Has anyone ever had the upper strut bearing seize-up on a sport sedan ('03 or later SAAB 9-3)?
The reason I ask is it appears that this has happened on *both* sides of my daughter's '03. She has done a fair amount of highway driving on wintery (read: salt laden) New England roads, so I suppose it is possible. It just seems odd to me as I've never had this happen on any other car I've owned.
What I'm talking about are the bearings at the top of the front struts that the top of the springs rest against. What's happening is when you turn the steering wheel you feel the spring sliding on the upper mount instead of the upper perch swiveling as it's supposed to.
Should be items #3 and 4 in this diagram:
formatting link
Parts seem cheap enough. The labor will likely be the bigger part of the bill. Normally I would handle this kind of a job, but this daughter lives away from home.