2013 Scion FR-S leaning

[texasblack]

Hi there. I own a 2013 Scion FR-S. Stock. No mods. I recently discovered that the passenger side rear tire is wearing pretty fast on the inside only. Upon further inspection of the car, it seems to be leaning on that side and the passenger side front strut is leaking oil.

My questions are:
-What is causing the tire wear?
-What is causing the car leaning?
-Nobody sells a strut that already has the coil installed? Like a Monroe quick strut?


Husband has suggested installing/replacing rear camber bolts and getting an alignment to fix the lean. He is willing to do the work, but we want to make sure we are doing the right thing first. I have searched all over and cannot seem to find anybody else posting about these issues. Any and all advice is welcome! Thanks!

[gramicci101]

Tire wear is probably an alignment issue. How many miles does it have, and has that tire ever hit a curb, or been in an accident on that corner, or anything that would cause it to be knocked out of alignment?

For the lean I would look more to the suspension wearing down (ex: blown front shock) than an alignment issue. If the car has a decent amount of miles on it, I would go ahead and replace all four shocks, not just the front right. If you're not looking to upgrade at the same time, new OEM struts are not terribly expensive. I'm finding the fronts for $160 ea and the rears for $100 ea on subaruonlineparts.com.

Plenty of companies sell shocks with coils installed, or coilovers. But I seriously doubt anything is wrong with the spring itself, so if you're not looking to upgrade then there's no reason to replace it. If you do want to upgrade parts instead of just replacing with new OEM parts, http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/ is a great resource.

[finch1750]

Besides what gramicci said you could find used struts with low miles in the forum classified section that might be put together already.

And in ragerds to camber bolts those dont really work on our car (I know eibach makes some but its really small adjust ment and probably not what your husband was thinking).

Check out this thread for info on adjustable suspension parts

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103609

but if your car is stock the oem adjustment should be fine unless camber is way off from damage of some sort. Toe kills tires faster then camber and is adjustable from factory

[strat61caster]

Get toe checked, adjusting the factory toe link will result in a toe AND camber change, potentially causing increased camber or 'leaning' and tire wear. No parts needed to fix.

If the Toe is correct, next is to inspect for damaged suspension parts, could be a control arm or blown damper. A blown damper will sag resulting in more camber 'lean' and as such, tire wear.

A good alignment place will honestly inspect the parts and tell you if something is broken. If they say you need new parts ask to see the broken ones and compare to the other side of the car which is apparently fine.

[TelMinz]

I've always been told to replace shocks in pairs, both front or both rears. If you want cheap KYB is now making shocks for the BRZ, I believe cheaper than oem. KYB part # 339369 and 339370. Bilstein is a higher end shock that cost more as well, I believe the b6 bilstein is meant for stock springs, but I'd check before taking my word on that. Aftermarket coilovers, which is what the stock suspension is btw, aren't necessary unless you're planning to track your car, which I doubt seeing how you say your car is completely stock. They'd cost more as well, and probably lower the car too.

As far as buying used shocks I'd advise against it, too many people use impacts to remove the nuts on the tops, which the type of shock in your car is a McPherson shock and using an impact on them to remove the nuts tears the seals causing them to leak.
Unless of course you find a used set that includes the springs and top hats that haven't been removed. Then the shocks shouldn't have been molested. Don't know why'd you'd do that tho, the stock ones are pretty easy to replace, you can rent a spring compressor at your local auto parts store. https://www.amazon.com/AMPRO-T70570-.../dp/B00A8FNRDY Or just remove the bolt on the top hat while the car is on the ground, then raise the vehicle in the air with a jack, which will slowly decompress the spring.

There are a ton of video walkthroughs online of these procedure, very easy to do with basic hand tools and a jack. I would invest in a 3/8in drive Kobalt extreme access wrench set, very handy when removing the nuts on the top hat, but if you're crafty you don't need them. https://m.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-14-Pie...et-Set/3694346

Get an alignment after replacing the shocks tho, that will be necessary to get it dialed in.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

................
A good alignment place will honestly inspect the parts and tell you if something is broken. If they say you need new parts ask to see the broken ones and compare to the other side of the car which is apparently fine.

@texasblack I second this suggestion.


humfrz

[Ultramaroon]

Late to the party but I third @strat61caster's advice.

Has it ever kissed a curb or whacked a pothole?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by texasblack

it seems to be leaning on that side and the passenger side front strut is leaking oil.

I think there is very little mystery here. It needs to go in and be checked by a pro not fixed up in the laneway by installing/replacing "rear camber bolts".

[FX86]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I think there is very little mystery here. It needs to go in and be checked by a pro not fixed up in the laneway by installing/replacing "rear camber bolts".

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by FX86

Guy on the left looks like a cleaned up and classier version of my father!

[Lynxis]

It sounds like it's possible the car took a pretty heavy hit on the passenger side if the front strut is leaking and the rear is getting unusual wear. The front leaking indicates a blown shock, the rear wearing indicates alignment problem. It IS possible that the lean caused by the blown front passenger side strut has affected dynamic toe on the rear and is causing the unusual wear. As others have said, you definitely need to replace both front struts and doing so will require an alignment anyway. It sounds like you don't know what happened to cause this so I'd venture to replace all 4 struts and get the alignment.

If you want to save some money and effort, you should be able to find a good used set of OEM coilovers from someone who upgraded to aftermarket. My aftermarket suspension came with top hats so I just pulled the oem suspension straight out, no need to remove the top hats or play with spring compressors so I think you should be able to find someone selling the full assembly used from when they upgraded like I did. Hell, I've got my full OEM 2013 BRZ suspension sitting in a box in my shed I could sell you if shipping wasn't going to be insane but I'm sure you could find something just as good locally.

Either way, an alignment is going to be required. Don't eyeball it, take it to an alignment shop.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by TelMinz

Or just remove the bolt on the top hat while the car is on the ground, then raise the vehicle in the air with a jack, which will slowly decompress the spring.

I wouldn't recommended that. The springs still hold a considerable amount of force at full droop and won't be fully uncompressed. Removing them at that point would get dangerous.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by renfield90

I wouldn't recommended that. The springs still hold a considerable amount of force at full droop and won't be fully uncompressed. Removing them at that point would get dangerous.

Actually it doesn't on this car. The front will have zero compression and the rear is a very very tiny amount. It has been in a DIY here for a while and many people have don't it (myself included multiple times)

However make sure you use an open end or pass through socket with an allen wrench to not blow the strut.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by finch1750

Actually it doesn't on this car. The front will have zero compression and the rear is a very very tiny amount. It has been in a DIY here for a while and many people have don't it (myself included multiple times)

However make sure you use an open end or pass through socket with an allen wrench to not blow the strut.

I second this; I've done the same. The springs are under very little static compression.

DIYs:
DarrenDriven's very comprehensive strut remove/replace DIY
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10842

Jeebus' simpler spring remove/replace DIY (builds off of Darren's)
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32414