My '95 Legacy wagon (200K+ miles) makes a clunking noise when I travel over "sharp" bumps. It would be most noticeable on, say, washboards on a dirt road. I did some looking/asking and I'm thinking it's a worn mounting/bearing plate on the strut(s). Is this common? Seems I've heard a similar noise in other cars with tons o' miles on them. Am I on the right track? Can I get these plates aftermarket or is it a dealer item?

 

Mike

Since you have to remove the strut from the car and the strut support (that's the part you're talking about) from the strut and spring (need a spring compressor if you do it yourself) to make that repair, I think you should replace the strut altogether if they have never been replaced. At 200 K They should need replacement in a short while if not right now.

You can get a reasonnable price for OEM struts and hardware at 1stSubaruparts. That's were I got mine when I replaced them this last summer.

Good luck!

Thanks, it is indeed the strut support/mount that I think is causing the noise. I agree that it makes sense to replace the struts at the same time. I just checked out '1stsubaruparts' and their website is incredibly well designed and intuitive, I'll be ordering from them. Thanks again.

 

Mike

 

 

Since you have to remove the strut from the car and the strut support (that's the part you're talking about) from the strut and spring (need a spring compressor if you do it yourself) to make that repair, I think you should replace the strut altogether if they have never been replaced. At 200 K They should need replacement in a short while if not right now.

You can get a reasonnable price for OEM struts and hardware at 1stSubaruparts. That's were I got mine when I replaced them this last summer.

Good luck!