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Sedans Toyota Camry Toyota Camry Suspension Questions
108 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2009 at 4:28 PM
You are in the Toyota Camry Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: monty9 (Sep 27, 2006 12:03 pm)
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Replying to: ray_h1 (Sep 28, 2006 2:41 pm) |
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| It was Firestone Tires and Service, Roebuck Plaza Dr. AL and it cost around $600.00 at that time. | |
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Hi all, I started to notice a strange clanking/squeek noise from the from suspensions of my 1998 Camry which has 78K miles on it. This is more significant if I drive over speed bumps, but it is not there all the time. The guy at the local Firestone suggested that I might need new Struts and strut mounts. He also said that this is a big problem with the '98 Camrys and that the problem develops around 60-80K miles. What do you all think? Thanks. Mike
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Well.. it seems I'm in good company. I have a '97 Camry that's been a bit of a lemon  (relative to my other cars.) It had a bad valve and smoked after three years (fixed), I can't get a dome light to last more than a month, I've lost a few lights in the dash, and finally... the front suspension rattles (both sides... in stereo) when going over bumpy roads or manhole covers, etc... no noise from the back. I called and was told it could be a couple of things, and the most expensive would be the strut mounts. but HERE'S MY QUESTION.... IS IT SAFE to leave the car in its present condition?  Can I just live with the rattle and drive on, or is there some risk in doing that? It seems a shame to throw $800 into a car that is neary 10 years old for asthetic reasons.. but I whouldn't hesitate for safety reasons. Aside from that (and a few past issues) I really like the car.  Thanks for your help.
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Replying to: jeffmccombs (Oct 16, 2006 8:55 pm) So... after writing my post, I went back and read an earlier post on suspension issues which said that 1) they had their front strut mounts replace 2) it still made noise and 3) they just needed to tighten the nut on top to eliminate the noise... mentioned that you lift the hood and "bounce" the front of the car and look at the front suspension mounting nuts... they shouldn't move. Well.. I did that check on mine, and they moved a little.. not much... and it turns out that the nut is the same size as the wheel lug nut... and I happen to have a torque wrench... so I simply tightened the nuts about 1/4 turn on each side and did the bounce test... I didn't see any movement. So... I jumped in the car and backed out the driveway.. and when it went over the driveway lip... just the bump bump of the tires... no rattle... and when I drove over the manhole covers... just the bump of the tires.. no rattle.. over the jostly bumpy street... (driving slower so I can hear)... no rattle... Hmm.... did I fix it????? We'll see. I'll post again tomorrow after starting out cold in the morning.. and after starting out at work (covered parking lot) where I seem to hear it the most... I'll let you know. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...  Wish me luck.
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Replying to: jeffmccombs (Oct 16, 2006 10:06 pm) It's apparently fixed... I have a 15 mile drive to work and 15 miles back... rough highway, bumpy city streets, etc.. and when in the covered parking lot at work (where I could hear it the loudest) it was perfectly silent. Drove all the way home and not a single rattle... SO... it appears that folks can elminate the strut mount rattle (or how ever you classify the noise).. just need a deep socket that fits (same as the lug nuts) and a socket wrench with a long handle (my torque wrench is about 20 inches long.) I barely turned it.. maybe a quarter turn.. just enough reduce the movement... NOTE... I am not a professional car repair guy.. just someone who doesn't like to blow a lot of money on needless repairs... There is no guarantee that what I did will be a long lasting fix (although you can bet that if it rattles again in a year or so, I'll try another quarter turn.) Good luck all!!
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Replying to: jeffmccombs (Oct 17, 2006 5:12 pm)
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Replying to: pat (Oct 18, 2006 3:01 am) A few days later and no rattle. And this is after having the problem for two years. I've been thinking, and it appears that Camry's and possibly Avalons can have a suspension rattle that can be easily fixed as I have done above. I'll come back in a month or so and report on whether the minor adjustment fixed it. It would be great if folks could resolve the problem without having to replace the upper strut mounts... after all, I just barely tightened the nut, and the problem has completely disappeared. I couldn't be more pleased!
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Replying to: jeffmccombs (Oct 20, 2006 8:41 pm) Really annoying. I guess I can try tightening the nuts you guys are talking about. So..where the heck are they? 
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