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I installed new front struts and had a mechanic friend help me. The struts are Koni Strt. Everything is in but when I turn the car's front tires squeal....we've taken it apart twice and put it all back together and still the front tires squeal.

Heres a description of the shocks. http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...T+Street+Strut

Is it possible that the shocks REQUIRE you to have lowering springs?

Anyways, any input will help.

I'm scared to drive the car. I'm sure it'll be ok but still the wear on the front two tires and the squealing **** me off.

 
Rep Power: 367

eeeerm....
strt are stock replacement grade, so no lowering springs for them.

if they squeal in straight line, did you align after the change? toe could be off...

 
Rep Power: 367

they called struts because they are part of the suspension structure. so when changing them, they will change the alignment.

 
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I pulled mine out today and put it back in.. Alignment has totally changed, car pulls like crazy. No squealing though get er aligned.

 
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I don't have lowering springs. The tires squeal when I'm turning. For example, I take an exit ramp and I can hear squealing.

Also, I'm not sure what the correct terminology is but when I turn the steering wheel and push the gas pedal the wheel doesn't correct itself as quickly as it did prior to the installation of the struts.

I'd also like to mention that I only installed the front struts.

 
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NO, I didn't get an alignment yet. I finished this evening and all the alignment centers were closed. As you probably already know it is a holiday tomorrow. ( HAPPY 4th of July aka Independence day to you all)

The squealing of the tires isn't severe but nonetheless it is an obvious sign that something needs adjustment.

 
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BlueEM2, was your steering wheel off-center?

My steering wheel is off-center and is veered more towards the left. :T

Thanks again for the input. Please anyone with insight/experience chime in and help a brotha!

 
Rep Power: 243

Squeeling tire is probably due to your toe being off so its "dragging" your tire. The wheel not centering itself IIRC is due to caster being off.

Just get an alignment as soon as you can.

 
Rep Power: 313

Yes my steering wheel is off center bigtime now... since the last time I pulled my struts. I'm going to pull them AGAIN tomorrow and replace them because apparently you can't replace an upper mount bearing when the upper mount is rusted to **** which mine is. I haven't driven it much since I last had it apart because the upper mount spins in the housing due to POS upper mount. I'll let you know how things go after tomorrow but I will definitely be taking it for an alignment after.

 
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I replaced the upper mounts and the bearing that fits inside it.. We, my friend and I, thought we installed the bearing incorrectly in the mount. So I got another set of mounts lol. But we looked over it and it was placed and sitting correctly...

 
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I love you GolNat.

 
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And yes...dragging the tire is a great word to use. What does IIRC mean?

 
Rep Power: 313

Well.. I replaced the mounts too and it looks correct up there but it's not... I still have it misaligned and even worse than before so I'm replacing the damn struts... Everything on my car is so corroded now it's impossible to work with. Bolts are breaking, nuts are stripping.. and girls don't even look any more.

 
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BTW if anyone is curious the Koni Strt. are really stiff imo. I read somewhere from someone that they are suppose to be Koni Yellows on the softest settings.

But this just doesn't seem to be a good description. I say this because a friend of mine has a Prelude and he has Koni yellows with ground controls and they ride very smooth. I'm not sure what setting he has it on but I doubt its at the softest.

I work at a repair shop as a shop bitch (lol) and I've had the chance to ride some sporty cars. The ride is FIRM but not back breaking. I can feel the cracks in the road on the highway, something that was more subtle with the oem struts. I think its too much for me to be honest. The county which I work out is considered one of the slightly more "ghetto" county of the state and I assume that many of people are avoiding taxes or skimping on taxes so the county doesn't fix the roads as much. Don't really know...

Ride quality is 5.5/10. A ten imo would be a flying memory foam car and zero would be me being tied to a horse and getting my skinny *** dragged to death.

 
Rep Power: 313

^ IF you were fat you could probably roll and survive for quite a distance...

 
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I don't know maybe I'm just picky. Anyways, I have one last question. When installing struts is it bad to use an impact to tighten the top nut? Maybe I tighten it too much? Maybe I worry too much...

 
Rep Power: 313

Should be okay.. as long as you never have to take it off again.

 
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For the rear struts do I have to compress the springs? I saw a video online and they used the spring compressor for the rear...but I've replaced the rear for a BMW e46 and I didn't have to compress the springs.

 
Rep Power: 313

The springs may have a LITTLE bit of compression on them. You will most likely need a compressor to reassemble everything.

 
Rep Power: 243

IIRC- If I recall correctly

You should get used to the stiffer ride. Give it some time and your body will feel better.

 
Rep Power: 313

Ok I just replaced both my front struts.. It threw my wheel off about 30 degrees on the steering wheel. But I no longer have a floating alignment due to my top hats. Getting it aligned tomorrow no tires squealing though.