My daughter's Camry has the original springs and struts all around. Is it recommended to replace both the springs and struts or just the struts and other mounting parts. Monroe makes a strut/spring assembly that includes everything. I can get them for about $187.00 minus shipping. Also, do I treat the front any different than the rear with regards to replacing both struts and springs vs. just the struts. The miles were mostly city. What got me looking at the car was a clunking noise coming from the right rear of the car. After looking quick at the car and not finding anything obvious, I looked at this forum and got some ideas but still can't find the source of the clunk. The swaybar bushings look good. I've ruled out the brakes. The coil spring is not hitting the wheel well as someone here had happen. The exhaust hangers and mounts look good. Next, I'm going to look at the upper strut mounts but I have to remove the rear seat according to the haynes manual. It's weird that I can not make the car make this noise by bouncing the rear suspension or pushing it side to side. It happens more at lower speeds and occurs when going over bumps. It doesn't change when going either in a circle to the left or right. It's consistent as long as the road is bumpy. Any ideas?

OK, I figured out the seat removal. Her car has fold down seats, so I just had to remove the bottom seat by pulling up on the front of the seat and then out. Once that was removed, It exposed the mounting bolts for what haynes calls the shoulder bolsters. Once the lower mounting bolt was removed, I just had to lift the bolster up and out. With that removed, I have access to the upper strut mounting bolts. They are not loose. I think I found the cause of the rattling/clunking noise. Without the vehicle on a jack, I can grab the coil spring by reaching around the tire and I can wiggle the coil spring within the upper mount(bearing). Now, I just have to decide if I replace the struts and other mounting parts or the entire strut/spring assembly. These assemblies are made by Monroe are called Quick Struts. They're $187.00 for each side. This is where I'm not sure what to do. If springs don't go bad, then I could be wasting money. But, for a '92, most of the strut mounting parts look pretty worn, so by the time I add up the cost of all the individual parts, It could surpass the the cost of the assembly. The Monroe assembly comes with Sensa-Trac Struts. Are they any good? We plan on keeping this vehicle for my daughter for awhile.

The Monroe assembly comes with Sensa-Trac Struts. Are they any good? We plan on keeping this vehicle for my daughter for awhile.
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The prior owner did that on my Gen. 3 Camry and there was a certain bridge crossing every morning that would send a jolt all the way up through the steering wheel so I installed new Toyota struts because I like the ride quality - smooth but still well damped, whereas aftermarket are often "firmer" I suspect to help people feel they're getting something "extra" for their money.
To test the springs, get the ride height from the suspension section of the manual and measure yours from the ground to the specified point.
They don't list an acceptable amount of variance, but have seen elsewhere that 1" - 2" calls for spring replacement.

http://www.turboninjas.com/camry/

Well, "its replace the struts day" and we're off to a slow start. The rear stabilizer bar links have to be removed from the struts. Of course these 14 year old nuts/bolts that attach the link don't resemble anything that use to be two separate peices. So, the local Toyota dealer has these links which have the mounting stud as part of the assembly(it can't be replaced separately) for the cost of about 4/5 good cases of beer each ($92.00). ?I love my daughter.

www.autopartsgiant.com
ACDELCO part 45G0271 $34.20 each x 2 = $68.40 + 3.95 handling = 72.35
free ground shipping = Gone fishing until next weekend

The required stabilizer bar links arrived yesterday so installed both rear strut assemblies last night. Not too bad a job. Took about 4 hours total. Was surprised at the torque spec. of the lower strut mounting bolts - 188ftlbs. Lucky I have a 250ftlb 2' long torque wrench as part of my work tools. In the end, both bar links had to be replaced because I couldn't break them loose from the strut. Luckily I was able to get the nuts off of where they connect to the stabilizer bars so I didn't have to cut them off. Both me and the daughter noticed much improved handling. To your point Daniel, the ride is much firmer compared to before.

Now it's onto the front. I'm still curious whether it's best to replace the springs on the front when replacing those struts. The rear springs were a no brainer just based on how the car "sagged" in the rear. It sits at least 4" higher with the new springs

I did the same job on my '93 Camry over the winter - rear struts, mounts, and sway bar links - front struts, springs, mounts. Five months later I've got a very annoying clunk noise coming from the right rear. I can make it happen by bouncing the car hard and by compressing the rear suspension slowly (with the car on jack stands). The sound is coming from either the spring or the upper mount. The ride hight is correct and the spring does not seem loose - even with the suspension fully extended. I used cheap aftermarket mounts and I suspect that's the problem.

Once you had everything out and replaced did you still find that the spring was the source of your noise? What was the condition of the mount?

"I used cheap aftermarket mounts and I suspect that's the problem."

What mounts did you use, so we can all learn from your experience?

Mike

What mounts did you use, so we can all learn from your experience?


The brand was "Mevotech". $40 each at VIP Auto Parts.

Once I take the noisy corner apart I'll post again on whether the (new) mount was bad.

Today I tried grabbing and shaking the spring laterally with the car on the ground (like howie8 described) and was able to reproduce the noise easily. Still can't tell whether it's the spring or the mount though.

The brand was "Mevotech". $40 each at VIP Auto Parts.

Once I take the noisy corner apart I'll post again on whether the (new) mount was bad.

Today I tried grabbing and shaking the spring laterally with the car on the ground (like howie8 described) and was able to reproduce the noise easily. Still can't tell whether it's the spring or the mount though.


Thanks for the information. Keep us informed and good luck.

Mike

The noise is definitely gone. In my case, I replaced the strut/spring assembly so I threw the old assembly in the box and forgot about it. I just went out and tried to see the source of the noise on the old assembly. I can make it clunk by grabbing the assembly at the top and at the strut piston rod and applying lateral force. The noise appears to be coming from the lower part of the strut itself. These struts were the original and were totally shot. I'll have to pick-up a spring compressor when I do the front strut replacement since I don't think they come as a assembly. Once I get that, I will disassemble the rear assembly and then will be able to better see the upper mount condition. With the assembly off the vehicle, I'm not so sure the upper mount was the problem. I still have to decide if I should replace the front springs. Someone said to remove them and measure them against the spec. I'd rather make a educated guess and have the parts on-hand once I begin the job. Does anyone have a recommendation on brand of struts and springs for the front. This is my teenage daughters car and we'll probably keep it another 4 years max.

Once I take the noisy corner apart I'll post again on whether the (new) mount was bad.


Turns out it was not the strut mount. I replaced only the lower rubber spring seat and now the sound is gone. It could have also been incorrect torque on the lower strut bolts or the sway bar link upper bolt. They came off a little too easy.