At what mileage do you consider replacing your stock suspension? My 2000 LX is at 105K and has stock suspension.

The reason I ask is that yesterday, I started hearing something that sounded like a lug nut rattling around behind my hub cap on the driver's side front, but there was nothing loose behind the hub cap. It's only there when I hit a speed bump or pot hole or squirrel or whatever in the road. Does this indicate that it's time to change suspension?

 

Put the front end on stands and pull the wheels off. Grab and firmly wiggle the springs and shock absorbers, looking for excess free play. Do the same for other front suspension components. Also inspect the ball joints and CV joints and boots for damage.

 

well with springs/struts just pop the hood and push up and down repeatedly hard on the strut assembly and if the car keeps bouncing then your strut is going out. i say the strut assembly because the fenders and hood are so weak your probably bend them pushing down to bounce the car. at least on the front. the rear you can bounce no worries about bending the body at least not as much. best spot to push IMO is the rear corner next to the trunk lid. bounce al 4 corners and see if any bounce more than others.

if they all seem fine then it could be a balljoint or bushing. if its a spuratic pop noise then id say its the LCA strut bushing busted loose from the rubber/metal sleeve. or a tie rod or balljoint starting to go bad. they will get louder in time

 

RonJ, how do you define excess free play? Ive never messed with suspension before, so I don't know how much free play there should be. I only just now got back from the store with jack stands, if that's any indication of how much of this I've done before.

I'll do Addiction2bass' bounce test, then put it up on stands and check the other components. I'm wondering if I will be able to see any visual evidence of whatever the shudder I've been feeling is. For over a year, whenever I reached a certain speed at a certain RPM (usually 2500rpm, 30-35 mph), the entire front end would shake until I accellerated or decelerated. No one was able to provide an explanation awhile back. I hope I'll also see something that explains the strange rattle I heard yesterday and today.

 

That's a good question. For most suspension components, you should feel virtually no free play when grabbed and shaken hard. If you are unsure, compare identical components on the right and left sides. If the side where the noise is coming from is much looser, then you have likely found a relevant problem.

Again, comparisons made between the right and left side will likely be informative.

Such shaking often indicates a wheel(s) severely out of balance. Also carefully inspect the axles for damage (again excess free play and torn or ruptured rubber CV joint boots).

 

Well, there was no free play in the suspension whatsoever. The car passed the bounce test too. The only suspension issue I found that might be an issue was this:

Looking a bit worn on the driver's side, but still intact. It wasn't like that on the passenger side.

While we're on the subject of comparisons... My passenger side rotor is looser than the driver's side one. They've been replaced within the past year. The driver's side one won't move, period. The passenger side one wobbles freely, held in place only by the caliper when the tire is off.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...t=MOV01255.flv

Wheels have been balanced recently. All counterweights are present. There is some uneven wear on the passenger side front tire, indicating that my alignment is slightly off. I haven't had this car aligned since I've owned it. I figured that since it was totalled from the front and rebuilt, the shop that fixed it would have checked alignment. I'm probably wrong.

Anyways, to a likely culprit...


The driver's side outer CV boot is slightly torn right at the edge where the clamp holds it in place. There is a circular trail of grease where some has been slung around. the reason why it's all over the place here is because I rubbed against it and got it everywhere.

 

your rotor moves because its missing the retaining screws that hold it to the hub... not really a big deal because when you put the wheel on and tighten the lugs down, it presses the rotor up to the hub, which is what the retaining screws would do if they were there.

 

ya looks like the ball joint is probably getting dry... but as long as its not poping i wouldnt worry about replacing it to much... when you get a alignment ask them to check the balljoints. they will tell ya if it needs repaired. if it does have it repaired before they do the alignment because it could be slightly off and the slight play can effect the alignment.
if ya got the cash just replace the uppercontrol arm and axle before ya get the alignment.


it could just be the axle... i know mines torn and busted up but its not poping yet but i do still have a vibration at ruffly 50mph range. ive been putting it off for awhile now. i believe thats whats vibrating my car because i just got the wheels ballanced and a alignment so i know all of that is in good shape so its gotta be the axle. ill probably replace it this week sometime.