front suspension prices Gen 4

[anothercamry]

Seems my nice 'cheap' car was sold with a few problems which i need to get sorted out. shortly after purchase i started to notice some noises from the front end. Took her down to pedders for their $14 check and got told the bad news:

struts dead $440 (comfort gas) $240 (kyb)

top strut mounts $265, $62.80

wheel bearings $294, $76 (from bearing shop)

lower inner control arm bushes $115, $50.40

top engine mount $110, $77

rear engine mount $187.90, $80.50 (insert only) ** do i need the whole thing? is this hydraulic??

radius rod bushes $170, $24

rear trailing arm bushes $85, $65

*all prices are for one pair or one kit.

now pedders being pedders want to charge me over $3k to supply and fit all this stuff. some of the prices they quote seem absolutely ridiculous. However, they were good enough to show me carefully over the vehicle exactly what and why each component needed replacing. I've had a good bit of experience with suspension with my old VL turbo so have maybe close to half an idea what they were on about. I got to see for myself the torn bushes etc while it was on the hoist.

anyway above i've put up the cost of replacement parts as indicated by pedders. to the right of pedders prices i've put up some equivalent prices if anyone is intersted. These equivalent prices are best i could find from a fair shop around, not all parts are from the same place, so kinda like best of the worst lol.

anyone else that has done this stuff can they please advise how much time a mechanic might take to do this job? i've been told all sorts of things from 3hours to 7hours and labour fees from about $180 down to $88/hr. pedders want to sting me about $1200 GST incl.

many mechanics say 'we'll see how we go when the job gets started'. I don't like dealing with those places at all cos never know what the hell they'll end up charging.

for those that made it this far down the post thanks and apologies for long winded message.

oh, if anyone wants some cash/beer etc to do this job (you'll need spring compressors etc) please put your hand up!! i can give you a hand. i'm in mt gravatt brisbane.

[RelishGTP]

Iv'e just had most of that work done front and rear on my gen4 two weeks ago and my bill was less than half that.

Although I didn't need to replace the strut top mounts or any engine mounts and i went overboard when it came to putting in bushes ,some of the old ones weren't dead yet but I wanted to replace them with much better Superpro ones anyway (kinda while ya down there lol).

Also had my wheel bearings done around a year ago with way better than stock parts for around $250 I think it was.

Labour for all the suspension work a coupla weeks ago cost me $340 including GST & wheel allignment.

I reckon if you keep shopping around you should be able to cut that bill in half.

Good luck with it mate.

[David the Viking]

Go and see these people as they make the most of the bushes that Pedders would use anyway

Fulcrum Suspensions, 760 Fairfield Road

YEERONGPILLY 4105, Queensland, Australia

Ph: +61 7 3892 9000

Also the rear engine mount is not hydraulic, the front one is thou. Will only need an insert, but RH drive shaft needs to be removed as it goes through engine mount bracket.

I would recommend that you replace the rear struts/shocks at the same time.

There are NO radius rods in the Camry suspension so I would question what they have quoted you there.

What you have listed is a big job that is probably best left to a workshop/mechanic to do as they will have a host + hydraulic press.

[f3nr15]

n00b questions:

Is it unusual for a car to require so much suspension work at only 150K kms?

Why might the suspension be so shot?

I don't have a lot of experience with suspension, but I have owned a fair few different sorts of cars, and the most any of them ever required was a few new bushings.

[anothercamry]

Go and see these people as they make the most of the bushes that Pedders would use anyway

Fulcrum Suspensions, 760 Fairfield Road

YEERONGPILLY 4105, Queensland, Australia

Ph: +61 7 3892 9000

Also the rear engine mount is not hydraulic, the front one is thou. Will only need an insert, but RH drive shaft needs to be removed as it goes through engine mount bracket.

I would recommend that you replace the rear struts/shocks at the same time.

There are NO radius rods in the Camry suspension so I would question what they have quoted you there.

What you have listed is a big job that is probably best left to a workshop/mechanic to do as they will have a host + hydraulic press.

Good info there. Thanks for that mate. Funny you should slap up Fulcrum's details, I've had the car booked in there for this sat morning since middle of last week!! They've done a lot of work for me in the past.

[Whip Cracker]

Fulcrum are good, and from experience, I'd take SupaTouring's advice :) He definetely knows his stuff (I personally know him).

From what I know, suspension is meant to be replaced every 40k (from my uncle and a few mechanics, etc etc - I'd believe my uncle way before any mechanic... he'd make em look like amateurs, lol). Obviously no one replaces the shocks every 40k, because it doesn't really interfere with the driving well until 100-150k anyway... depending on how you drive.

[HaydnG]

n00b questions:

Is it unusual for a car to require so much suspension work at only 150K kms?

Why might the suspension be so shot?

I don't have a lot of experience with suspension, but I have owned a fair few different sorts of cars, and the most any of them ever required was a few new bushings.

[HaydnG]

n00b questions:

Is it unusual for a car to require so much suspension work at only 150K kms?

Why might the suspension be so shot?

I don't have a lot of experience with suspension, but I have owned a fair few different sorts of cars, and the most any of them ever required was a few new bushings.

I totally agree with you there is some thing very wrong when a camry needs suspension bushes at 150klms they must have been on very very rough road for most of its life Dosent make any sense

Haydn

[anothercamry]

n00b questions:

Is it unusual for a car to require so much suspension work at only 150K kms?

Why might the suspension be so shot?

I don't have a lot of experience with suspension, but I have owned a fair few different sorts of cars, and the most any of them ever required was a few new bushings.

I totally agree with you there is some thing very wrong when a camry needs suspension bushes at 150klms they must have been on very very rough road for most of its life Dosent make any sense

Haydn

i reckon the damage to bushes was a combination of two factors. Firstly, that the car is sitting on 17inch 225mm wide wheels. While these are stock rims (GTP) they will wear the suspension out a lot quicker than stocko 15inch 205mm wheels. Secondly, i now know the springs have been replaced with standard height 'king springs'. These are harder than the touring model stock springs and would place additional stress on suspension components.

since starting this post and thanks to several very helpful replies, i have replaced the major parts of the suspension which were failing including, front struts (kyb inserts), wheel bearings, lower control arm bushes (front and rear), strut bearing plates. She handles a hell of a lot better. not all those bushes were worn out but whilst the car was apart and i could replace with polyurethane items i thought i may as well. Do it once and do it properly is a motto i've learnt the hard way with previous cars.

all up, to purchase and have fitted those parts, i'm out of pocket $1136. If anyone is interested in individual prices etc or help on where to buy (some parts were quite difficult to get hold of), please message me.

For the record, the engine mounts are showing some signs of wear, but still keeping the engine in place with no clunks etc. For the time being i've decided not to change them.

Edited March 25, 2008 by anothercamry