Rear struts

[smantas]

I have a 94 regal with 48,000 miles....this car was bought from an estate sale and the rear struts basically fell apart....

I have put new monroe struts and mounts on them but it still has a rattle in the right rear, kinda sounds like a bad strut noise even though they are brand new

took the car in and had it all checked out and they said they couldnt find anything wrong....

This is driving me nuts....I was told that the new struts were probably not seated right, but whe I asked the mechanic he told me that they only go in one way and thats it....there are no seating to putting them in....I bought the struts and mounts and had a muffler shop install them, they are the ones that are telling me that they couldnt find anything wrong....they are telling me that it's probably the leaf spring in the rear...

I think they are trying to cover up for a mistake thay made...

Any feedback would be appreciated!

[goneguy]

I am going through something some what similar to what you are but maybe a different problem. I have a 96 Regal GS. I had PepBoys replace inner and outer tie rods, lower ball joints and had them replace the struts while they were at it. Now I get this sort of rattle/knocking sound when I go over bumps at low speed. It sounds like something is loose up front but when I took it back the mechanic (who seems like a nice guy) took the car back in, checked it all over again and assured me that everthing was tight and as it should be. Then he spent some time on his computer and came up with a service bulletin stating that with the conditions I have I might need to install two washers someplace where the struts go to stop the noise. The washers had to be ordered from the dealer and took their sweet time to arrive. Anyway, PepBoys puts these washers in and charged me for another hour of labor. They toss in the washers no charge. Whoopie, they cost nine dollars!
So now the problem seems a little better but the noise is still there. They say it could be the sterring rack (181,000 miles on the car) but the knocking is not felt in the steering wheel. They also point out that the rear struts are junk and the thumping/knocking noise may be in the rear struts and the sound/vibration is transfering to the front of the vehicle. I can sometimes feel it knocking under my feet as I am driving. Anyway, I would love to replace the rear struts but they want $160.00 just for the labor and I don't have it right now. I can't do the job myself do to limited use of my right arm but if I don't need any special tools I will get one of my sons to help me replace the struts.

[maxwedge]

Originally Posted by goneguy

I am going through something some what similar to what you are but maybe a different problem. I have a 96 Regal GS. I had PepBoys replace inner and outer tie rods, lower ball joints and had them replace the struts while they were at it. Now I get this sort of rattle/knocking sound when I go over bumps at low speed. It sounds like something is loose up front but when I took it back the mechanic (who seems like a nice guy) took the car back in, checked it all over again and assured me that everthing was tight and as it should be. Then he spent some time on his computer and came up with a service bulletin stating that with the conditions I have I might need to install two washers someplace where the struts go to stop the noise. The washers had to be ordered from the dealer and took their sweet time to arrive. Anyway, PepBoys puts these washers in and charged me for another hour of labor. They toss in the washers no charge. Whoopie, they cost nine dollars!
So now the problem seems a little better but the noise is still there. They say it could be the sterring rack (181,000 miles on the car) but the knocking is not felt in the steering wheel. They also point out that the rear struts are junk and the thumping/knocking noise may be in the rear struts and the sound/vibration is transfering to the front of the vehicle. I can sometimes feel it knocking under my feet as I am driving. Anyway, I would love to replace the rear struts but they want $160.00 just for the labor and I don't have it right now. I can't do the job myself do to limited use of my right arm but if I don't need any special tools I will get one of my sons to help me replace the struts.

Instructions for the rear are at autozone.com/repairinfo