# spinning strut nut



## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Went to install the UR racing strut bar, one side came off perfectly easy, the other side slightly spun before it came off. Didn't think much of it until I went to reinstall the bolts with the bar installed, and the same side that spun a little when coming off keeps spinning when im trying to tighten it. The drivers side feels tight but spins, but the passenger side doesnt spin at all when it is tightened down. Anyone run across this when reinstalling the strut top bolt?


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

I thought all struts and shocks had a flat on the shaft that you put a wrench on to keep the shaft from spinning while you torqued the retaining nut.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

There is a t50? Torx bolt which I used to hold the bolt and then the nut around it with a wrench. It definetly feels like it is solid but it doesnt stay in place like the passenger side.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Is the whole mount spinning?


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

If I put a wrench or socket on the nut, the bolt spins, yes. The nut doesnt advance, but it doesnt feel like it can be any tighter


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Sorry, probably phrased it poorly. Is the entire rubber strut mount spinning with the bolt? That would indicate a busted mount.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Hmm, not sure, im doing all of this from under the hood. Ill have a friend try tightening it while im watching from underneath. If it were broken, wouldnt I have major noise clunking or drivability problems?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

The rubber mount is on top of the strut tower under the hood. It should not spin or twist itself - it should remain firmly in place. 

Yes, it would probably clunk over bumps.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Oh I thought that round disc was metal. Yea it spins with the bolt and nut. But it isn't connected to the strut other than the nut holding it on... I haven't noticed any clunks other than the same noises since I bought the car... I suppose it is possible it was always broken? Like I said, it spun when I was taking it off a little but still broke loose, and I read in another forum post that someone had to hold the torx with a friend using the wrench to get it loose because it kept spinning...


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Funny story , hewhahaha ...


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

brian v said:


> Funny story , hewhahaha ...


???


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> Sorry, probably phrased it poorly. Is the entire rubber strut mount spinning with the bolt? That would indicate a busted mount.


ahh I just read this post again and saw you said 'mount'. looked up the part on gmpartsdirect and I guess I see how if it were broken, it would just spin around, since the bolt the nut goes on is just the top part of the strut. I will try moving the passenger mount to the drivers side and see if it stops spinning, then its a trip to the parts store I guess. just seems like a weird part to break, and don't get how that would have broken along the way...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

neirfin said:


> ahh I just read this post again and saw you said 'mount'. looked up the part on gmpartsdirect and I guess I see how if it were broken, it would just spin around, since the bolt the nut goes on is just the top part of the strut. I will try moving the passenger mount to the drivers side and see if it stops spinning, then its a trip to the parts store I guess. just seems like a weird part to break, and don't get how that would have broken along the way...


I believe the whole strut assembly has to be removed from below to do that - at least that's how it was on my other car. That rubber mount fits into a metal mounting plate and then bolts down from the top. 

Lots of up and down motion is enough to break them. It may be a very subtle knocking noise over big bumps. 

Forum member sciphi changed the front struts on his Cruze, and may have done a write up. If not, there are several lowering spring installs around the site that might have a write up as to how the whole thing goes together.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/153-...7-how-replace-upper-strut-mount-bearings.html


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/153-...7-how-replace-upper-strut-mount-bearings.html


Ahh ****. I thought it would be as easy as replacing that top cap. ****. If I buy one of the strut assemblies that come with the spring already on would it have the mount? Or should I just not be lazy and go buy a spring compressor


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

neirfin said:


> Ahh ****. I thought it would be as easy as replacing that top cap. ****. If I buy one of the strut assemblies that come with the spring already on would it have the mount? Or should I just not be lazy and go buy a spring compressor


Auto parts stores will rent them to you...you put down the deposit (price of the tool), and they give it back to you when you return it.

Is your car way out of the B2B 36K warranty?


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Yeah im about to hit 60k. I do a lot of freeway driving which would possibly explain a busted mount. Ill ask the dealership how much to fix but im sure the labor alone would be way too much. And after looking at the how to, I know I have the tools except a compressor, just a matter of time to do the work.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

if i got a quick strut assembly, would it affect the ride height? i looked up the assembly on a few sites, and they show the same part for either the LT or Eco. i dont want to lose the lowered eco ride height, would the only way to avoid that be to take apart the oem strut assembly?

11 12 Chevrolet Cruze Quick Complete Front Struts Coil Springs Mounts Pair | eBay

these same types are listed for all three models on rock auto also.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Eco, 2LT, and LTZ share the same front suspension package (look for the "sport" suspension). LS and 1LT have a higher ride height. I think sites like GM Parts direct split them all up anyway, with struts listed specifically for the Eco in their description.

If you're going to replace the strut too, I'd do both, as you'll need a front-end alignment at the end of all this anyway.

Somewhere mid-2012, they redesigned the front struts and springs for the 2011/12 models because they'd knock. So there's THAT to look out for too...


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Hmm well I cant find any quick struts except on ebay and amazon... they're both pretty much cheapo no name struts. It doesnt specify if it fits the eco specifically or sport suspension. I really wish I had $1k for a set of coilovers.
Ill definetly be replacing both and at this point, there is no telling how many miles I drove with the busted mount, so I would think it best to replace the strut and spring and mount all at once...?
Its no racecar so im not opposed to getting a cheapo strut assembly from ebay but I really dont want to get finished installing it and see a higher ride height in the front.
Is there a way of telling the difference between an old design strut and the newly redesigned?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

They changed the lower spring mount on the strut cartridge.

