting bearing onto the coil spring seat upper. NOTICE: The strut mounting bearing must be securely installed.

And a corresponding section in the disassembly instructions. Is this really necessary? When I removed the top bolt on my old struts, the bearing came right off in my hands.
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Old 02-02-2015, 05:05 PM   #8
spookybathtub
 
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Torn stabilizer link boot

Anyone know where I can buy a replacement boot for the link stabilizer rod? Mine is torn, but the rod is in good shape, so I don't want to replace the whole thing.

Edit: Looking more closely, I don't see how the boot could be removed without popping the ball joint apart, which would compromise the joint and then it needs replacing, no?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_0277.jpg (60.5 KB, 88 views)

Last edited by spookybathtub; 02-02-2015 at 06:16 PM.
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Old 02-02-2015, 09:51 PM   #9
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Your best bet is to replace link one can get after market at a good price.


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