Are the stock springs linear or progressive.
I know on some of my older cars the first few inches of travel from full droop were also "easy" to push up with progressive springs and new dampers.

I'm referring to the rubber bushing/mount itself being sloppy, not the bearing inside it. I've seen those mounts go bad a million times on strut suspension, especially in areas with bad roads.

After 10+ years and 200k miles, sure. OP's car is 5 years old and has ~124k miles, OE top hats (not bushings, there are no bushings in the OE strut assembly) are pretty stout and would think they're halfway to replacement at the soonest.

We're getting into an area of differing terminology, but at any rate, the 'top hats' have a rubber isolating bushing in them. That is what I'm referring to. And I've seen plenty of them go bad in 50K miles, let alone 124K or 200K...

At any rate, OP is likely going to be replacing his when he swaps in the newer used suspension, so it'll all be taken care of in one fell swoop.

The only way that rubber failing would allow the wheel to be lifted easily would be if it completely detached from the outer part that's bolted to the body and the wheel had drooped enough that it could be raised before the spring hits the body. If the rubber is failing, but still attached, you'd still be pushing against the spring which the upper seat would be pressing against the mount (or body).

So what are you saying is more likely? That the springs themselves are so worn out that a single person can lift the entire wheel/suspension assembly and compress a spring rated for a car close to 2 tons GVWR? It's far more likely that a commonly replaced rubber bushing is tired and allowing for more movement than when it was new. At least, that's been my experience over the past ~40 years of wrenching on Macstrut vehicles.. And not to be pedantic, but the spring doesn't hit the body; it hits the upper strut mount, which is isolated from the body via the rubber bushing.

Hack mechanic is most likely.

Also that piece isn't rubber, probably hasn't been for 30 some odd years because rubber ages. @Tcoat works in industry and iirc they're polyurethane which is much more resilient to aging and wear.

Neither, I'm suggesting if the wheel was actually moving enough to be visible at a distance the mechanic had disconnected something for the show.




You're right, but if the center of the bushing was totally gone, the spring would hit the body very shortly after the wheel started moving since there isn't much space between the strut tower and upper spring seat. If you can see the wheel moving up and down at a distance, it's likely not the cause. Further proof would be that the wheel(s) would fall right down if the rubber was that worn out, since there would be nothing holding the top of the strut to the body, it would be like they undid the top nut.

Well, if the mechanic is dishonest enough to disconenct suspension pieces, then anything is possible. I was just giving him the benefit of a doubt, given that OP said he was reputable (if not knowledgeable). A bagged out upper bushing could easily produce an inch of movement (combined droop and compression) and associated noise and harshness OP described over bumps without bringing the springs into play at all..

It would also make a huge amount of noise over every bump as the upper seat smashed into the body.

Exactly.

^^ This.

Second opinion for sure.. but as said before after this amount of mileage/use replacing them should result in a noticable difference anyways.

A blown shock will create that feel and noise all by itself though. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.. or maybe 20 or 30 of them by now. Last blown shock was maybe a month ago.