My Aching Struts!!

whenever i make a lefthand turn in my 89 crx dx (stock engine, no major mods) i here and feel creaking and squeaking coming from the front of the car. as i said, i can actually feel it in the steering wheel. kinda feels like rubber against rubber...

if i leave my wheels turned left and get out of the car and press the whole car down by the front left fender area i can hear what sounds like the strut squeaking and creaking.

so, folks, i guess that means my left front strut is dying. it's a wonder it's lasted this long. 16 years old, and i never slow down for speedbumps, potholes, etc. then again, sometimes you don't see the potholes until it's too late (my first car, an 85 crx, had frame damage from a hole in the road so deep that the towing hook got caught slightly in the other side and warped the frame it still drove fine, but was slightly uneven when you looked at it head-on)

i'm a bit tired of messing with changing things on my car myself. i am probably still discouraged by the fact that i couldn't change the timing belt due to a stuck-fast nut. a place up the road could do the struts for about $160 (if i remember correctly) per side. sound like a good deal? just gonna be generic after-market struts.

Thats way to much. A shop down here does all 4 for $100 and they get it done right and in about 2 or 3 hours. Its not really that hard at all to do it your self, i have done it many times, just a litte time consuming.

The squeaking could also just be old bushings - mine do that every now and then and i either just wash the car and get the dirt out of them or spray them with wd-40 and it goes away for a while.

could also be strut bearings. does it squeak as you turn (while turning the wheel) or does it squeak when your holding the wheel during a turn.

Mine squeked all the time when hitting bumps and pulling into driveways with a small hill. I squirted some oil down into the strut and it hasnt squeked since.

i DID get a lot of dirt under my car recently due to rain+dirt road. i'll see if that's what's causing it, cause it only began after it got dirty.

yeah, it squeaks as i'm turning left. it only squeaks while the wheel is turned left a bit. if the wheel is strait, and i push the front end up and down, no squeaking.

I would check the ball joints and tie rods. If one of those babys lets go at highway speeds you could be in for some serious pain.

Lift left front corner so the tire is not touching the ground. Grab tire and rock in all direction, if any play is felt its highly likely to be ball joints or a tie rod. Once play is felt a further inspection of the 3 joints should be done to determine the faulty part.

Throwing uneeded parts at a car is dumb especially when it could be a safety issue.