Bottom line: if the spring is supposed to be 8" tall, and over the years it has shrunk due to weight to 6-1/2" tall, you've lost 1-1/2" of ride height. No shock is going to make that up (air shocks?)
So you either need new springs for proper height, or stiffer lowering springs if you like the current ride height and don't want BAM! on expansion joints. It's good for Emeril, not for my Corolla...
That's amazing...
All my Toyotas have come from the factory with a rebuildable strut, oil filled cylinder with replaceable seals. Tossed 'em all...Gas filled cartridges are a lot easier.
But 200K on the originals? Man...
Hachi, what you have said is good general theory on spring and shocks,..but isn't there 2 situations ie when the car hits a deep hole or mound the spring-shock combination have to work to stop the car suspension bottoming out and secondly, when the car is cruising and comes across mild undulations in the road surface. It is this one which is more likely to show up as dangerous if the shock has little damping and the car skates or tramps?
Jason
Yeah. The spring just holds the car up, but the shock keeps the wheel from bouncing like a basketball! (I have actually *seen* someone driving a car in this condition!)
The shock also helps keep the tire in contact with the road (if it *is* bouncing like a basketball, it ain't touching the road, is it?)
The spring suspends the weight of the vehicle. Worn springs don't hold up the weight as well. That contributes greatly to the BAM! when you hit an imperfection in the road. It also helps deteriorate the handling, although the shocks are more responsible for this.
Here's a hint, and why a lot of mfg's went to alloy wheels (other than the fact they are popular): unsprung weight. The springs deal with the weight of the vehicle, you can increase a spring's weight handling for road handling or decrease it for comfort. Unsprung weight is the mass of the tire, wheel, brakes, etc that aren't suspended by the springs. You want to reduce this weight as much as you can, since the heavier these pieces are, the more the imperfections in the road transmit themself to the chassis of the vehicle.
So, if you wanna 'bling' your ride with wheels, pick something lighter than stock!
I think I'm the third owner. I bought it from a buddy of mine at
167k. He bought it at 120k from his mother-in-law. He knows squat and could care less about maintenence but I will ask if he knows if the struts were replaced at any time. The exteriors have plenty of surface rust with a little bit of black paint here and there and, amazingly, the boots are still intact on all four.Can I look at the tops of the cylinders to tell if they are rebuildable? Threaded caps or something like that? Is "Toyota" stamped anywhere on them?
Brian
Yeah, threaded caps. They should be visible at the top of the strut assy.
They are also brass colored. After this many miles, they could be *any* color!
I never bothered rebuilding them, too much of a hassle. But, if you want to attempt it, let me know how it goes.
I just (have) cartridges put in. I don't do struts. I had a friend's stepfather do them once, he's a mechanic, and he was using the cheap-ass spring compressors, the ones that just hook over a coil. Put the spring on the ground and then disassembled the strut, the original factory oil-filled. We heard a loud bwaaaaannnng and then a BANG, when the compressor slipped off and went straight through a cinder block wall!
I sell used cars. Our mechanic has a wall mounted srping compressor. A lot of companies have taken Toy's lead and made the assemblies removeable without compressing them first. Then he mounts them to the wall machine and then disassembles them. MUCH safer!
The wife and I are overdue for a trip out to Emeril's Delmonico located below the Venetian in Las Vegas. Hmmmm! 5 hour drive. LOVE that deep fried battered shrimps in a Cajun sauce. It's soooo good I've licked the plate!
-- - Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
I addressed your questions only a couple of posts ago. :-)
-- - Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
HachiRoku wrote: Unsprung weight is the mass
This is NOT a hard/fast rule. If you have very low profile tires, then you need to minimize unsprung weight because there is little tire sidewall to utilize for road shock absorption. There are desirous effects from having tall sidewalled tires with relatively large amounts of unsprung weight, ie a smaller/lighter car that you want to mimic the ride quality of a heavier luxury car.
Oftentimes, it's discouraging to find an insignificant weight savings with ordinary cast aluminum wheels, ie OEM's.
-- - Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
MaN, NOT WHEN i GOT A MOUTHFUL OF COFFEE!! (sorry, didn't mean to shout)
Hey ... it's YOUR computer screen and keyboard. LOL. Have you eaten at any of Emeril's places?
-- - Philip @ Maximum Torque RPM
I agree with snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com responce. for your info, to all camry owners i have 1992 camry V6 with 190000 miles, with the OE struts. may be i am lucky?
I agree with snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com responce. for your info, to all camry owners i have 1992 camry V6 with 190000 miles, with the OE struts. may be i am lucky?
Its not unusual for shocks to be operating good enough at high-mileages to pass the ride-test. I have a 1979 Ford V8 which has had the same front shocks for eons,..and they still appear to do the job.
My '96 Camry (100,000miles) is OE and they are a bit bouncy but they still keep the car from rocking when travelling at hiway speeds,...its this test which I consider important. Once shocks have dropped their guts,..they provide no damping and the car feels like it and becomes difficult to keep in a straight line. !!
Some drivers are far more demanding of their shocks,..and would change them quite often. Jason
My original 91 camrys lasted 60000m , but went bad differently they went hard.
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