[Dodge Intrepid 1996]

Hey i was wondering if my struts are bad. I hit a bump on the expressway today and now my car sounds like metal is clunking aginst each other, coming from the rear right tire. I'm guessing it is the strut although i could be wrong.

If it is the strut; what is a good brand to buy i can only find monroe. Many people have said those are terrible where could i go to purchase mopar? I looked on thier site and couldn't find a place to purchase for a 1996 Dodge Intrepid.

 

[cdmccul]

You'd have to go to a dealer to get them, or one of the online dealers - Others on here will know the better ones to use. I guess it is possible that Mopar isn't supporting the first gen cars anymore. I don't know what Mopar will do if you have the Sport suspension, for example, and they only now have the Touring available... There is no difference in the mounting of the struts, but they may not list that in the cross reference.

Anyway, I would check to see if the struts are bad or not - MY test for them is operational and visual - 1) Go to the back of the car and bounce it up and down - get a good rhythm going, and then let go of the car and count how many times it still bounces. 2) look at the strut rod (inside the spring, the shiny bit) and see if it is oily.

If the car bounces more than two or three times after letting go, the strut is bad in that corner. If the strut shaft is wet, it is also bad.

You could have a bad swaybar link, a loose exhaust mount, a broken spring perch, a plastic splash guard bumping into things, etc... Either crawling under the car, or bringing it to Midas for an inspection is really the next thing to do...

 

[Scooter-Man]

The location on the strut were the sway bar end link mounts to is also know to break off the strut.

 

[Dodge Intrepid 1996]

Thanks so much for your replies, when i bounce my car up and down it doesn't make any noise, but as soon as i start driving it just sounds bad. Like i said metal just clunking into metal. After i get off work i will see how many times it will continue to bounce.

Does anyone have suggestions on replacement struts, i saw that gaberial had a quick strut assembly like monroe has anyone tried this out?

 

[unlimited1]

I would check the wheel bearing..

and make sure the lug nuts were tight..as you said it makes a metal grind sound anything else would be brakes dragging also..like a stuck caliper or e-brake cable stuck

 

[unlimited1]

also check the exhaust..

wife's jeep has a broken rubber support that caused the pipe to bang against the rear spring over a bump but it had nothing to do with a grinding metal to metal sound though..

 

[Dodge Intrepid 1996]

Okay I got it all figured out. . . I think lol. Last night when i got off work i went home and jacked my car up, and took off the tire to give it a visual inspection. The struts are fine but the stabilizer bar was snapped. It had heavy rust on it and looked like it finally gave way after 16 years. I looked for the part online but was not able to locate it. So i went to the dealer this morning, and they were able to order it for me i went ahead and got two, becasue my other one didn't look or feel like it would last much longer. I asked the dealer about mopar parts, and they said thats all the have . I guess your not able to order them online for some reason. It ended up costing 155 :baller: for two of the bars thier name was link-trail bars. He said the parts should be in tomorrow morning, and i will fix it tomorrow night i will be sure to let everyone to know how it goes.

If anyone has ever fixed this before it would be great of you could let me know how it went; and if thier was any problems you ran into. It looks very simple just unscrew a couple of bolts take out the old bars and put the new ones in.

 

[Franqstar]

i might have to look at mine just reading this...hehe...my rear struts for some odd reason have very thick amounts of grease or something all over the tops of the mounts

 

[Crash Override]

If it's anything like the plethora of vehicles I have replaced those on (mostly UK models of vehicles) they're pretty easy once you get the old one out. Sometimes on the ones with ball joints the ball can spin when you're trying to undo the nut, but under those circumstances I just grind off the nut and tap the bolt back through. (assuming you can get the grinder in easily) Not had to do them on my intrepid yet but I am showing some DriveWorks sway bar links at $20.09 each via Advance Auto... Is the part DW-K7433 from Advance Auto Parts the one you are looking to replace?

 

[Dodge Intrepid 1996]

Yeah i figure it will be fairly easy, but knowing my luck something won't go according to plan lol. . . As far as the part goes that is the one that connects to the sway bar, this connects from the bottom of the brake drum to under the acual body of the car. I'm not to worried about the money spent becasue if i learned anything on fixing cars it is that quailty parts are well worth it and Mopar is about as quailty as it gets for Dodge