98 s70 strut mounts bad

Post by **xtrattitude4u** » 05 Feb 2010, 19:00

My top front strut mounts are making a clunking sound and need to be replaced. Does the car have to be realigned afterwords? Also, does anyone know where to buy good ones or which brand is OEM?

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Feb 2010, 19:37

Strut mounts or spring seats?

There IS a difference

Strut mounts usually don't fail, whereas the spring seats (at the top of the shock tower under the hood) will deteriorate and break and start clunking and making awful sounds. Grab the top of your strut tower and try to twist it. If that's the case, that's the spring seat.

Regardless, I'd use OEM for either area unless you want to do it again. If it's the spring seat, get the OEM XC90 SUV mounts - they will work just fine and are a much better design than the 850 ones.

You will need an alignment if you replace either.

salts850 · Post by **salts850** » 06 Feb 2010, 00:08

when the spring seats go bad,can they cause the front end to sway side to side?? I just had an alignment done after being sent away to fix my rh balljoint. Had alignment done, which is much better, but just feels "loose". With wheel held tightly, the front end wonders. I even had them redo the alignment. Tie rods are both good and new. The bushings have cracks showing when looking at the strut front under the hood. They don't seem to move too much when i check for play with a pry bar. Any ideas? I think i drive my car way too hard, i',m always replacing something in the front end.

icelandic · Post by **icelandic** » 06 Feb 2010, 06:06

When the spring seats go bad, first symptom will be noises particularly when you go over speed bumps and the such. It will get worse and worse, up to a point when the top end of the strut will move a bit side to side and will be unable to operate properly. At this point, your suspension geometry will be altered. If you want to check if it is really bad, grab that big visible washer looking piece around the strut top nut and try to rotate it. If it does, the spring seat is shot. The advice to use the upgraded spring seat is a wise one. However if you want to replace the strut mount, make sure yours are bad. They rarely go bad. However if they are, this is an OEM only piece (made by INA). Anything less will not last.

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Feb 2010, 11:38

I'm not sure about the swaying - have you had a look at your end links?

I DO know that once I replaced mine, my car felt like it responded a lot sharper and less floaty going around corners and curvy roads.

That said, your spring seats shouldn't do THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoKxV9imtIE

Post by **xtrattitude4u** » 06 Feb 2010, 12:55

Yes it is the spring seat that is visible under the hood on either side. My bad

I actually had one replaced awhile ago but don't know if the shop used OEM parts. I'm pretty sure it's the other that's making the noise. So the dealer is the only place to get these parts?

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Feb 2010, 13:11

No worries, they're different from all other cars there. They even call them the 'strut mount spring seat' so it's more confusing

I ordered mine from FCP Groton. Get the ones for the XC90!!!

Here's the link:
http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/p ... pring+Seat

Post by **xtrattitude4u** » 06 Feb 2010, 14:26

i tried to spin these by hand. I could spin the suspect one about 1/2" in either direction. it doesn't feel right. The one that was replaced recently, however, also spins but only about 1/4" in either direction. Does this mean i already need to replace the other one again also???!!!

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Feb 2010, 17:28

Regarding the one you just replaced, try bouncing the fender of the car up and down. You shouldn't see the bottom of the spring mount separate from the body of the car.

The other one sounds like it definitely needs to be replaced.

It should be pretty tight, and not move a whole lot in either direction...I believe it will move some though even if it's brand new. Mine spun completely around in either direction, but I let it go for a while before I actually got around to fixing it. The other side would twist a very tiny bit and then stop, so I chose to leave it for now.

Post by **xtrattitude4u** » 07 Feb 2010, 13:14

ok. Ya niether one spins completely around, but the one's making lots of noise so it's time to go. Thanx for the suggestion on the spring seats, sounds like a great idea. I'll probably just replace them with the xc90 spring seats.