[Shotimes] Steering?

[George Fourchy]

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 09:23:22 -0400, Co-Op wrote:

>Ford had a recall for this.  The
>solution was to install a plastic ring that spaced the strut downward about
>1/4".  Even with that, I still get a slight groan.  You could put a couple
>fender washers on each of the strut mount studs between the mount and top of
>the strut tower.

The fix is a metal plate, shaped to fit over the three studs that go through the top
of the strut tower.  Plastic is not the thing to use there....the weight of the car
(910 lbs per front corner) is supported by the plate.  I use washers instead, if the
tower camber plate welds have not been cut.  They don't require removal of the strut
to install.  Otherwise strength of the tower is suspect, and the plate helps
reinforce it.  You could use the plate AND washers, if you needed to move the strut
bearing down more than 1/8 of an inch, which is the thickness of the plate.

>On the other hand, you might just have gotten water into the strut bearing.
>IIRC, the bearings are cheap from Rock Auto.

That's pretty hard to do....lots of stuff to get past before one gets to the
bearing.  As small an amount as the bearing actually moves, I don't think it would
be the actual source of noise.

Zach...I have located your custom rear control arms!!  ;-)

George (F)