Concerned about rear struts.....

[mwatt]

Has anyone else experienced (what I think is) rear strut failure at higher mileage (150K miles)? On my '99 Legacy GT wagon, I'm concerned about the rear struts. There's the frequent "clunking" from the right rear over rough road surfaces, but more disconcerting and dangerous is the car's tendency to pitch and sway, almost out of control, when rounding a curve to the left at 30-40 mph. When going around a LEFT curve, the RIGHT rear of the car dips and sways, making the car difficult to control. Yet, when I bounce the car while it's parked, to check for worn struts, it stabilizes quickly, without excessive bouncing. I looked carefully underneath the car for broken sway bar links, a broken sway bar, or loose control arm bolts. None of the above. So my thinking is rear struts and strut mounts. Anyone concur with that?

[idosubaru]

hmmm, definitely sounds like something to check out. safety is nothing to play with. sounds like the struts need to be looked at - strut, spring, mounts, bushings, sway bars? what does the rust look like back there?

 

you have the stock tire size?

 

i'd also check for significant rust (kind of early though considering it's a 99) and compromised steering rack bushings, although that would probably also cause a general pulling feel even while driving straight and a tendency to need constant correction.

[mwatt]

hmmm, definitely sounds like something to check out. safety is nothing to play with. sounds like the struts need to be looked at - strut, spring, mounts, bushings, sway bars? what does the rust look like back there?

 

you have the stock tire size?

 

i'd also check for significant rust (kind of early though considering it's a 99) and compromised steering rack bushings, although that would probably also cause a general pulling feel even while driving straight and a tendency to need constant correction.

 

thanks for your fast response, Gary. Actually, the underside of this car is clean, clean, clean. I mean, there's minor surface rusting on springs, but you expect to see that kind of thing. Yes, tires are new and the specified size (205/55R16) That clunking noise is definitely at the right rear and that's the side of the car that dips and sways. I was just looking to see if anyone else had experienced strut failure or the kind of symptoms I described......

[lmdew]

Push the dust boot up and see if the strut is leaking. If its wet, you have lost the fluid. I'd also check the top mount, jack the car from the frame so the wheel hangs down and then check for play up and down.

 

Check to see if the sway bar is in good conditions and links.

[EvilDead]

Perhaps give the endlinks a once over as well......

[CNY_Dave]

My '03 with 70Kmiles has shot sway and trailing-arm bushings.

 

have a thread up on how hard are the trailing arm bushings to replace...

 

 

Dave

[mwatt]

My '03 with 70Kmiles has shot sway and trailing-arm bushings.

 

have a thread up on how hard are the trailing arm bushings to replace...

 

 

Dave

 

I saw your thread; what are the symptoms of worn-out trailing arm and sway bar bushings on your car? Or is the dealer just "noticing" something that you didn't percieve to be a problem?

[CNY_Dave]

I saw your thread; what are the symptoms of worn-out trailing arm and sway bar bushings on your car? Or is the dealer just "noticing" something that you didn't percieve to be a problem?

 

The sway bushings I know are shot- rattling noise on small bumps that only go under one side of the car.

 

I have not noticed any worn trailing-arm-bushing symptoms, have yet to crawl under and confirm.

(I did have a wild case of oversteer during an accident avoidance maneuver, though. maybe that was a symptom)

 

They said the bushing looks OK until you push on it, then you can see the rubber seperate from the metal.

 

 

Dave

[nipper]

Has anyone else experienced (what I think is) rear strut failure at higher mileage (150K miles)? On my '99 Legacy GT wagon, I'm concerned about the rear struts. There's the frequent "clunking" from the right rear over rough road surfaces, but more disconcerting and dangerous is the car's tendency to pitch and sway, almost out of control, when rounding a curve to the left at 30-40 mph. When going around a LEFT curve, the RIGHT rear of the car dips and sways, making the car difficult to control. Yet, when I bounce the car while it's parked, to check for worn struts, it stabilizes quickly, without excessive bouncing. I looked carefully underneath the car for broken sway bar links, a broken sway bar, or loose control arm bolts. None of the above. So my thinking is rear struts and strut mounts. Anyone concur with that?

 

I wouldnt call it failure at 150,000 miles, i would call it way overdue for replacement (tired is a much better term).

 

Struts are usually tired at 100K, and while they can last way beyond that, your over due to struts.

 

You have a blown strut, replace all 4.

 

nipper

[Setright]

I concur.

 

 

Replace all four struts (dampers, springs are still good). I just did on my car and the difference is amazing. Mine had "only" done 125k miles

 

The car wasn't bouncing or floating, but the handling was starting to suffer, and the car would wander a lot under hard braking.

 

My mounts, boots, and bump stops were all okay.

[Reveeen]

The rear strut mounts (for some reason) seem to un-bond (the rubber to the metal insert that the strut mounts through), once this gets "working", throw in some road dust/salt/whatever, and instant clunk.

SOME are available aftermarket (for about a third of the Subaru store), but you can't trust the listings, likely, as not, they won't fit (which is a royal PITA when you have the whole thing in pieces).

Mine is a high mileage car, one mount was "out" when I bought it, and the other is "on the way" (I can hear it occasionally).