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strangehamster posted:I got a $2000 estimate to change the front struts/alignment on my Grand Caravan. Can I do it much cheaper if I buy parts from Rock Auto and spend a weekend in my garage? I have intermediate mechanical skills. The struts are probably pretty straightforward. Be advised that suspension components tend to use larger fasteners and are more likely to be rusted / a real pain in the rear end unless you have big wrenches or an impact. Look up instructions / videos to see if you need to buy/rent/borrow any specialized tools. Alignment is best left to the professionals, and is necessary basically whenever you make changes to your suspension.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:28
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did you get that $2k estimate from a dealership, because if so, don't do that, check at an indepdendent mechanic also please be very careful about dealing with compressed springs. They have enormous amounts of energy. There are special tools for compressing springs that you can maybe rent or get at harbor freight or w/e if you need to do that. You might not.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:45
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strangehamster posted:I got a $2000 estimate to change the front struts/alignment on my Grand Caravan. Can I do it much cheaper if I buy parts from Rock Auto and spend a weekend in my garage? I have intermediate mechanical skills. Yes. But poo poo can go sideways real quick with a broken bolt.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:46
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C-Bangin' it 
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If you buy preloaded strut spring combos (I think they call them quick struts on rockauto) it should eliminate most of the pain and risk, you'll want a pro alignment though. Should be about 150 bucks.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:05
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On RockAuto I think they are called "Shock / Strut & Coil Spring Assembly" but yeah that will save you some time and risk. Doesn't do anything about the rust, though.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:08
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My guy at Midas quoted me about 800 parts 800 labor 200 alignment. I’m going to ask a friend if they’re up for it, thank you all 
strangehamster fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 20:35
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kastein posted:If you buy preloaded strut spring combos (I think they call them quick struts on rockauto) it should eliminate most of the pain and risk, you'll want a pro alignment though. Should be about 150 bucks. Should op also consider replacing the strut bearings or does Chrysler use bushings or some poo poo? I'd be relaxing the bearings with the rest of this is I was doing my struts.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:43
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strangehamster posted:My guy at Midas quoted me about 800 parts 800 labor 200 alignment, I’m going to ask a friend if they’re up for it. Is anyone from the Des Moines metro? I just paid 800 cdn dollars for 4 quick struts for my corolla from rock auto.. That includes shipping. I know there's a difference in price/ currency for different parts and all that, but it seems a bit high if it's just the fronts. Labor, if they're buying parts separately and putting them together, doesn't seem unreasonable. It's probably 5-6 hours work and lots of places are charging over 100 per hour these days.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:02
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Please beat some sense into me. I get fairly frequent alignments and I hate relying on a shop. I watched a youtube video about this tool and it looks like it works pretty well. Am I crazy for wanting to spend $120 on this?
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Apr 26, 2024 02:01
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You need a good floor jack, jackstands, a breaker bar, a ratchet (both in 1/2" drive), an extension or two, a handful of wooden blocks, and maybe some penetrating oil to do full strut replacements. Do swaybar links at the same time. Like wesleywillis, I did all that on a Matrix/Corolla for maybe $500 USD a couple years ago over two days, maybe total of 6 hours of work going slow.
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Apr 26, 2024 02:55
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Colostomy Bag posted:Yes. This is why I have developed a new habit where I just buy new bolts when doing anything suspension-wise. Having a spare handy when poo poo goes sideways is nice and fitting new hardware means you then give the stuff a fighting chance of being aligned properly and holding it afterwards. It's a bit more cash but certainly less than a $2000 charge! Oh and it took me far too long to incorporate using heat when disassembling things, very stupid of me. A good penetrating fluid is a no-brainer.
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Apr 26, 2024 08:40
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two_beer_bishes posted:Please beat some sense into me. I get fairly frequent alignments and I hate relying on a shop. I watched a youtube video about this tool and it looks like it works pretty well. Am I crazy for wanting to spend $120 on this? Those are great for race car alignments at the track. They're not great if you want your tires to last 50k miles. Your toe will be good to maybe 1/32 of a inch. How frequently are you getting alignments?
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Apr 26, 2024 12:30
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honda whisperer posted:Those are great for race car alignments at the track. They're not great if you want your tires to last 50k miles. My wife's car and the truck, every 6mo or so because of the lovely roads here. Sounds like I should keep bringing those to the shop. I just put coilovers on my BRZ that gets driven about 3000 miles a year and tire life isn't ever a concern since they age out before I hit any tread limits. Plus the Satellite race car I'm working on probably needs an alignment but I don't see myself ever bringing that to a shop.
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Apr 26, 2024 13:03
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Every 6 months I'd look for a shop that offers lifetime alignments when you get tires installed. If you're doing race car and BRZ stuff I'd look into string gauges or hub stands. Then your problem becomes having a level enough floor for repeatable results. Jegs and summit have toe plates for the same price as Amazon and I'd trust them more. Paco motors is selling hub stands for $900 through flying Miata. They're fantastic for the money. I'd use the stands for home adjustment and take toe plates for track repairs and adjustments.
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Apr 26, 2024 15:19
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I need to replace the rear view mirror in a 2011 Honda Civic. Do I need OEM parts, or is third-party good? And what’s a good marketplace for Honda parts (Google isn’t very helpful)?
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Apr 26, 2024 17:08
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I'd try a junkyard first, that part probably fits 10 years of every Honda model on the market and 13 years old is easily old enough for there to be plenty of them in the local pick n pull.
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Apr 26, 2024 17:15
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Wing mirror or interior mirror?
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Apr 26, 2024 17:18
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Interior, i.e. windshield. There’s a used auto parts place nearby so I could hit that up and try my luck!
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Apr 26, 2024 17:49
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If there’s not any wires going to it (for map lights or thermometer or whatever else) you can just glue whichever rearview mirror you want in there.
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Apr 26, 2024 22:03
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there's also like loads of aftermarket "better" rear view mirrors from catalogs and poo poo yeah ultrawides and panoramics and so on and "universal" for any car
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Apr 26, 2024 22:44
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