Struts

[stretch80]

I had the all 4 struts, rear strut mounts, and front strut bearing/ mount replaced on my 99 Intrigue at 180,xxx. The shop did a poor job and now I have clunking noise coming from the front. The noise is getting worse and its hard to tell if the rear is making noise. I think it is the front mount bearing. I can only assume it was installed incorrectly, possibly they left out a the plate that goes between the upper mount as one poster mentioned in his thread. Needless to say I will go back to doing my own work and try and get my money back from the shop. For the front, since I don't know if parts were left out, if springs were switched from side to side I plan on buying quick strut assemblies and replacing myself. My question for the rear is are the springs specific to side of the car and are there likely pieces such as the plate in the front mount that could have been left out. Any advice and details on assembly including if I reuse the existing struts and just replace bearing and mounts including how to distinguish which spring goes on which side would be apprecaited

[gmtech1]

The springs are the same side to side. MOST of the time you only disassemble and reassemble one strut at a time, only having to deal with the spring once. Hard to say what happened to the ft. I have seen aftermarket strut mounts cause alot of noise. It's really a pretty straight foreward job. If I remember correctly, the rear strut mounts are all one piece, kind of hard to screw them up.

[LittleHoov]

Check out your swaybar first before you get to into it.

The stock bar is very prone to breaking, which could definitely cause a lot of noise. Also check the frame bushings and endlinks.

[Tech II]

Are you trying to say you had all this work done, and it's worse than before? Should have done a 180 and gone straight back to that shop.....

[stretch80]

Originally Posted by Tech II

Are you trying to say you had all this work done, and it's worse than before? Should have done a 180 and gone straight back to that shop.....

. Is your technical advice any good or you just good at stating the obvious

[Tech II]

What I am saying is, a GOOD tech, when the work is done, will road test a vehicle, when he is finished installing parts.....he will check the ride, check for noise, check for a pull, etc.

If you pick up a vehicle, and it is making noise, ESPECIALLY, if that noise was not there before, you know he didn't road test it, and now his work ethic is in question.....when you don't go back immediately, in some cases you don't have a leg to stand on(I have seen people come back weeks later and say it was doing that when they picked the car up).......it's only common sense that you, yourself, road test that vehicle as soon as you leave the dealership, and if you are not satisfied with the work, you go right back to that SM, and take him for a ride! You will be making your case, and you will be helping a future customer, if that tech shouldn't be there...

And most importantly, you should not try to correct the problem yourself, and then try to go back to whoever did the job and try and collect on it.....you give them the chance to fix it, and if they don't, you take it to a garage to document the fix, and then take them to small claims court, if you want your money back.....

You are asking us to give you technical advice on a job that we did not see done.....and yes I am stating the obvious, if the car is worse than when you originally brought it in.......but obviously, you didn't....