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Front suspension--lifespan of bushings

12K views 29 replies 6 participants last post by  Wildcat 
#1 ·
Since I heard a familiar tapping sound from the front end of my '09, I ended up replacing the mounts for the 10 month old Monroe QuickStruts with Moog components, which on visual inspection appear to be a better design. While the tapping went away, there are still some clunks coming from lower on the suspension in front. I have already replaced the stabilizer bar bushings, and the stabilizer bar links are solid, as are the tie rods.

That pretty much leaves only the lower control arm bushings, and I've had noisy rubber bushings in my older cars before. The Civic, in fact, had them so rotted that the dealer couldn't perform an alignment until I had them replaced. I wonder if it is worth replacing the control arms, which come with new rubber bushings plus new ball joints. That would take care of any wear from aging rubber, and give me fresh ball joints up front also. Visually, the existing bushings don't look too bad, but they are dry. (A lot of times, the bushings don't look bad until the suspension is taken apart, when things look crumbly or fall apart.) Thoughts? I'm tired of driving something that sounds like a junkyard on wheels. ? And replacing this thing isn't going to happen until next year.
 
#2 ·
How many miles are on the vehicle? I think it's safe to say you can replace bushings and ball joints for way, way less money than the entire arm. Plus, once you do, the car is likely good for a long time to come, making it far more cost effective to keep than replace. I'm not sure how much point there is in fixing it all up nicely for the next owner. Plus, your '09 is likely a much better car than anything recent made by Honda or anyone else.
 
#3 ·
When we had our 2009 CR-V it had a tapping or clunking noise coming from the front end. It turned out to be the brake caliper sliding pin that was the culprit. Once that pin was greased, all of the front end chatter/tapping/clunking noises went away.
 
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#4 ·
I only drove it three miles on Sunday. I took it on a longer ride today and the noise has gotten far worse than it's ever been, so essentially I wasted half of a Saturday replacing the strut mounts and bearings in the front, and to me the noise still sounds like the strut. Honestly, I don't trust this rolling pile of junk to get me out west without falling apart. If I had money set aside, I'd be dumping it to buy something else before leaving. I'm sick of dealing with the constant problems on these 3rd gens. ?

Anyway, I have to figure out the noise, and it's way too large of a noise to be something like a caliper pin.
 
#5 ·
That is the same thing I thought. But I noticed that when I heard the noise , if I pressed lightly on the brake pedal, the noise went away.

Other thoughts would be engine mounts, a hose or wire hitting something in the engine compartment.

My 2009 was a GREAT vehicle, and pretty much repair free. I drove her 123,000 miles and towed her another 60,000 miles before trading her in on a 2014 CR-V. I'm sorry to hear you are having problems.
 
#6 ·
This noise is there, brake or not, and it seems suspension-related since even minor road surface changes are making noise now. And I'm under a tight deadline--this work was all supposed to be finished this week so I could get an alignment done and get on the road a week and a half from now. Yet the more I work on this, the more problems I find, and I keep ordering in more parts. I wish someone had the KYB Strut-Plus in stock as I'd replace both the fronts and toss these Monroes in the trash. (I don't trust the Gabriel struts.) Despite the new mounts, I'm still not convinced these struts aren't causing the noise up front. It sounds like our other '09 did (except worse) before I replaced the original struts. But I'm not ruling anything out yet.
 
#7 ·
Good luck. The struts were still original when I traded in our 09!

Check out the catalytic converter heat shield. I remember I had to use stainless steel hose clamps to hold mine together and keep it from rattling after it rusted and broke at a bolt connection.
 
#8 ·
Heh, yeah, that heat shield has been my nemesis from the first Honda I owned. ? Mine was rattling last month, and I did the hose clamp trick on that one to stop it. And guess what? The other '09 just started rattling last week. At least it was a $4 fix. I had to buy two $1.99 hose clamps since they did not have anything larger.

In the past, I just used to bend them at the remaining bolts until it came off. Usually though, the front bolts would rust through first, and the heat shield would give out on the freeway, with the wind pulling it towards the pavement, a shower of sparks following me home!