I'm not sure if anyone has pictures of the 2 different struts or not - I think most of us with the original ones had them replaced with the new version under warranty because they clunked.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Hmm I remember running across a thread that talked about identifying the possible bad part by the vin number. When I get home on my computer I'll look for it. I suppose at $135 for a pair of front strut assemblies is still cheaper than buying single struts and the mount and spring compressor only to find that I should change out the lower mount too... seems like I should just pick up these cheapo quick struts and see what happens. I havent been able to find anything bad about them, but nothing good either.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

This is the one I remember (I had my car in for this).

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/25-s...sb-pi0645-front-suspension-popping-noise.html


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Purchased a strut spring remover when struts became popular, sometime in the late 70's as I recall.

That large nut screws unto the strut rod that can spin in the strut housing. Typical have those rod spin problems on an older vehicle where the nut is rusted to the threads. Don't car about the old strut, going in the trashcan anyway. So take a large pair of vise-grips between coils of the spring and grip that rod hard.

Upper strut rod has a flange on it that seats under the strut mount, usually a lock washer under that, but make sure the nut turns freely before trying to tighten it helps. Automotive manufacturers have never heard of anti-seize.

Where the strut bolts to the yoke, on these cheaper cars, just find a round bolt. More expensive cars use an offset bolt for chamber adjustment, Cruze does not fall in this class. Chamber and caster adjustments are accomplished by redrilling the holes for those three bolts that hold the strut mount plate.

Only adjustment is toe-in, if anything else is out, manual says to replace parts. They seem to charge a small fortune just to adjust toe-in.

Ha, had my 04 Cavalier in for new tires with a free alignment check, call me back to show me my toe-in was a 1/32" off and wanted an extra 75 bucks to adjust it. Now a 1/32nd of in inch isn't that bad because of slop in the steering. So I put my hands on the wheel and edged it in a 1/32nd of an inch and said, now its properly aligned. 

Had to replace both upper strut bearings on this car, just a couple of miles after the warranty ran out. Found two problems with these bearings, first, the idiots never tempered the races, second, they were never greased, balls were all rusty as were the races.

Get tired of fighting with idiot dealers, for twenty bucks each, wasn't worth the fight. New ones were tempered, but the balls were bare, loaded the cavity with high temperature bearing grease. Bet you a million bucks your dealer won't do this, just slap them in so you have problems again. Over a 100K miles on these bearing now, and still good. Little grease makes a huge difference.

Suspecting the same problem with the Cruze.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> This is the one I remember (I had my car in for this).
> 
> http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/25-s...sb-pi0645-front-suspension-popping-noise.html


well my vin is after so im safe there I suppose. well, I hope lol.
when I looked up the part number on the other thread about the mount (13505131) it shows 2 parts, both the same number, but they look different...


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Now you know why it's a funny story !


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

brian v said:


> Now you know why it's a funny story !


If youre talking about the part numbers its not funny its cruel!
I went into the dealership and they say that part number, 13505131, is a discontinued part and the new number is 22809842, but when you punch that in on gmpartsdirect it says the opposite, that 22809842 is the old number...
Also the dealership wanted $40 for each strut mount, but when he showed me the screen for the part I saw a dealer cost of $20. 100% markup, im in the wrong business...
I would much rather pay half and order them online, they had to order them anyways... anyone who replaced these lately know which part number is right? The dealership guy wouldnt comment on gmpartsdirect site, I know theyre not affiliated.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Gmpartsdirect emailed me back and said their website is wrong, the correct new part number is 22809842. I will be ordering a pair and installing them when they arrive.
For now its off to harbor freight for a spring compressor!


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

May want to check on ebay, see just the struts listed for around 60 bucks, for around 20 bucks more you get everything.

Here is one example:

Factory Front Chevy Cruze Passenger Side Right Hand Complete Strut Assembly | eBay

My son purchased just the struts for his old Taurus, when I took them apart, springs were weak, seats were shot as was the upper strut bearing. Cost him almost twice as much to buy these same parts separately.

Will still need that spring compressor if you want to properly grease the upper strut bearing. But maybe they are doing this now.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

I really looked hard at one of the cheap ebay assemblies. Gm doesnt sell a complete assembly, so as much as the ebay sellers wish they were selling a new oem part, it seems much more likely they put that together themselves, or maybe bought overstocked items, who knows really. The sites like rockauto list a brand called unity, which is also on ebay very cheap... the only problem is they list the same part for the LS and the ltz and eco, but the ls has a higher ride height... I didnt get a satisfactory answer from either rock auto or ebay sellers, so I decided to just rebuild the oem assembly myself. If there is more damage than just the mount I may end up paying a bit more yeah, but if nothing else is damaged, im saving just a little $...


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Finally got around to replacing the strut mount. First side was a bitch but the second one was easier. When I first noticed the strut mount was broken, it didn't make much clunk noise but it had gotten a lot worse lately. The new part and the old part are nearly identical but the nubs on the old one are completely worn away. Glad I got it taken care of before it did any damage. The end links were fine and the strut was clean and good.
The one on the left is the old part, new 'design' on the right. Well I suppose the plastic bearing in the mount is a different color but no visible differences otherwise.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Yay! Noises gone as well?


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

Yeah no more clunk over hard bumps. It was also starting to click and pop when turning after a stop, probably from the spring moving around. That is gone also.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Mines been clunking over bumps for 40K miles.... typically though its only the first 1/2 mile or 3-4 blocks & much worse when cold outside. Sounds like the front strut mount area. 

Every GM car I have ever owned or driven has noisy struts like that, so I suspect the noise will return for you shortly(15-25K).


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

noisy suspension I can deal with, but when it starts clunking loud and twice for each bump it had to get fixed. the real kicker was the noise when I turned the wheel at a stop sign. as the car straightened out it would pop back in place. not good.


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