A couple of days ago, I started hearing really loud tire noise. It sounds like it's coming from the back. It gets louder and faster with increased speed. I assumed that it was one of the tires getting ready to blow, but when I checked them, they all appear in good condition with a bit of tread left. When I felt the inside treads, I realized that on the driver side rear, I could fit my fingers all the way to the inside of tire. On the passenger side, I could not. After measuring the gap above the tires on both sides in the back, I found that the passenger side is about 1 inch lower than the driver side My suspension is completely stock other than fixed camber plates up front.

What I am wondering is whether a failed strut will cause the car to drop. Also, wouldn't a failed strut cause the ride to be bouncy? It does seem a little stiffer than normal, but not bouncy.

Has anyone had problems with the rear strut mounts going bad? I will check everything out in the next couple of days.

 

Bump!

Anyone know whether a strut failure will cause a drop in hight? Or could it be a spring failure?

 

I'm not a suspension expert by any means, but I'd gather the culprit being the spring, as the strut is there to provide dampening and since your car is stationary the difference in height should solely be related to the spring.

GotMINI

 

Yes, but springs are stronger then the struts. I would guess the strut is bent before a spring has failed.

 

I just replaced a rear wheel bearing [same as your noise scenario]....fixed it right up.
Your inch low would not be related to this...sounds like something else going on there.......

Steve

 

To ck for a bad bearing jack up that tire and grab it at 12 and 6 and rock it. It should not move if its good. And with it on the jack you will also be able to see the spring (better with the tire off) to see if it has broken.

 

Just want to ad,....lots of times,...wheel bearings will have no play,....will be tight as new,...but be defective, usually scored and damaged,...and very noisy.

 

Thanks for the input everyone!

As time is my enemy, I have none of it! I will hopefully be able to look into this problem over the weekend. Fortunately, my commute is now only 2 miles, so I'm not too worried about it at the moment. I just stay under 30mph.

I'm pretty sure what caused it though...I was going about 20 mph and a cat ran out in front of my car in the rain. I slammed on the brakes and obviously the abs came on. At the same time, I hit a relatively small pot hole and heard what sounded like a pretty bad impact from the back. I guess the combo of the locked up wheels and the impact messed something up because the next day I started hearing this noise. It gets much worse when I turn left for some reason.

 

I'm guessing wheel bearing. However, please report back after your findings. It's always helpful (and now I'm curious).