Do I need new Struts?, Please Help Options

[JonCars17]

Do I need new Struts? I'm a car n00b. Basicly I drove my car around Late Mother's Day like any other day, but it was raining hard so I came home. The next morning my Dad noticed my passenger side Tire was flat. So When I knocked off work, I took the wheel off and ran some water on it to find the leak. Basicly the tire was ripped alittle. It was rubbing up against something. So we looked at the car and noticed that strut was messed up alittle. My dad told me that the greese/oil on the inside of my rims isn't normal. I always thought it was because it was kindof always like that. I have one more pic that I really don't feel like resizing at the moment. I took shots of both sides because if I replace one, I'm gonna replace the other. Does KYB do regular Struts cause the last thing I want to do is lower it. My car is body kitted with the Invader Body Kit and is low enough as is. I basicly live in the Country with pretty messed up roads. You should beable to see where it is messed up alittle .

Oh Yeah, How much will I be looking at for the fronts. A guy I've known for years was suppose to come by and give me a qoute and tell me all the good stuff, but he forgot and said he would come in the morning. Tomorrow is gonna be a busy day Plus Struts would give me a much better ride? I kindof need that, lol.

I know it is dirty. I so need to clean it

[GT4WRC]

What caused the tyre to 'rip'? If it was rubbing on the shock, then you have other problems to worry about - such as incorrect wheel offset and/or too wide tyres.
Diagnosis just by looking at those pics is nigh on impossible. My advice would be to go to a suspension shop and seek their advice. Grease on the inside of the rim is more likely to be from a split CV boot, so check that out too.
KYB do make 'standard' type shocks - they are actually standard Toyota replacements. Ride height, however, is determined by springs, not the shocks.
Gary

[JonCars17]

Well I'll probably know more tomorrow, but I doubt my tires are too wide because I've had them for a year or 2 now. What exactly do you mean by wheel offset?

Edited:
My dad said that the strut was leaning alittle or so I think he said. Well anyway he said something like that.

This post has been edited by JonCars17: May 15, 2006 - 7:52 PM

[Supersprynt]

If u find out u need struts i got some for ya

[GT4WRC]

What exactly do you mean by wheel offset?

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/tires/art...31/article.html

[JonCars17]

No strut damage. I had him see if my CV Boot are messed up or anything, he said they are just fine. So how would i be getting grease/oil on the inside of my front rims.

[LewFX]

i say no but i cant tell in those pics, push down the car and see how far it nouces up. no bounce = blown strut.

[GT4WRC]

no bounce = blown strut.

Not sure which school of mechanical engineering you went too
Try the opposite
Gary

[Supersprynt]

^Agreed.

Struts stop the car from bouncing.

[Michelle95celica]

LOL yeah, push down on each side on the front & if it bounces up & down a lot (3-4 times) as if it were loose, then the struts are bad...if you push down hard & let go & the car just bobs right back up to level & doesn't bouce, chances are the strut is still good...the grease could be road grime, but the axle boot could be the culprit too if there is a tear in it. The axle boot contains a blackish grey grease that lubricates the axle & keeps out dirt & debris...

[LewFX]

have you noticed any lose of brake fluid, im wondering if theres a leak in one of your hoses

[ScoobyDooCruiser]

I had a similar problem. Have you checked front end alignment? My car was so badly aligned that the tire actually was rubbing and some how ripped the CV joint boot (at least thats what the guys at the tire place told me) which cause serious grease inside the rim. Its a thought at least. Good luck.

[cheeco]

have you inspected the wheel bearing seals? try looking at the back of hub and between the outer axle joint
and the knuckle for any grease. another possibility is that you ran over some crusty stuff in the road that got flung around.

if the grease is on the wheel itself i would not suspect a cv axle boot, usually when they rip (outer boot) they sling grease on the strut, lower control arm and tire rod. also the grease is very think and nasty

after just relooking at your pics, i noticed on the r/s the top of the strut looks wet. stick your finger between the
strut boot and the strut housing see if it is oily. if it is you need a new cartridge

This post has been edited by cheeco: Jun 21, 2006 - 7:29 PM