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'95 Camry rear suspension?

Hi. My Camry is a '95 v-6 sedan LE and very well maintained.

However, even with new (correct sized) Toyo tires, I've now noticed the ride becoming a lot harsher over this past year with the feeling of all the little road bumps and imperfections. In fact while riding over some of the larger road ruts, there is a decided knock from the rear area. When loaded with people the rear tires feel as if they are biting into the pavement even though those aren't the power wheels.

My first thought was with the shocks/struts but when I push down on each of the four corners of the car, the bounce return is still gradual = normal. But I can still hear that knock from the right rear when I bounce that corner ..a little less so from the left corner. So that leads me to think the actual hydraulic shock cartridge may be ok but the assembly might be at fault?

My question is, what can I do now as a further check and perhaps attempt a repair of this part of the suspension? Is a realignment involved afterwards (as with front struts)? With a reasonable head for mechanical repairs (I do my own work on our old '55 Chevy p/up truck and other at-home vehicles), am I able to do this myself without a lot of specialty equipment ..is it a big job better left to a shop?

Thanks for your help, Wayne

Reply to
Wayner
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I had the front shocks changed on my

97 camry and it made a tremendous ride improvement. You can do them yourself. Get a Haynes manual and coil spring compressors and be careful those springs have a lot of energy.
Reply to
ROBMURR

I'll bet they made a difference. My front suspension seems to be alright. It's the rear I need help with.

Reply to
Wayner

My camry struts went bad by going hard not soft. New struts made a great improvement. A rear bushing may be bad also

Reply to
m Ransley

The upper strut mounts are what are giving you problems. We see this a bunch. While you are at it you may as well replace the struts as well as the upper mounts, as you will have them out of the car. It's pretty basic stuff if you're familiar with the work. You'll need a spring compressor to disassemble the McPherson strut assembly, but other than that, normal tools. I would recommend a Chilton vs. Haynes, as they are much more thorough. Haynes manuals have photos that look like they were taken from a satellite. Also do an alignment afterwards.

Reply to
qslim

I have similar problem. I replaced the rear strut and the upper mounts myself. But the problem didn't go away. Next, I will try sway bar bushing. If I'm not lucky, I may have to change sway bar link also... It's real pain that I cannot find the problem at the first place.

Reply to
joandjo

Thanks for the input. Was it a difficult re&re? How long did it take you to do both sides? I would be interested in seeing your results with the stabilizer bar bushing changeout as the strut re&re is expensive ..even just talking parts. I wonder what the shops do to pin down the actual problem. How do they isolate a bad set of strut assemblies for instance? Wayne

Reply to
Wayner

For me cheap set of rear sway bar bushing solved the knocking noise in the rear end when going over bumps. Very easy to replace. Andrew

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Reply to
Andrew LeBreton

Thanks, Andrew. Did it also solve the feeling of rear tire squash when taking off? Wayne

Reply to
Wayner

Wayne Never really noticed the tire squash problem Andrew

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Reply to
Andrew LeBreton

I think the rear sway bar to chassis mounting rubber bushings are worn. It was the cause of this rear end knock on mine, the noise was really loud for such a small part.

Geoff

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Reply to
Geoff

Thanks to one and all for a good solution to my rear suspension knock.

I changed out the rubber bushings on the sway bar and that seems to have done the trick. As with others in this group, I can't believe the difference this made ..and the old bushings didn't seems so worn. But I guess they were enough out of tolerance to cause the noise ..and the squish of the rear tires during takeoff. As for the ride itself, the bushings made a bit of a difference but I will still be looking to replace the shocks in the future as the ride is quite harsh nowadays.

Wayne

Reply to
Wayner

Thanks to one and all for a good solution to my rear suspension knock.

I changed out the rubber bushings on the sway bar and that seems to have done the trick. As with others in this group, I can't believe the difference this made ..and the old bushings didn't seems so worn. But I guess they were enough out of tolerance to cause the noise ..and the squish of the rear tires during takeoff. Was expensive for 2 small hunks of rubber as Toyota must know about this little trick. However, was some of the best $40 I've spent on the car yet!

As for the ride itself, the bushings made a bit of a difference but I will still be looking to replace the shocks in the future as the ride is quite harsh nowadays.

Wayne

Reply to
Wayner

Wish I had read this before as I have just spent over $1000 AUD to replace the shocks and then the sway bar bushes. The ride is fantastic now, but I think just the sway bar bushes would have been enough. I was talked into doing the lot by 'the professionals' and I think it was too much as the shocks/struts were not really bad at all. Also they broke the ABS sensor on one side and I had to wait 3 weeks for them to get a new one and replace it.

Reply to
Shydog

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