I have a 95 Concours with about 87K miles on it. The front end rattles when going over bumps. I took it to a local shop. The mechanic put the car on the lift and looked around. He said eveything looked fine and said it was probably the struts. He said the were air struts and quoted me a price of 2500.

So what's really going on here? Can someone help please. I am not about to spend that kind of money!

Thanks,
Ralph

It can be a number of things. The sway bar end links, the sway bar bushing, or it could be the struts.
The front struts are not air controled, they are electrical. The rear are air shocks.
It is true, they are about $2,500 to replace both front struts. Your best bet would be to put passive aftermarket ones on. You can try places like Midas, or buy some from Boston Suspension or Strutmasters.

I agree that it's a hell of a lot of money, and I can understand why you would say no way in hell. Let's say it is the struts. I don't know how mark up and labor is included in the price, but you can figure it out by doing some cash and carry shopping.

They aren't that difficult to install. The biggest problem you would face is with the r & i of the coil springs. Some automotive parts places do such type of work, and if you bought the struts from them, the installation costs for the coil springs proally wouldn't be that bad. Other than a little effort, it doesnt' cost anything to see how much it would cost as a almost-diy job.

Not that I am a stickler for forum ediquette...but...this area is for tech tips...not tech questions...someone needs to relocate this to the correct area.

But....if this could be considered a "tech tip"....if the front end of your FWD Cadillac is rattling or making noise over bumps replace the stabilizer bar mounting bushings and end link isolators before you even consider anything else.

The stab bar in a FWD car is worked pretty heavily and the mounting bushings, in particular, take a lot of load. Even if they look fine when sitting on a hoist they can be worn out and junk. See....the stab bar is only loaded when one front wheel tries to move to a different posititon than the other. Then the stab bar takes up the difference to add spring rate...and...in the process....loads the heck out of the mounting isolators or mounting bushings. Sitting still on a hoise with both wheels on the level the stab and the mounting points have absolutely no load on them so those clapped out bushings look fine. When loaded they collapse and allow the bar to bottom against the chassis/mounting bracket and rattle. Replace those bushings and likely your rattle will go away. If not, well, they likely needed replacing anyway even if something else is rattling also.

Hi;

Front end rattle is usually the top bearing plates which need to be replaced with the struts, or the stabilizer bar links which conect to the struts.

TOM

9 out of 10? Sway bar links.

Is sway bar link replacement a diy job? dave

They are a DIY job if they aren't too rusted. The sway bar end links on my '94 Deville are so rusted that they will have to be cut off. Theres a nut that is on the bolt for them that you use a Torx bit to turn, but the ones on my car are so rusted, I broke the Torx bit off!

9 out of 10? Sway bar links.

Thanks Cadillactech!!

I had the same rattling noise on my 98 base deville, and replacing the Sway bar links corrected the problem... Factor me into the 9 out of 10.
Thanks Again,