2006 LaCrosse rear struts/coils?

[Arthur_Davies]

Looking at the back of the car, there is a significant difference between the driver's side (very little gap between the top of the rear wheel and the wheel arch), and passenger's side (massive gap between the top of the rear wheel and the wheel arch).

Also, just lately, an annoying chirping noise from the rear left of the car. This can't be a coincidence.

I'm guessing something's failed on the driver's side rear suspension and the car needs new struts on both sides at the back?

How big a job is this? What is a reasonable amount of time for an independent shop to claim for the labor?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Rich B.]

Have done struts myself and need tools to compress springs and what a pain (like a compression cage). Depends on quality of parts and guess they reuse same springs still or buy new complete replacements. With proper tools shouldn't take more than 1.5 hours each for replacement I'd imagine reusing OEM coil springs. Or shocks and springs may be separate on rear, another thing I'll have to look at lol.

Believe your problem is more than bad shocks, sounds like spring failure (broke/snapped) with unevenness. If pushing on rear trunk car bounces up and down more than once, shocks are bad and good chance signs of oil leakage present. A strut is just a shock absorber with a big spring around exterior.

Same thing would occur with rear leaf springs, sometimes those would have a broken leaf. Was way easy though to jack up rear of car with the lift kits. Remember my 'Lil Red Express Truck had chrome traction bars I added, looked great. Prevented twisting of springs with tire rotation, torque.

 

[Arthur_Davies]

Rich,

Thank you for your detailed and helpful reply - much appreciated.

The back end is bouncy. I just went outside and checked.

I did have one thought after reading your post.

I have a buddy in the next town over who, unlike me, has workshop space and a floor jack, and also unlike me, knows how to work on cars properly (he's restored a barnyard-found '67 Mustang, more or less from scratch).

I saw this integrated struts and springs set for $150: Strut & Spring Assembly Pair TRQ SCA57036 - 1ASSP00426 at 1A Auto.com

Apparently you don't have to compress the springs to install them. I was wondering if these could be a good fix, at least for a while?

Normally I wouldn't skimp on auto repair, or beg a friend for help to fix my car - but it's been one heck of an expensive few weeks...root canals (plural) and their accompanying crowns! When I saw the back end of the car I was about ready to scream.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Never heard of that brand and it may be good but you may want to check on the forum for recommendations. Some of the junk floating around out there has high failure rates in under a year so it's may be worth spending a little bit more than having to do it over again a year from now. Check Rockauto as they have a decent selection in various price ranges.

 

[Rich B.]

Your welcome Arthur. Yes, with the new springs is the way to go but pending on how much longer your going to keep the car would dictate expense and as '07LCXL says above. As with tires, wouldn't purchase most expensive if just needing to get car through winter and trading next spring IMHO.

 

[Blu05]

Also if your rear wheel gap-to-fender are inconsistent as well as you mentioning the car riding bouncy, OEM replacements are the the way to go but are expensive, or monroe struts/coils and moog struts i heard were good. please DON'T buy quick struts! Their cheap prices are what lures you in! They are stiff, made cheap and compromise ride quality, and the car will sit higher due to them being new and they seem to take a while to settle. I had a previous buick that had those installed on the front and they were horrible!

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

On replacement spring and struts combination wit aftermarket parts, a few items to look at is the spring and make sure it matches the original in number of windings and diameter of the wire, also the shock tower strut mount as these could be slightly higher or lower on the strut nut. Some springs may have a extra winding and/or small diameter wire which could make for an unhappy install and ride.

 

[Arthur_Davies]

Thanks for everyone's help with this. In the end I just took it to an independent shop and had a proper job done - she's riding level again, and it didn't cost a fortune.

 

[BIG ROCCO]

I don't know about the particular brand you showed, but I do like the idea of a complete bolt in solution consisting of the strut mount, strut, and spring, all assembled. it is much more convenient, and it acknowledges the fact that all three components have been in use for many 10s of thousands of miles and, even if not completely failed, are probably not in ideal condition.