My father and I just replaced my struts on my 97 Camry all the way around. Used the Monroe quick struts. They come with the new strut, mount and spring. I took it over to my local Firestone store to have it aligned and they told me that I needed to have something put on called cam & bolt kit on the right rear. Said that it wasn't anything that we did putting the new struts on but that the tire is now leaning out at the top. I can't see it myself.

Has anyone else had this issue after replacing struts? Is there any reason why it would only be on one of the wheels and not all? Is there anything that we can do ourselves? They want $80 to do this.

I hadn't realized how soft the car had gotten. No more noises going over bumps either. :)

Thanks

2 choices. Take it somewhere else (and spend around another 80 bucks). Or just take their word for it. $80 isn't a lot of money these days.

Have you noticed uneven tire tread wear on the right rear tire? If the top of the tire is leaning out too far, the outer edge of the tread on that tire should be wearing faster than the rest of the tread. If all looks normal, keep your $80 in your wallet and press on with life. It's probably been that way forever, maybe the last time you hit a curb with it.

Yes, these kits exist for wheels you cannot adjust the camber on. $80 sounds reasonable. I have a Dodge Gr Caravan I was told needed a kit. Tires looked fine to me so I put it on disregard.

I've heard these "qiuck struts" take a lot of the hastle out of the job. What do you think? Did you run into any problems? Would you use them again?

RIP,

I've heard these "qiuck struts" take a lot of the hastle out of the job. What do you think? Did you run into any problems? Would you use them again?


I used the quick struts in the rear of my 98, 6 weeks before it was totaled. I think they are great. They really took some of the work out of the job. For the money I don't think you can beat these. You now know your clunk will be gone, since everything that might be causing it in the strut assembly (strut itself, strut mount and all rubber parts) has been replaced.

Mike

Mike - excellent point. Takes some of the quess work out of tracking down a noise. Do you know if any other company offers the same type of combination? Not that they are that high priced now but, competition should bring the price down.

Thanks for the post about your new Camry. From everything I've read it is the leader of it's pack. Probably a big part of the reason Ford is hurting. That Fusion just doesn't spark much interest for me. The Camry is a definite possibility for my next car.

I agree with Mike, I think he was the post I saw that lead me to the idea. We did all four struts in 4 hours. It went very smoothly. Only problem we ran into were some parts that were rusty that slowed us down a bit, but that was it. Knowing that the noises I had were the mounts being bad. Both front mounts had been making noise for some time and one of the rear just started so I decided to do all four. The cost of the quick strut was the same price as purchasing the strut and the mount separate. So why not replace the springs, and all. Plus no compressing of the springs. I would defiantly use them again. It feels weird having the car ride being stiffer. It had really gotten sloppy.

We are going to be added a new Camry soon as well. They are very nice. I have heard people say to wait until 08 because of the first year on a redesign tends to have more problems but I would be more trusting of a Toyota or Honda than a domestic car. Who knows, I guess even Honda and Toyota make mistakes too.


Thanks for your advice.

I bought three first year "redesigns". A 96 Grand Caravan and an 85 Jetta and most recently an 06 RAV4. Can't say the first two were stellar vehicles but, can't say they were the worst I ever owned either. My 72 Cougar takes that prize. Jury is still out on the RAV4 but, odds are it's going to be a great car. Still have the Caravan. It's too versatile to get rid of. Besides normal maintenance I figure I've put $15-1800 into it and it has never left me stranded. Not too shabby for an 11 year old van.

Can't see a reason to not use quick struts. They can't kill you either. What more could you want? Thanks for the post.

[QUOTE=exploreco97] It feels weird having the car ride being stiffer.

==============
You're always going to get a stiffer ride with the Monroe over genuine Toyota.

That would be the downside to the Quick Change product.

If you put new Toyota springs in, the ride should be more compliant because it is the softer part of the progresssive windings that would settle first.

The factory manual has ride height measurements, so you could see if you needed new springs.

RIP,

Sorry, I don't know of any other company making the Quick Struts. At $170 each, I don't know if another company could make them and sell them any cheaper, especially when you consider the cost of the struts and the mounts alone. Prices did vary when I shopped for them. Pep Boys and Murrays were the cheapest in my area, at that $170 I mentioned.


exploreco97,

"Only problem we ran into were some parts that were rusty that slowed us down a bit, but that was it."

When I did my 98 I soaked evrything down with a good penetrating oil for the previous 2 days before I worked on the car. Driving them after soaking them let the penetrating oil really work in well. Everything came off smoothly. The only thing I was really worried about were the swaybar endlinks. If the other bolts break off you only need a new bolt or screw, since the other bolts/screws go in to threaded holes in the new strut assembly.

Mike

...Thanks for the post about your new Camry. From everything I've read it is the leader of it's pack. Probably a big part of the reason Ford is hurting. That Fusion just doesn't spark much interest for me. The Camry is a definite possibility for my next car.

I've looked for that post on the new Camry. Haven't been able to find it. Could someone please post a link? I may be looking at a 2007 soon. Thanx.