I may have found some of the rattling--when I got back from the dealer (had to buy a new battery, and an inlet o-ring for the power steering pump), I decided to hit the mounting nut for the strut with a low-powered impact, and it was loose. I am going to have to dismount the strut again and buy a better locknut for it. I'm guessing that through the rotations, this one worked its way loose. Once that is settled, I can figure out the lower clunking noises (which I'm betting are the dried-out bushings).

These Monroe QuickStruts have been a headache to deal with....
 
#9 ·
OK, of all places, on a Chrysler forum, I found that others have had issues with the QuickStruts. Not so much the struts, but the mounting. One issue some of them found was that the nuts securing the strut to the mounts were bottoming out, and therefore the struts were not as tight to the mount and causing that knocking sound. I noticed when reinstalling the nuts on the struts that I could have tightened them down more. I'm afraid I may end up removing both and further tightening the nuts. If they bottom out, though (read the quote below), I can use a washer underneath that nut so I can get a little more thread to grip onto.

Problem, though--I want to replace those locknuts. I don't know if the Monroe threads are the same as the threads on the original Honda struts, so, I don't know if a 12mm x 1.25 (fine) metric thread will work on the Monroes, and I can't find any reference to the thread size or pitch online. I doubt Monroe is going to be responsive, but, I want to find some nuts locally and replace these ASAP, as nylon lock nuts are only supposed to be used once.

This is exactly what I'm hearing:

If there is not enough thread on the shock-rod, then no matter how much torque you apply to the nut when you tighten it against the hex-end of the rod you will not be able to sandwich the mounting strut between the strut-rod and nut, and you will be able to turn the shock-rod with little effort. To the extent that there is still clearance in the gap between the shock-rod/nut and strut mount there will be a knocking sound or feeling coming from that wheel when you drive over slightly uneven (but smooth) pavement. The effect is less noticable on bumpier roads.
Source: https://www.allpar.com/forums/threa...f-washer-to-shock-rod.158713/#post-1084656884

This still doesn't explain the other clunks I'm hearing, but this is the worst of the noise. I'll report back with what I find, once the rains from the hurricane have passed (we're getting them up here in Michigan today).
 
#10 ·
FWIW, I banged on the strut nuts with the impact and that strut rattling has gone away, but the lower clunks in the suspension are getting worse. Looks like I'll be replacing all the bushings when I'm back from the trip. This thing sounds like a junkyard on wheels and I'm tired of it. ?
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the tip on the Quick Struts. I'm about due to change out the front struts on my 08 with around 120K on them (190K on the V). The last time I just replaced the strut and reused the other components of the assembly. The factory struts themselves were leaking which prompted the repair at 70K. This time I'll do the complete unit since most of the rubber is shot and the rest of the assembly is showing its age. I'll have new end links, sway bar bushings and whatever other rubber component in there that I can get to on hand to replace as well.
 
#12 ·
I am wondering if, in the QuickStruts, I just needed to torque down the strut nuts vs. replacing the hardware. I'm in Montana at the moment and the strut rattling has not come back. I will torque down the rears when I'm home in a couple of weeks.

But for the rubber, I've already replaced the stabilizer bar bushings, and the links are fine. (I checked them when I replaced the struts.) But the control arm bushings are probably trashed, since they're rattling quite a bit now. The Moog replacements come with the ball joint attached, and there are only five bolts or nuts to remove to replace the control arms. That beats having to press in new bushings.

Now that I know how the strut is "stacked," I would probably buy the struts by themselves and replace the hardware and bellows. (And hope that the spring doesn't break; I've broken a couple over the years.)

The Harbor Freight spring compressor works well enough, as I bought one to redo the hardware. With my daughter's car needing work, I may end up needing to replace struts on that one.

The tie rods are good, since I just had an alignment done. My shop won't do it otherwise.
 
#13 ·
The control arm bushings are most likely shot--that danged rattling was driving me nuts over 5,000+ miles the past few weeks, and I think the unpaved roads through Canyonlands finally finished them off. ? So, back to Rock Auto to get in some Moog lower control arms (with ball joints!) and be done with this rattling. Since these have the bushings already installed, and the new ball joint, it's a five or six bolt job. I'll report back when I'm done with the installation. Everything is easily accessible, so this shouldn't be an ordeal.
 
