rear shock is blown . should i be worried?

[tear2wo]

well recently my rear right strut in my wagon has been making funny sounds for any little tiny bump. sounds like my spring is scraping against the side. also that side is about half an inch or more lower then then the left side of the car.

is it safe to ride around like this? i dont push my car hard at all but i wouldnt want my right wheel to pop off either.

[rob_is_legend]

Is it safe, no not really. You should look into replacing it immediately. You can drive on it for a while, but the longer you do, the more likely you are to break other things.

[tear2wo]

is there some type of test that i can do to make sure that the shock is blown n its not some other problem ?

[ExplodingCake]

Uh-oh , it will be a chain reaction of blowing all of them up. Replace NOW.
I remember I only had 1 strut blown , then the following days one starts blowing to another.
Not giving you a scare but , it's a ultra-highly possible event.

To test the strut , push down the corner of the car where the blown strut is , if it bounces , it's dead.

[tear2wo]

Uh-oh , it will be a chain reaction of blowing all of them up. Replace NOW.

with my luck thatll be EXACTLY what happens one of the perks of owning a cb

[ExplodingCake]

with my luck thatll be EXACTLY what happens one of the perks of owning a cb

Been there , done that So I junked the bastard.

[tear2wo]

yea i wish i could do that.. but i think the best thing for me is just invest as much money as i can into making her good again and ill be better off in the long run .


at least now i have an excuse to noto have anyone riding in the back. im thinking about getting some f & f type 1 coilovers. im riding on kyb gr2's right now

[deevergote]

If you did something to blow it, like hitting a big pothole, then the rest of them going out is unlikely. However, if it just went due to normal wear, the rest won't be far behind.

Having a blown shock will mean that if you have to corner or brake hard, that wheel will most likely bounce and leave the ground. It will cause your car to be very unstable. It's not a front wheel, so at least you'll have some control... but it can still be bad. I made the mistake of not changing the tires in the rear of a 92 DX I had... "it's only the rear" I thought. The rear is important... I learned that when I went into a spin when the rear tires lost traction.

[foamypirate]

Having a blown shock will mean that if you have to corner or brake hard, that wheel will most likely bounce and leave the ground. It will cause your car to be very unstable. It's not a front wheel, so at least you'll have some control... but it can still be bad. I made the mistake of not changing the tires in the rear of a 92 DX I had... "it's only the rear" I thought. The rear is important... I learned that when I went into a spin when the rear tires lost traction.

Hence why tire shops recommend putting new tires in the rear and not the front. Most people don't understand why. I'm sure you do, Deev.

[deevergote]

Yeah.

I was an idiot. A poor idiot. A guy I worked with hooked me up with his frined at a tire shop. The tire shop guy said I could have some Dunlop SP Sport tires (low end, but still very good tires) for $30 each. Mounted and balanced. What diid I do? Cheaped out and said "the fronts look ok... put them on the back and give me new ones in front!"

The car might not have lost it around that curve if the tires were new. The fronts gripped, even though I was hitting the curve at 50mph in icy conditions. I tapped the brakes, which started the spin... but the second I hit the brakes, those rears were loose.

[tear2wo]

so lately the shock hasnt been making that grinding noise anymore . this has me VERY worried. maybe the spring was rubbing and sumhow it got knocked back into place or the shock is just destroyed..

when i jack up the car what should i be looking for ?

i might be putting an engine in the rear and driving 70 miles in a couple of days, i want to make it home in 1 piece .

[deevergote]

Blown shocks don't fix themselves.

If you're thinking something might be loose, jack up the car and look. The shock mounts to a single point at the bottom, and two points up top. I think with a wagon, it's easy to access the top (it's a little tight with the coupe and sedan). Also, if your wagon is an EX, check to make sure the rear sway bar is properly connected (I'm not sure if the LX wagons had rear sways... I've never worked on a wagon before!)

Until you fix whatever is wrong, I would not trust the car for any significant distance. Especially if you're planning on putting an engine in the back! Find a friend with a pickup truck, or go rent something. A small expense now will be much better than the expense of doing additional damage to the car, or even crashing. If you crash, not only do you damage or destroy your car, but your insurance is going to go up for the next few years as well!

[Tippey764]

Why would the car be sitting lower is the strut is blown? The spring determines the height not the strut.

[tear2wo]

Why would the car be sitting lower is the strut is blown? The spring determines the height not the strut.

hm you have a point. well its only a little lower.. maybe i have to re adjust the coilovers. im running koni colover sleeves with kyb gr2's .

[deevergote]

Koni doesn't make coilover sleeves.