[flamesofdarkness]

I just took my Supra to the shop the other day because I think I have worn out or damage suspension. They gave me an estimate of $800+ for needing 2 front sensa-trac strut, 2 front sway bar links and (the most confusing to me) left outer tie rod ends and R&R left outer tie rod. I don't get that part, are those tie rods the same? Or do they mean the right outer tie rod? Anyone got pictures?

My supra rides is smooth but on bumpy roads it stinks, and it makes noise and giving me some rattles, metal clinking noise. So, now I am going to have to replace all 4 shocks, rear brakes and rotors and those rods I've mention and probably my 2 rear lower control arms since they are kind of bent!

Thanks for the help!

 

[flamesofdarkness]

One more thing, when I'm driving 65 mph and up car starts to shake, maybe its tires unbalance or needs shocks replacing. Either way I am going to do all those when I get some $$$ and need to get wheel alignments too. Gosh, headache for buying an MK3 I loved so much. LOL

 

[jonahs_supra]

the shaking is from the bad tie rod end
when they say R&R it stands for remove & replace
is there a price of the tie rod and then another price for the R&R?
if so that is their labor charge for doing the repair...IMO

my supra was the same way on bumpy roads...it was kinda like driving a boat
come to find out i had 1 good shock, 2 leaky ones and another was completely shot
i replaced my shocks with ones from napa and installed some eibach lowering springs

the rattling noise is because your supra is 20+ years old lol

 

[flamesofdarkness]

Thanks jonahs supra for your help.

The tie rod price was $87.42 and the labor was $42. I think I will say no to that, I can probably order 2 outer and 2 inner tie rod ends from ebay for $40 and do install myself when I have time (even I don't know anything about cars, lol). I don't even know what those sway bars and tie rods look like so I did some research of them. I will probably install all 4 new shocks to front and rear with springs too myself, rather than let the shops do it for that expensive cost.

What kind of shocks Napa have? They OEM shocks or aftermarket? I might stop by there when I'm ready to order them.

 

[jonahs_supra]

If your not sure what your doing then honestly I wouldn't do it
If you don't set your tie rods right then your alignment will be off
87 dollars is expensive for a tie rod IMO
It should be around 30-60 dollars for a tie rod
Price will vary on what brand you buy

As far as replacing your shocks I am going to advise you don't do it
The tension from the coil springs is enough to kill you within seconds

Either take it to a garage or have a friend with car knowledge help you out
When I say car knowledge I don't mean your friend with the d16 eg civic with rusted rear quarters and oil leaks out the ass lol
Seriously coil springs are not something to play with
I'm not telling you your an idiot...just trying to make sure you don't get hurt lol

Also I stay away from eBay tie rods
They're made cheap
Moog and tdw are good tie rods IMO

 

[jonahs_supra]

They're not oem shocks
If your car has TEMS suspension and you want to keep it then shocks will be a lot more
I removed my TEMS actuators since they didn't work anyways
I spent around 140 for all 4 shocks and 250 for eibach springs

 

[Mk3*Supra]

i'd go ahead and let the shop do the work for you.. you'll need certain tools for everything that you need replaced and i'm assuming you don't have them

if anything buy the parts yourself and just let them do the install



and i agree with the avoiding ebay parts.. friend of mine bought ksport rod ends and they ended up breaking on him.. he now has tein rod ends

 

[BenStoked]

no, fuck monroe shocks.
they mark up the shittiest quality shocks they can, while you could buy your REAL shocks elsewhere for a bit more, and have them install those.
no telling what the other parts quality will be.
if you can't do the work yourself, I can comprehend that, but make sure you get quality parts, not the crap they are obviously trying to sell you.

 

[DegreE_v.2.0]

Get on eBay and pick up some Tokico struts.

 

[TaSe]

also use rockauto.com for some parts

 

[flamesofdarkness]

All right thanks everybody for the helpful info's. I don't consider doing the work myself. I will find a friend or someone whose a mechanic to help me out. If by all means I run out of options or choice than the shop will have to be my last resort. Car has some major suspension that needs to be replace. It will cost me over thousands of dollars fixing it. Either A.) I storage it in a garage for 2-3 years and make it my project and build it piece by piece, B.) have enough money and get all parts and let shop do it right now, or C.) sell it =(

Than save up and get an MKIV next year =)

 

[jrlewis0550]

As far as replacing your shocks I am going to advise you don't do it
The tension from the coil springs is enough to kill you within secondsIMO

Not sure its this dangerous, and you can rent a spring compressor from any auto store and its not that difficult.

 

[jonahs_supra]

That spring can shoot up, hit his neck and then he's dead instantly

 

[TaSe]

Not sure its this dangerous, and you can rent a spring compressor from any auto store and its not that difficult.

I guess you've never seen a compressed spring be come uncompressed rapidly... I worked at a shop with a wall mounted spring compressor, as the guy was working on it and compressed the spring the bottom holders slipped and the spring flew downward and broke his leg in the other direction then had enough force to still go through the ceiling


Difficult... No, dangerous if not done properly YES

 

[syntax_error234]

Its not that big of deal just use common sense and have a friend to watch your back. Its so easy that its rediculous to have to pay someone to replace shocks and springs. WTF.

 

[flamesofdarkness]

Don't worry, I will have someone help me. I will get a compressor and do it carefully when the time comes. I have seen some instructions on how to handle it too. I'm very careful =)

Btw, was going to take some pics of the car today since it's nice and sunny and just got done washing and waxing the car (my wax sucks)...but no camera's! =(

 

[jonahs_supra]

Tase is right
Just yesterday we had a f250 break the front spring mount
Spring shot out and ripped the fender
Nobody was hurt thankfully

 

[jrlewis0550]

I guess you've never seen a compressed spring be come uncompressed rapidly... I worked at a shop with a wall mounted spring compressor, as the guy was working on it and compressed the spring the bottom holders slipped and the spring flew downward and broke his leg in the other direction then had enough force to still go through the ceiling


Difficult... No, dangerous if not done properly YES

Ok i agree it can be. So can driving i have seen people run over so does that mean i should not drive. Same with anything in life, and yes i have done many springs its not bad at all i would be more worried about jacking the car up than using a spring compressor. You dont need to compress the spring all the way just enough to get it apart.

 

[Damondread]

Some gave me this link not to long ago. Very helpfull info with pics for doing shocks and springs
http://gallery.sanitylapse.com/v/supra/Suspension+Upgrade+8-9-05/
Compressing the spring is dangerous though, but so is driving down the street to buy milk.

 

[Outlawsonic]

Take the shocks off. take them to a shop and have them swap springs. It cost 50 bucks max for all four (at least that what it cost me). then bolt them back in and then get it aligned. Job done. If you don't feel okay using a spring compressor

As for the other suspension parts, every just bolts in with some bushings. and when your done with any suspension parts get an aligned