#14 ·
Took the driver's side control arm off--the rubber bushings all looked OK, but decided to replace it anyway since the ball joint is attached to it. And the knocking remains, of course.

I'm afraid the year old struts are no good. It's a knocking noise coming from higher up, just like it was in our other '09 on its original struts. I've had Monroes before in our Acura that were great shocks, but these are not very good at all. They ride nice, but I don't need to sound like a rolling junkyard either. I will probably order some KYBs for the front, now that they have their "Strut Plus" models available and in stock. Everything else is tight under there.
 
#15 ·
Follow-up with two recent changes.

First, I decided to replace the front struts and get KYBs in there. The main clunking/tapping I heard did not go away!

I got disgusted with that revelation, put 'er up on jack stands again the next morning and gave everything a closer look. I found a tiny split in the bottom joint of the stabilizer bar link--if the joint sits the right way, it doesn't even look split. But it did not rattle by hand until I undid the top bolt of the link. With the suspension under pressure, it was not rattling when I inspected it months ago--I can see why it was hard to miss. Needless to say, I replaced both, and that noise is gone!

But what about the KYBs? All of the miscellaneous noises that the Monroes were making is now gone. Like the old struts, the Monroes would make small noises when the steering wheel was turned, or when pulling out of a driveway. The KYBs are dead silent. Over everything. And we have the worst roads in the country. I've never had the front suspension be this quiet before, even when I bought this CR-V in 2016. I would have bought them last year but they were not in stock.

So I have a pair of Monroe QuickStruts wtih a year's worth of use on them. They might make a few small noises, but the shock absorber function still works fine. Not sure what to do with them.

Now I just wonder about the rears. I know I need to torque down the nut on the damper since I hear it rattling a little bit. That was an issue with the fronts, but I torqued those down and that noise (the threads of the top of the damper rubbing on its mount) was eliminated. It's a common issue; I saw the same issue on a MoPar forum with the Monroe QuickStruts.

Bonus content: I can swap a front strut in a 3rd gen CR-V in half an hour, each side. ? (And I have all the torque values memorized...this is my fourth time doing this!)

Final issue--when I went to replace the lower control arm on the passenger's side, one of the mounting nuts was frozen solid. This was one of the two rear bolts, in the same spot where the stabilizer bar bushing bracket mounts. I had soaked it with two penetrants, and also hit it with the torch--nothing. I had the 24-inch breaker bar on it (which famously loosened a crankshaft pulley bolt) but was afraid to give it too much force, as I didn't want to snap the bolt off. If I did, I would have had to drill out the entire length of the bolt, depending on where it snapped; I did not have a new bolt on hand to sacrifice the old one. Since the bolt passes through the subframe and back into the control arm bracket, I would not have had to worry about anything to thread a new bolt into --the new threads are on the new control arm.

I finally had to cannibalize the new lower control arm and take the ball joint off, and install it on the old arm. (The ball joint is attached with three bolts to the control arm, not pressed into the steering knuckle as it is on other Hondas....genius!) The rubber bushings there look good, as they did on the driver's side, but I wanted both sides to have new rubber. That will have to wait until next spring, due to the other cars I have to get finished up before the freezing weather hits. And I hope I don't have to sacrifice a perfectly good ball joint to do it. (I tore up the rubber boot on the old one with my ball joint remover.)
 
#17 ·
For sure! I've spent a few months getting rid of noises. It was a nice smooth ride today, as it's the first time I've taken it out for more than a mile or two in a week. I've been driving the Civic to shake out any remaining bugs and of course, today I found something else wrong with it. (And I need that fixed to swap it for the kiddo's Accord to start tearing into replacing the gas tank and the front suspension.)
 
#18 ·
Good to hear you have solves the issue with the front. The rear on the other hand will likely take some more time ~ 1 hr est, each side. As you have to take more component off in order to remove the strut assembly. It took me about 2+ hours to do both the back when I replace mine. I have KYB gas shock on mine both front and back, and they ride really nice. Since you are in the area prone to rust, be very careful when you doing the back suspension. I suggest spray down them bolt with penetrating oil the day before.
 
