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White lines and PPV struts. Takes about 500 miles to break in. For a daily, can’t go wrong.
Is it time for a new strut mount bushing?
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Well, the bearings themselves may be OK and as long as the susp doesn't move quick enough for the bushing to unload from the body, It could possibly be quiet still most of the time.
Our GT, I have done lower arms (4) The loose joints allowed a steering wheel shimmy when they were unloaded on transition between straight and a turn.
Picture them side loaded out while driving straight, and the outside joint loaded inboard during a turn. At one point of transition between the two they are unloaded.
Gt, also did front sway bar links as they caused an audible rattles on uneven surfaces and driveway lips.
Edit, reread you did links and the noise was gone for a bit.
Wonder if that was somehow related to the front wheels hanging during the links getting done?
Now it has settled back ? Just guessing now
Anyway, noise or not, it really is asking for the new uppers
Update: while I am just waiting for parts and a little warmer weather, I raised the car multiple times to inspect. I don't see anything wrong besides the gap shown, but the clicking noise went away every time I raised the car. I tried to push the front down to see how the struts are doing but it's either I am too light or the struts are solid--the car doesn't seem to budge. Maybe a little but definitely no oscillations. It feels tight. Maybe I am lucky and the struts are still good after 11 years and 80k miles or it's completely dead lol. I will update more after this weekend hopefully.
I 've already got the Moroe ones, just trying to be safe, and cheap. I am a little disappointed because the two mounts came different. Not just the color of bearing cover, they seemed different in depth too. Maybe it doesn't have to be quite precise. We will see.
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The photo you posted. Are you sure the bearing is not installed upside down in the one that is black. Your old struts mounts have failed badly. The centre sleeve is torn out and the strut is flopping around. If they have been li,e that for a while, your tires will have some odd wear. The tire might even have touched the strut tube, showing how far the alignment is out. Fix it a soon as you can
Yes straight from amzon. Qty=2.
Thanks! It should be done in a couple of days.
The mounts came in with bearings installed. So it could well be someone not knowing what they were doing. I will try to flip it. Thanks for the tip!
I flipped it and now they look the same, more or less. You are brilliant! And I was the opposite
update: I replaced both of the top mounts today and the noise was gone. The mounts initially looked OK to me but then I notice the entire middle part was gone and they were a bout a quarter inch shorter than the new mounts, that's why I had such big gaps! All good now, no noise. At least one of the shock is leaking and dead, so that'll be next thing to do. Almost same procedure except now I know the drills and it should take me much less time to do it. Thanks for all your inputs guys. It feels great to get to drive the G8 again!
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I am inclined to try those PPV struts. Can you share more about your experience? I only know they are gas charged. Sportier than the stock ones I assume? Any installation hiccups? Do you have them for both front and rear?
I ran the PPV struts and shocks with Tein springs on my first G8. Took a couple months to break in. It was then a BMW like ride and handling with BMR sway bars and Michelin SS tires on the 19” wheels. The struts are identical , the rear shocks are the same length but the cylinder is a bit bigger. Still fit the springs.
Installed PPV frt struts and rear shocks back in 2015 at 27k miles. Couldn't stand the factory fe2s any longer. I like my dampening nice and tight. My fe2s were floating on the highway back in 2010 and just felt sloppy the rest of the time. The PPVs have my G8 glued down. Like others have said, takes a while for them to break in. Then they are tight while the ride is good enough to be my road trip car. My current tires are 18 inch Michelin Pilot AS/3s. As I'm not allowed (by the boss lady) to really use the handling of my otherwise stock G8, I will be replacing them this year with quieter/smoother grand touring tires to really dial in how I use/enjoy my G8.
BTW - I replaced my strut bushings back in 2011 with poly ones after watching the factory rubber bushings collapse from when I picked the G8 up in 2009 (from the dealer).
Thanks! so you have had multiple G8's!
Good info. Thanks! Do I have to go with new springs as well? if so any recommendation?
One mistake I made was to use poly strut bushings with the Tein springs. Most poly strut bushings are shorter than stock. My front bumper scraped so often. I replaced them with the Polyelast . Picked up the front end a bit and the scraping stopped. Stock rubber ones don’t last. If you are not using lowering springs, the 3/8” Drop from the poly mounts won’t hurt. This is the difference.
![183693]()
If you check my pictures above, you will see the new Monroe mount I got from Amazon is about the same height as your poly one. Are you sure you are not comparing it with a crushed rubber one? lol. I did.
No, I stayed with the factory springs as they haven't sagged and any shorter or stiffer springs will affect the ride. Also here in the NE we have horrible roads with potholes and broken pavement so different springs, tires with shorter sidewalls, etc. will impact the comfort. Some have complained about how poly strut bushings worsened their ride. I didn't notice this when I switched mine to poly. Also some didn't like the PPV dampers and even took them out. As I noted, will be fine tuning the ride with grand touring tires.
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