Had an occasional mild from end vibration at 65 mph along with an occasional soft knock from the left front end for a few weeks. Checked the tires, had them rebalanced and rotated, jacked up the front end and checked everything for play or noise. Found nothing. The testing included a visual inspection of the shock mounts inside the engine compartment as well as pulling and pushing firmly on the top of the shock absorber shaft.
Out this weekend on what turned out to be very bad bush roads with multiple 4+ foot deep washouts from a recent severe thunderstorm. Had to fill holes, move rocks and build up the washouts several times to be able to get across the dongas/arroyos/gulleys. The front end began to squeak going over bumps then suddenly became much noisier with a heavy clunking sound. Turned out the rubber part of the front shock mount had sheared. The central part was still firmly sandwiched between the two washers below the still tight nut but had torn completely free of the outer part. I guess this had been in progress and was what had been causing the two issues above.
The terrain was dry desert with nothing but small mesquite bushes and some occasional clumps of grass so no wood or anything solid growing to use. Eventually jammed a small piece of scrap wood I found on my floor on top of the shock, lashed it in place with a strap and limped on as carefully as I could. Luckily the next section of road wasn't nearly as bad and we made it out and back to the little town ok. Saturday afternoon on a 110 degree summer day in Truth or Consequences New Mexico is not the time or place to expect much of anything....
Nothing but a hardware store and a couple of car parts chain stores was open. I had thought of several possible solutions but couldn't find anything that had the right shape and hole spacing. One of the counter guys at Autozone went way out of his way to help and after a few dead-ends, his suggestion of using a steering wheel puller worked. With some longer bolts and extra nuts and washers I was able to bolt the frame to two of the bolt holes above the shock and use the pullers central bolt to lock the top of the shock in place. I put a 19mm socket on top of the nut to protect the threads on the shock and locked everything down. It worked so well that even the alignment was good enough to give no pull on the highway home the next day.
So two questions: is this something anyone else has seen? These where about a year old, replaced when I installed my lift kit. And can anyone recommend a brand that might be beefier than the run of the mill?
Her are a couple of photos to illustrate the failure, the first field expedient attempt to stabilize the shock and the solution with the steering wheel puller.
07-13-2021, 11:08 PM (This post was last modified: 07-13-2021, 11:11 PM by fixkick.)
(07-13-2021, 03:59 PM)Axel Wrote: Had an occasional mild from end vibration at 65 mph along with an occasional soft knock from the left front end for a few weeks. Checked the tires, had them rebalanced and rotated, jacked up the front end and checked everything for play or noise. Found nothing. The testing included a visual inspection of the shock mounts inside the engine compartment as well as pulling and pushing firmly on the top of the shock absorber shaft.
Out this weekend on what turned out to be very bad bush roads with multiple 4+ foot deep washouts from a recent severe thunderstorm. Had to fill holes, move rocks and build up the washouts several times to be able to get across the dongas/arroyos/gulleys. The front end began to squeak going over bumps then suddenly became much noisier with a heavy clunking sound. Turned out the rubber part of the front shock mount had sheared. The central part was still firmly sandwiched between the two washers below the still tight nut but had torn completely free of the outer part. I guess this had been in progress and was what had been causing the two issues above.
The terrain was dry desert with nothing but small mesquite bushes and some occasional clumps of grass so no wood or anything solid growing to use. Eventually jammed a small piece of scrap wood I found on my floor on top of the shock, lashed it in place with a strap and limped on as carefully as I could. Luckily the next section of road wasn't nearly as bad and we made it out and back to the little town ok. Saturday afternoon on a 110 degree summer day in Truth or Consequences New Mexico is not the time or place to expect much of anything....
Nothing but a hardware store and a couple of car parts chain stores was open. I had thought of several possible solutions but couldn't find anything that had the right shape and hole spacing. One of the counter guys at Autozone went way out of his way to help and after a few dead-ends, his suggestion of using a steering wheel puller worked. With some longer bolts and extra nuts and washers I was able to bolt the frame to two of the bolt holes above the shock and use the pullers central bolt to lock the top of the shock in place. I put a 19mm socket on top of the nut to protect the threads on the shock and locked everything down. It worked so well that even the alignment was good enough to give no pull on the highway home the next day.
So two questions: is this something anyone else has seen? These where about a year old, replaced when I installed my lift kit. And can anyone recommend a brand that might be beefier than the run of the mill?
