Hey guys,

I am currently on stock MR suspension with 101,000 miles. The front right started to make noise over bumps. I am assuming it is the strut mount and not the strut itself. The car feels well dampened and not bouncy so I will assume all struts are fine... I haven't torn into it yet to find the exact cause of the sound. Assuming it is a strut mount, i can replace that about $50. I'll do both sides so total of $100 ish. However, the stock suspension already has 101,000 miles on it. How much longer can the struts really last...? (I plan on keeping the car forever lol) I feel like they will start giving out soon and have to replace them anyway.

So he are my questions.

Should I just replace the strut mounts and call it good for now and wait for the struts to blow later? (Cheap but eventually expensive route lol)

Or...

Upgrade to coilovers (looking at fortune auto 500's right now) to fix the presumably bad strut mount with camber plates and not have to worry about struts for a while? (Expensive route)

My car is my DD. I track my car a few times a year (autox and road course) but i hope to increase that. I am currently not limited by suspension but by my driving skills. Maybe in the future, the extra adjustments in the coilovers will be nice. I wouldn't mind going a little lower to fix the lifted look but not necessary. I am worried about ride quality. Michigan roads are terrible...

I'm open to other ideas too.

Thanks for the input!

 

bump

 

Perhaps sending the struts back to Bilsteins for the refresh? It'll be cheaper than getting a new set of coilovers and you can use that money elsewhere. I don't know about you, but most of the people probably won't use the full potential of the coilovers, just my $0.02.

 

i think you answered your own questions:-)
My car has 87K on the original Bilsteins. 50 K of that with Swift Spec-r still feels really taut. Great for autocross and occasional track day. As you suggest the limitation is not the car, i would save the cost and get some driving instruection and then change to something different down the road once you have better skills

The roads where you are are not good. I would stick with the Stockers and just replace the top hats. You need a good spring compressor. Be sure to loosen the top center bolt before jacking up the car. NOTE loosen only !!!!

Check the rear ones too. IIRC you can buy the rubber isolators for that, so an easy quick fix if worn.

 

get some coil overs

 

Go with coilovers! its a win win, added value and performance plus the fact that its completely adjustable to your liking and the alignment options are unlimited. I am running JIC and they are awesome!

 

I just rebuilt mines 100% better

 

I would be 100% sure it is actually strut related before going to all that trouble. There are a number of components in the front suspension that can cause all kinds of noises (alot of them sound the same too... which is awesome for trying to figure it out lol). If it were me I'd get the front end off the ground and give it a shake down.

Like you said, you're planning on tracking the car more and looking to take your driving to the next level I think it would definitely be worth going CO.

 

Perfect answer.

 

You can send your struts to Bilstein to have them serviced for $75 per strut. If you can't afford the downtime, you can get a used set of KYB struts for next to nothing to put on your car while the Bilsteins are getting serviced. I wouldn't worry too much about the longevity of your struts. You'll have to put some maintenance into various bushings long before you have to worry about the struts.

l8r)