Time for New Struts and Shocks?

[Mojo72]

I'm at 92K+ on the odometer and don't believe that the previous owner ever replaced the struts or shocks (I bought the car in Jan08 at 67.5K). I'm getting a popping (unsettled) kind of sound coming from the front passenger side when firmly braking (I just had the pads/rotors and shoes replaced) and am wondering if it's now time for struts/shocks on all four wheels or just the fronts. I'm not hearing or feeling any rattling when driving or making sharp turns. Please forgive the dumb question, but does the Vibe take struts up front and shocks for the back? Any thoughts and suggestions from Vibe Nation are much appreciated.

[vibedrivermatt]

Well a really easy thing to check first would be to make sure you wheels are properly tightened but thats secondary.I just googled popping coming from front suspension and your right to associate that with strut failure. but Apparently there's a ton of parts in the front suspension that can make a popping noise. To check if your struts are bad you can jack the car up, remove the wheel and see if you can see any hydraulic fluid leaking out of the strut. If you can't see anything you have to remove the strut completely and manually push the piston in and out to check for abnormal or weak resistance. That disassembly requires you to have a appropriate spring compressor.If you decide to replace the struts you'd want to replace them in pairs. either both fronts or both rears.I basically just got all that from this site.http://www.2carpros.com/first_...e.htm

[Mojo72]

Thanks for the ideas and 2CarPros link. The tires were mounted correctly, but I'm going to see how much of the struts I can examine without taking off the wheels. I'm also going to check the 3 bolts at the top of the strut assembly to see if they might be loose. I've read in some other threads how that might be causing the popping noise.

[cptnsolo77]

Ditto on checking the wheel lugs! Once after getting a oil change at Tire Kingdom I JUST happen to be driving with the window down, since it was a rare cool day in South Florida. I heard clicking sound coming from the front right tire & im thinking damn hope its not the CV joints. I checked the lugs and they were ALL loose! Got the jack out the driveway, tightened the lugs & the clicking sound was gone afterwards.