Mechanic said my suspension is done.. What should I do?
 

I DD my FRS.. so it's above 200k KM now.

I took it for an oil change and tire rotation.. the mechanic was able to easily push up the wheels with one hand while it was on the hoist. he said this means suspension is going bad.

I also noticed small bumps in the road feel like hell on earth ... which normally would just drive over with a slight "Swoosh" when the car was new

I like that new car feeling, and since it's a DD and i don't do any track.. I am considering just buying a new set of stock coilovers from Toyota dealership.

I looked at some premium aftermarket offerings like KW, Ohlin, etc. But i don't think they're made to last 200k like the stock ones have served me gracefull so far?

Thoughts? Also, while im replacing the coilovers, what else should i refresh?

This is IN ADDITION to the appointment I have in Feb for the spring valve recall.

Ah, the joy of owning a 13' FRS :D

Thanks all!! Sorry for the newb questions


Edit: just to confirm. I don't want to lower my car at all. Even If the right decision is to go with ohlin or KW.. I will prefer to keep as stock as possible and built for comfort.

Here she is in all her glory :)
https://image.ibb.co/hSE8Ao/6_A2_FAA...2_EF4_AD_2.jpg

Check the member's for sale section, plenty of members are selling their newer 2017+ Performance Pack suspension as they upgrade to coils and bags.

This should tick both your boxes by giving you the same reliability and mileage that you had on your older 2013 OEM setup and an improved ride over what you had when you bought the car new.

Plus, if patient, you will also likely find these for much cheaper than what you can buy anything in the aftermarket should you go that route.

yeah i would have loved to upgrade to pp suspension but there wasnt any real cheap anywhere near me. i ended up getting some tein flex z for around 700 and its pretty comparable to stock if you want it to be.

thanks. price is not really a factor though, I just want reliability + longevity without having to rebuild/oil up these coilovers all so often.

willing to invest as much as it takes (to a reasonable amount) to achieve that

I was going to over you my old coilovers (HKS Hipermax SP) but they are more track oriented then street so they wouldn't be a good fit for you.


As an aside, did we used to play C.O.D. together online? Your username is very familiar.

I have the stock '17 suspension as I installed coilovers I think less than 6 months after owning the car, and I am in Toronto so pm me if you like

^^Nice

pm sent :)

What parts would a mechanic generally advise be replaced along with the suspension refresh?

Get some Bilstein B6 shock/strut since they seem to be slowly coming back

Get new suspension.

Thanks for all your help in narrowing down all the suspension kits that exist out there for the FRS. Much appreciate, can't wait to upvote your comment after i hit submit here

Ball joints, tie rod ends, stuff like that.

Hmm I cant find ball joints or tie rods on this suspension parts diagram

https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_20...4420-4804.html
https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_20...4420-4803.html

are they called something else there

OEM balljoints aren't available separately, have to get the whole front lower control arm.

That's the wrong front diagram, you need the one with the whole assembly, not just shock/spring.

As for the original question, get 2017+ shocks/springs/mounts and be done with it. Ohlins will ride nice, but won't last as long as OEM without a rebuild.

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/susp...ll-joints.html
http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/susp.../tie-rods.html


Front end. There is more to consider than just dampers and springs with a worn suspension/steering. If your mechanic is good, he/she should be able to tell you what joints, bushings, etc. are worn and should be replaced to tighten everything back up.

Aside from your struts going out.. How's the reliability of your car been so far?

I'd suggest you get a second opinion - :iono:


humfrz

Doesn't that mean wheel bearings??

i know how to change the oil myself.. so i do it religiously every 5k

but now i need to do the valve spring recall anyways... so that might F everything up.

only problem i've had, has been the throw off bearing on the clutch went bad. So i replaced it all, new clutch, new flywheel, new TOB, etc.

that's the plan :)

Now just need to figure why i need in addition to the shocks and top hats...

depends on the kind of motion, a dead wheel bearing would be play in the wheel, you wouldn't be articulating the suspension to show it and without having an eye on the hub to see if the motion is wheel to hub, or hub to control arms you can't be sure if it's a bearing or a ball joint.