#19 ·
I did the front and rear last year in August, in both of our '09s. The rears are a little more work, but not too difficult. I found a shortcut where, rather than removing the stabilizer bar links, I unbolted the two stabilizer bar bushing brackets and let the bar loose. The other bolts removed easily enough. But I went a step further than the service manual and unbolted the upper control arm--that gave just enough room to remove the damper and spring easily.

My issues with the front struts in my '09 were that I felt they were a bit noisy for being brand new. I'd replaced the top bearing in the strut pack with Moog but it was still noisy. I found that the nuts on the top needed to be torqued down further to get rid of some of the noise (a problem others have had--some in the Mopar forum I visited have even used washers underneath the top bolt to get more thread under the nut). Just popping it with an impact got rid of that particular noise. Yet there were still the clicks and small bangs every so often, and especially when turning the steering wheel when parking or turning into a driveway. The KYBs in comparison are very quiet--not a single noise out of them. The right rear now has that "loose thread" noise every so often, but otherwise they seem OK. The fronts in the other '09 are similarly noisy but not quite as bad.

The KYB Ready Strut wasn't available last year--it was only slowly being added at all the online stores. This year, Rock Auto finally had all four listed. As I wanted all new hardware and new springs (I've had broken springs in two Hondas over the years, and sagging from age), it was easier to get these as a complete unit.

The only problem with the rear now is that I have to replace the upper control arms, since the rubber bushings are shot, and I'm getting some slight cupping on the rear tires. I'm getting adjustable control arms--a little more money, but camber can be adjusted. If I ever decide to put a mild lift kit on (1.5" at the most), then I won't have to replace the control arms a second time.
 
#20 ·
Gotcha. I missed that part about you already done rear as well. I don't know how the vehicle look lifted, as I don't see too many pictures online regarding this particular MY lifted. But lowered, there are tons. IMO the body shape of this MY look very nice lowered, and handle corner and freeway off ramp particularly well. Not sure if you experience this issue at stock height, but my car tend to wandered at freeway speed. With all other variables(road crown, wheel, suspension, tires) aside, I read somewhere on this forum that it is a natural tendency for this car, which no alignment will correct.
 
#21 ·
I have never really noticed my 2009 wander at higher speeds, and I have taken long road trips since buying this one in 2016. The main problem I have is that out in mountain areas, the 4-cylinder really struggles to move a 3,400 pound vehicle. There are a couple of places on I-70 where I can maintain whatever speed I am at but, if I get caught behind someone slower, no amount of downshifting and accelerating will speed us up enough to pass. Otherwise, driving 80-85 MPH on flatter highways out there always was stable and comfortable, and I would still get reasonably good gas mileage at those speeds.

I need a lift though--if I keep this '09, I may lift it and get larger all-terrain/road tires (like the Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015) since I like traveling on the unpaved trails in Utah and Colorado, and every extra inch of ground clearance helps. The '09 really isn't too off-road capable (it doesn't have the gearing, nor the torque from the 4-cylinder engine), but it can still handle some of the unpaved roads as long as there aren't too many inclines.

Ever since I owned the '97 (which I have always felt is dangerously underpowered), I wondered why Honda never considered a V6. There is plenty of room in the first and third gen CR-Vs for a V6. Maybe they just didn't want to develop a transmission that would hold up to the added torque. Even the older J30 V6 would have worked out well enough, or the J32 from the Acura TL (1999-2003).
 
#22 ·
I hear you, it a real dog on mountain road. Then again any NA engine struggle at high altitude, I have a V6 pilot, it also struggle going up steep grade. Like you I wish they make a CRV with a V6, but I guess that would steal the thunder from the pilot or the RDX, or they were planning on a comeback of the passport. Then again, toyota V6 Rav4 didn't sell all that well, so Honda did not follow suit.
 
#23 ·
If Honda ever made a true 4x4 with a two-speed transfer case, and a V6, I would be one of the first in line to get one. But that isn't their market, and I suspect they will never make one. They come close with their SxS UTVs though. But I would have to trailer it everywhere.

In the future, if we relocate out to that side of the country (we are relocating...we have a few candidates in mind out there, but it depends on housing and job availability), I will probably look at something like an older Toyota FJ Cruiser. It's quirky, but it does what I want. It wouldn't be a daily driver.
 
