Upper Strut Mount Bearing Question

mika · Post by **mika** » 30 Jul 2015, 08:09

I am swapping springs on my front susp assembly (from lowering springs to OEM in prep for the winter).

My upper strut bearings have a "tiny" bit of play when I wiggle them up/down. My question is: how important are these in the full assembly? Can I get away with not replacing them? I understand the spring seat is much more important (contributing to a lot of vertical movement if they are worn out). The correct sachs or lemforder(spl) or Volvo strut mount bearings are pricey (atleast 50 or 60 bucks each), I do not want to settle for WD express or other cheapo brands (starting at 20 on fleabay) that might end up being worse than the ones I currently have.

How much is "ok?" or what has been your experience with reuse/notreuse this part of the assembly?

Post by **rspi** » 30 Jul 2015, 10:17

I would replace them. Things can go from bad to worse pretty quick.

Post by **tryingbe** » 30 Jul 2015, 11:21

Replace the strut mount bearing and mount seat every time the strut is apart.

Or you can buy coilover with camber plates so you can get rid of the strut mount and mount seat all together like I did. You can also adjust the height whenever you want.

Post by **oragex** » 30 Jul 2015, 11:48

Is really the bearing that has play or perhaps the top strut nut got loose? There should be no play in the bearing, if there is any play it means there is advanced wear.

The spring seat actually sits inside of the strut bearing and doesn't touch to the car. So, if I'm not wrong, the whole car weight stands on these bearings.

I recently talked with a guy who bought cheap strut bearings for his S80. He said they were almost seized from the start.