mmatheny

I took a couple guys to lunch today, and when I went over a dip/hump, it seemed that the rear end traveled a lot, not quite a bottom out. Do I need to replace the struts or springs or both? 93K miles

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

Struts. Springs shouldn't go bad. You may not need either. The ES is not an SUV. With a bit of weight that is normal.

llcoolpass

the spring are the reason you bottom out, but the springs can handle only so much. people forget, the capacity of the car is only around 950 lbs. can imagine your friends easily hit the max of the rear spring load along with any cargo in the trunk. but in your case, you should be weary of the continuing abuse of the suspension or the springs will indeed start to lose their ability. and the struts will wear faster, too. in your case, i would recommend changing the struts since struts on average last 60K miles, but if you are 'fine' most of the time and dont plan on having such a heavy load in the car, then you're probably fine as long as it passes a basic bounce test... if it fails that then replace the struts[ in pairs by axle] immediately [regardless of how often you would have the heavy load]

e.g. me, 220 lbs
my friend 200 my other friend 300 lbs and 100 lbs of stuff in my trunk... that's only " two passengers'' in a " five passenger car'' but im already almost maxing out the suspension-- and my car bottoms out too on certain road conditions plus i have sagging rear springs t osome extent from towing a boat [but brand new struts]

when they make cars, they figure people are 160 lb on average. of course, in the usa, this is hog wash. in japan , the people average even less mass. so one can imagine a japanese car is overbuilt... for a certain population. the suspension is one thing they probably forget. 200 lbs to them is a fat person, yet, that is what I weighed in full training weight. it's a funny topic that borders on rediculous.

mmatheny

Hey - I only weigh 130! My one friend that was in the front probably weighs close to 200, friend in back probably 160.
(and no, I'm not Japanese!)