Hello all,

2004 Monte carlo SS w/ N/A 3.8L @ 114K miles, probably original struts. I got the car @ 60K.

Was just driving to work today and heard an odd noise from my rear end. Turns out the spring seat on the rear strut tower is hanging low and rubbing against my tire.

I noticed a few days ago that they had a very tight clearance (1/4" above the rear tires, about 1/2" above the fronts) on all corners of the car but today was the first time i've heard contact. Are the strut towers actually designed with those tight clearances in mind, or are my struts getting old and failing?

Best regards,

Andrew

 

Which wheels do you have? I'm sorry, but I don't know which wheels are the rally ones. Are they the stock wheels? There were different OE struts on cars with 17" or larger wheels...

 

They are somewhat tight clearances but if you're running an aftermarket wheel or non OEM size tire you can start to run into problems. OEM tire size for the 04 NA should be 225/60R16. Struts replacement is typically around 75k miles so regardless of what the issue is it's probably something to look into.

 

I ended up replacing them all. The rubbing is gone and you are right, even with new struts it is pretty tight.

I've never driven on a brand new suspension and this is just heavenly! The confidence in braking and turning and the lack of nose-dive and body roll is just phenomenal.

 

Good to hear!

 

Kinda unfortunately, I was forced to use Monroe's.

I live about 20 miles north of Monroe (Tenneco) Headquarters, so they supply for the best price to just about all garages in the area. it would be another $500 on top of the $1000 I spent to get AC Delco's or Gabriel's.

I worked for the company and know that they are quality struts, but I don't like the company and don't consider them to be "performance" struts. :/ Any port in a storm i guess.

 

my struts have 179k on them..... I'm going with new raysbestos rear quick struts for a 2000 ls in a couple weeks