Her are a couple of photos to illustrate the failure, the first field expedient attempt to stabilize the shock and the solution with the steering wheel puller.
you don't have tool rentals to get strut spring compression tools>?????
those top parts area all stock suzuki, right> and can not be bought from them now 1998 J18 1.8L sport SIDEKICK USA.
the TOP PARTS CAN BE WELDED AND REPAIR IN ANY WELDING SHOP .
that top part flexes and rusts.
then the metal fatigues. for 23 years, for sure used offroad easy, and lift kits add stress too. I say that part needs to be modified and built up stronger, welding rings to it or such.
then cracks
the breaks.
any good welding shop can do this easy,
i guess you are saying the top parts on the strut are stuck.? not sure me what all is failing here, besides top cap fracturing...
sorry
Thanks Mr. Fix, The metal shock mount parts are all fine, there is no issue with that at all. What broke was the rubber bushing/bearing that supports the top of the front shock. It's the part listed from PartsGeek in the pdf at the top. The rubber bushing that holds the top of the shock sheared. This allowed it to bang around inside the housing, both side to side and up and down. The movement changes the camber as it shift around and on a rough road the movement could have damaged the housing that supports the bushing.The spring and shock are separate so there was no need for a spring compressor, I just had to find some way to stabilize the top of the shock inside the mount. The shock was free to move and so with any up and down movement of the front wheel, the shock didn't compress but the whole shock was lifted up and down within the hollow mount. The steering wheel puller was used to center the top of the shock inside the mounting tube and to push it down and keep it at the correct height. Without the fix, the top of the shock was sticking up 100 cm beyond the correct position and could move freely within the mount.
Thanks Mr. Fix, The metal shock mount parts are all fine, there is no issue with that at all. What broke was the rubber bushing/bearing that supports the top of the front shock. It's the part listed from PartsGeek in the pdf at the top. The rubber bushing that holds the top of the shock sheared. This allowed it to bang around inside the housing, both side to side and up and down. The movement changes the camber as it shift around and on a rough road the movement could have damaged the housing that supports the bushing.The spring and shock are separate so there was no need for a spring compressor, I just had to find some way to stabilize the top of the shock inside the mount. The shock was free to move and so with any up and down movement of the front wheel, the shock didn't compress but the whole shock was lifted up and down within the hollow mount. The steering wheel puller was used to center the top of the shock inside the mounting tube and to push it down and keep it at the correct height. Without the fix, the top of the shock was sticking up 100 cm beyond the correct position and could move freely within the mount.
Does that explanation make sense?
no sorry id have to watch all that. sorry'
that kit is a clone of real suzuki parts, from china it bet
and did you read the free suzuki manual on strut replacement,"??? it is not like you think I bet, no?
i think you trying to do all this backwards, but I can not see you do it so.. is just guess based on others doing things wrong, sorry if not you.
chapter #3C page 3 is front suspension (the 96 manual is same on all these cars) sport is wider frame rails.\\\\
it is a removal, bottom up , job (strut removal)
then to put the strut back the top of the strut shock end, in your new doohicky top mount , already replaced new/. then all other steps are below. to finish.
(07-14-2021, 09:20 AM)fixkick Wrote: it is a removal, bottom up , job (strut removal)
then to put the strut back the top of the strut shock end, in your new doohicky top mount , already replaced new/. then all other steps are below. to finish.
Okay, thanks anyway.
The strut mount I posted was just a picture that came up with a search so I could show you what had broken, to help explain where the failure occurred. It's not one I plan to buy.
My initial post was to explain what happened to me and how I managed to get the strut stabilized WITHOUT the top mount. It was an emergency repair and perhaps my experience may help someone else if the top strut mount breaks in the middle of nowhere.
So my original question was if anyone has experience with a front strut mount that is good quality and likely to last? I know I won't be able to get the Suzuki original but it seems that KYB make one. I have always had a positive experience with their shocks but don't know about their front strut mounts. The one's I had were from a local chain car parts store and are clearly not very good.
I was apparently unable to clearly explain the issue that I'd had with my strut mount. I finally got around to replacing them and took a couple of photos to show what happened. Seems like an unusual problem but I'm sure I'm not the first.
The top of the strut was no longer held in place by the mount and the strut had lifted several inches. It was also able to bang around from side to side and would have damaged the strut mount frame on the body had I not been able to restrict its movement. I posted picture above of what I had found that stabilized it. Worked as well as the original bracket though obviously was not a permanent solution.
