Strut And Strut Bearing Plate

[edward wilson]

Took my 1999 grand am se to have the front end looked at.They told me it was my Struts and the Strut Bearing Plates.i asked him how much and was told $1067 dollars.needless to say it didnt get done.i know very little about cars,so i was wondering if others have had this issue come up and how much it cost them.

it seems like for the last 6 months or so there is always something wrong with this car.i use it for driving back and forth to work and it was o.k. until i got it paid for.isnt that way it always goes!!!!

[Slade901]

Why did you let your vehicle have a front end check? Got steering issues? Probably just need a front-end alignment at another shop?

Strut bearing plates is around $30 or less at Autozone. Removing the strut bearing plates also needs to remove the coil spring with a coil spring compressor. You can rent (then return free) the coil spring compressor at autozone.

Both strut bearing plates are bad or just one?

If you decide to remove the coil spring yourself, be very careful and do it slowly while compressing it.

You need to remove the 3 bolts that holds the strut/coil assembly on strut tower. Put a white marker or white out on the bottom two large bolt that holds the strut assembly. Those two large bolts are hard to remove and I use a sledge hammer with a wood between the large bolt and the hammer. Take out the coil/spring assembly out of the vehicle and then you can start compressing the coil. Never compress the coil while it is still in the vehicle because you have no space.

Once the coil spring is compressed enough where coil spring can freely move inside the strut (still compressed), you need a tool (available at autozone) to hold the tip of the strut (usually oval) while you remove the large nut and separate the coils and the strut. When you remove the strut bearing plate, test also the strut by pushing it down and see if it comes up.

Quicker way would be to just buy a complete set of strut assembly with new strut/coil spring/strut bearing plate/rubber mount which is available at autozone or advance autoparts around $299 or so. No more compressing the coils. You just remove the old strut/coil assembly intact and put the new replacement in.

Either way, once you are done bring it to another automotive shop place and have a front end alignment for $49.

[GTP Dad]

Slade901 gives some excellent advise. If you are not mechanically inclined then take the car to another mechanic for a price quote. $1067 is way too high for this job. Should be half of that with labor.