My Right strut broke, the Upper Control arm bushings looked pretty tired. Had a bit of drag on left brakes plus uneven rotor wear on insides of both rotors. As far as I know all was original except pads at about 107K miles.
The only thing holding the spring in was the upper control arm.
Cut spring coils to relieve tension since the strut was no longer held together at the top. Used a 4" grinder to cut about 75-80% thru coil then sawzall the rest of the way. I did not want to chance the high speed wheels fracturing when the spring let loose and snapped down. Cut about 4 or 5 coils before all tension was gone.
Installed new parts From Rock Auto
MOOG CK80038 & CK80040 (Premium) "Problem Solver"; Complete Upper Arms
GABRIEL G57080 (Original Ride Quality) "Ultra" ReadyMount Struts
BREMBO Rotors 09887211 (Fully Coated (Maximum Protection For Rust Prone Areas)) "PRIME"
RAYBESTOS Calipers (NEW not reman) FRC11381N & FRC11382N "Element 3"
Pads DYNAMIC FRICTION 1552093100 (Daily Driver) 5000 Advanced; Semi Metallic Front; Limousine
New Brake Hoses.
Also needed one MOOG sway bar Link
Rotors were made in China. All other stuff USA, Korea, & other countries.
My experience so far is that the Gabriels do provide a very nice smooth ride. I did not want to destroy the comfy stock style ride which had pretty decent handling.
Driving at speed on the Henry Hudson & Cross Bronx I find they get a bit skittish. In that they tend to float a bit when faced with tightly spaced bumps or road wrinkles. I assume they are doing this on individual bumps but repeated imperfections allow you to feel the loss of traction. I wish could compare the other options like MONROE 171346 and KYB SR4140. So the Gabriel's are a good choice for a nice ride but could use some improvement in at least one particular adverse condition. The others ????
I want to thank those who offered sage advise for me in dealing with the broken strut and in Strut selection.
Jay
The only thing holding the spring in was the upper control arm.
Cut spring coils to relieve tension since the strut was no longer held together at the top. Used a 4" grinder to cut about 75-80% thru coil then sawzall the rest of the way. I did not want to chance the high speed wheels fracturing when the spring let loose and snapped down. Cut about 4 or 5 coils before all tension was gone.
Installed new parts From Rock Auto
MOOG CK80038 & CK80040 (Premium) "Problem Solver"; Complete Upper Arms
GABRIEL G57080 (Original Ride Quality) "Ultra" ReadyMount Struts
BREMBO Rotors 09887211 (Fully Coated (Maximum Protection For Rust Prone Areas)) "PRIME"
RAYBESTOS Calipers (NEW not reman) FRC11381N & FRC11382N "Element 3"
Pads DYNAMIC FRICTION 1552093100 (Daily Driver) 5000 Advanced; Semi Metallic Front; Limousine
New Brake Hoses.
Also needed one MOOG sway bar Link
Rotors were made in China. All other stuff USA, Korea, & other countries.
My experience so far is that the Gabriels do provide a very nice smooth ride. I did not want to destroy the comfy stock style ride which had pretty decent handling.
Driving at speed on the Henry Hudson & Cross Bronx I find they get a bit skittish. In that they tend to float a bit when faced with tightly spaced bumps or road wrinkles. I assume they are doing this on individual bumps but repeated imperfections allow you to feel the loss of traction. I wish could compare the other options like MONROE 171346 and KYB SR4140. So the Gabriel's are a good choice for a nice ride but could use some improvement in at least one particular adverse condition. The others ????
I want to thank those who offered sage advise for me in dealing with the broken strut and in Strut selection.
Jay
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