Struts are shot, how much longer might they have?
I took my car to the Ford dealership yesterday to replace the tie rods and front breaks. While he was under there he noticed that the struts were shot, but that I could wait on them for a while if I wanted. My question is (and what I forgot to ask him since I was already concentrating on that big 0 bill) how long can my car go on bad struts.
I have a 1988 Ford Taurus (only 37,000 miles) with the original suspension, so it’s not surprising that it’s finally warn out, but I’d like to put it off for a little bit.
Thanks.
Tagged with: ford • ford dealership • ford taurus • little bit • struts • tie rods
Filed under: Ford Taurus 1986-1991
Since your car is almost 20 years old, just the natural weight of the vehicle sitting on the struts is your most likely cause. That said, depending on if you hear a "Knocking or a Popping" noise while going over bumps, your struts could last a couple more months. When you have them replaced, you may want to have what’s called a "quickstrut" installed, that’s where the strut, spring, and strut mount are all brand new and installed in one unit, so that way you don’t have to worry about a spring breaking after you do the struts. The "quickstrut" is a bit more expensive, but it’s well worth it.
not very long,if they are shot like you said and it depends if they are back or front,the body of the car will far and rub your tires
Tie rods and brakes are a necessary repair. You do not need to replace struts, they wont cause your car to break down, they only decrease your ability to manuver, break, and they give you a bumpier ride and put a little more stress on the suspension.
With a car that old, I wouldnt even replace them, i’d live with it. They can be expencive, I called for a few esitmates, the shops around here wanted $700-$1400. I did it myself, but it still cost me over $400 in parts.
First off, if he just "looked" at the struts there is no way he can tell if they are bad or not. When you drive does your car bounce alot? or is it still pretty smooth. If it bounces and rides rough then the struts need replacing, if not he is just trying to get more money. Also a tie rod and brake job should not have been more than $150. brakes=$40, tie rods $50, labor $60. Also at 37,000 that is not a whole lot of miles for struts, most are engineered to last about 75,000 miles.
you can drive on them until they PUT HOLES IN YOUR FRONT FENDERS AND HOOD!
my friend has the same cars and waited, and 2 weeks later he hit a big bump and the top of the strut broke through the hood.
Got any friends who are ”back yard mechanics”, Bet they can do the struts, brakes, tie rods and alignment for the same amount of money your paying the Ford Dealer. Not replacing the struts may cost you a new set of tires and braking problems.
I agree with cj on this and your stuts are an important part of braking when you hit the brakes with bad struts the car will lunge forward putting more stress on the front brakes and making your back brakes useless. Also there is a way to tell if the struts are bad by looking at them if they are leaking or it there are certain patterns worn into your tires. If they are causing tire wear then it definately would be cheaper to replace the struts than having to keep replacing tires every 10,000 miles.
i wouldnt drive it too long or it will weaken the springs.