Soft travel can be indicative of a dead shock, but unless the spring is dead or the mechanic has a side job as a power lifter I wouldn't describe the wheel motion as 'easy', and there's lots of cars with 400k+ with springs that are perfectly fine so I'm not sure what's going on.

If I had to replace dampers for OE-purposes I'd lean towards Bilstein, those are pretty commonly regarded as having a ~100k mile life and can be rebuilt for half the cost of buying another set or about the same price as buying a cheap set of shocks, which are usually only good for ~20k-50k miles.

Yep, can't tell anything without a complete inspection.


I have Bilstein for all 3 of my sports cars. My experience with them is, like you say, they last longer than any other brand I've tried. Other brands were good when new (KYB and Koni to name a couple), but wore out quick. I have yet to wear out a set of Bilsteins.

Get new Penske suspension.

Yeah, someone else's less used OE takeoffs is a close second to Bilstein but only if they're cheap as again you'll probably get much less than 100k miles out of them and they're not rebuild-able. I want to try Koni's but I know they don't have the same rep as Bilstein and are prone to leaking pretty early on (whether that's by user error or QC who really knows) as well as there's no real need to adjust for the average owner.

Dampers are tricky beasts, it's easy to think 'it rides exactly the same!' without realizing that the degradation is a very very slow process, so even if the OP is being taken for a ride and the mechanic just wants some easy work with a high price tag (I mean, around here, easily charge 4 hours of labor + alignment could be anywhere from $500-$1,000 to someone not willing to fight back on the costs) a fresh(er) set of dampers is probably going to be a noticeable improvement at ~125k miles.

But the description of 'easily push up the wheel' is an odd way to show it and I'm not sure how to take that...

Easily push the wheel up sounds like a broken spring, but if that's the case you should see the car sitting funny. A blown shock won't make the spring rate any lower, so you'd still be fighting it to push the wheel up.

Or, he removed the shock and is lying to convince you to pay for more services.

A bad bearing will have play in any direction. A bad ball joint would only have play between 12 and 6 (not 9 and 3), and a bad tie rod would have play between 9 and 3 (but not 12 and 6). If you've got a bad ball joint AND tie rod, or a bad bearing, it would have similar play.


You're right though, if you're looking at it from behind you can see if the play is between knuckle and hub, or knuckle and LCA, or knuckle and tie rod (or inner tie rod and rack).

Not to mention "suspensions shot".

This. Sounds shifty to me.

OP's mechanic?
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20170731160516

He's an interesting fellow.

Lmao you guys are hilarious. It wasn’t THAT easy, he put one hand under the wheel and with his shoulder pushed up, said there was lots of play on he springs

That makes zero sense to anyone who knows how this suspension goes together and has used a spring built in the last 20 years for a significant amount of time.

I mean I've driven cars older than me with 200k miles (~320k km) and the springs are fine.

Why would I lie?

He pushed the wheel up easily, he said this means my shocks are wearing out / going out...I can’t remember exact words. But he’s a trustworthy guy, he said I can probably keep going on them if I want but the signs are there.

Not to mention, I said myself..the ride in the car is not the same as it was years ago. Pot holes are more clunky, road bumps are more intense.. even to someone who knows nothing about suspensions I can tell the suspension is wearing out.

If it’s not the shocks, then what is it?

Well this thread is certainly starting to deliver.

If anything it's the dampers, not the springs. Others here are correct in advising you to check all articulating joints.

I'm not suggesting you're lying, your mileage and feelings about ride quality are logical given the mileage of your car and replacing dampers is a reasonable path to follow, I say go for it.

Good luck

thanks guys.. i appreciate all the replies

car is reliable and the community for it is rock solid too!

looking forward to buying the 17' OE set from StraightOuttaCanada and replacing the other components as reccomended

So I'll throw my $0.02 in here...I'd say that after 200k miles of northern driving, your shocks easily could stand being replaced. However, shocks have nothing to do with the type of movement described. My guess would be worn out upper strut bushings. The movement your mechanic produced wasn't from compressing the springs at all, but rather, slop in the toasted bushings. Replacing your current setup with takeoffs from another car will probably include the good upper bushing, so you're covering all bases with this approach..

Careful @StraightOuttaCanadaEh 's car is red, so you know already he's a menace. He's also taller than me, so be careful of that too.

i already tried to peddle him my red fender garnish things lol