#24 ·
IMO true 4x4 is not Honda prerogative. They want to make vehicle that appeal to the mass. True 4x4 is more of niche vehicle, which are truck based body on frame. But there is a trade off in ride comfort if you go with that platform. I believe the current Honda Passport is quite capable mild off-road vehicle, that can also be a great daily driver.
 
#25 ·
I do like the Passport, except for the price tag on it. ? But I would have serious concerns about the ZF 9-speed transmission they chose to use. It has a lot of complaints and some issues as it has been used since 2016 in the Pilot (beyond the EX-L model). One of the Acuras used an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission that would have been better suited for the Pilot, or, Honda has a new 10-speed automatic that is used only in the Odyssey now, from what I remember. I believe earlier current-generation Ridgelines all used the 6-speed auto, and I've seen lift kits that would help it gain a couple of inches more ground clearance.

I am concerned about a few inclines I have been over in my CR-V, but the other risk I have to watch out for is high-centering. I also should have more rugged tires next time--mine did fine, but they were not made for off-roading, and catching the side of a sharp jutting rock could have shredded a sidewall.

At least if I owned a Pilot or similar, I could tow a UTV on a trailer behind us. But now that there is a legal battle between the national parks and the state of Utah, I'm not sure if ATVs/UTVs will be allowed in the national parks. One side claims banning ATVs is being discriminatory, while the other says that park rangers can't monitor all of those vehicles or prevent them from driving off the marked roads and destroying the lands they are trying to protect. Not all the roads I want to travel are in the parks, but some of the roads begin or pass through the parks, and that would eliminate some routes I would like to take.

Honda does make some nice side-by-sides, but they are also quite expensive, even used. Future toy, maybe. ? But for Honda Automobiles to actually make a 4x4 I know will never happen. But if they did, you know it would be more than capable, and have some unique features.
 
#26 ·
Honestly if they made a 4 runner type of vehicle they would sell plenty! Its not difficult, its all old school common architecture. But I do agree thats just not where they want to be positioned in the marketplace, which is sad as its a huge part of the market and not tall the difficult to pull off.
 
#27 ·
Honda would need to get into a body-on-frame design, or use a beefed-up chassis similar to how they adapted the Pilot chassis for the Ridgeline. I don't see them going with body-on-frame for what would be a niche product, though. But I see a void in the marketplace. Some of us will never own an FCA (Jeep) product. Toyota's products are either discontinued (FJ Cruiser) or on an aging platform (4Runner, Tacoma) that hasn't been updated in many years. I thought Mercedes had some sort of rugged vehicle, but I would expect the price to be off the charts, and I'm not fond of German anything after the lemon I owned in the 80s. Honda has access to the SH-AWD they use in the Honda Legend/Acura RLX and their SUVs, as well as technology their motorsports division uses in the UTVs and ATVs. Even an offroad Ridgeline would be welcome, provided they did it the right way and didn't just toughen up the looks and raise it an inch or two.
 
#28 ·
I agree although I could be tempted to buy a used Wrangler as a playtoy but it would be only as a second vehicle. I still dream of my offroad days and the older 4.0 motors are pretty easy to work on.

Really even if Honda did something Subaru style - 8.7" of GC, flat underbody and decent AWD system with multiple modes I would be interested. We really liked our Subaru and with the skid plates I installed it was surprisingly capable. I just feel that the current AWD Honda models are really only designed with poor weather in mind and not taking the vehicle offroad. Subaru is directly marketing to this crowd and building capable wagons, just the reliability is not there and the CVT on newer models does not offer a low enough gearing to climb much of anything without a running start which is hardly ideal. With the turbo motor and the 4EAT transmission mine had plenty of oomph but that combination is no longer available. It became financially irresponsible to keep it running so we had to let it go.

With the SUV craze in full force 4Runner sales are hitting all time highs - cheap gas certainly isnt hurting that swing. Wrangler sales are a strong indication you can still sell a vehicle which is less than practical for most. Would be nice if a reliable option was offered - I am looking forward to the 2021 Bronco
 
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