Are strut spring spacers any good?

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Al Kondo - 13 Aug 2005 15:50 GMT

I have a 91 Toyota Camry LE. I know that my front struts are worn and
need replacing. I have done this procedure before and will be doing
it myself again. However, because my car is "bottoming" on occasion,
I think that my springs are bad. I am having a hard time locating the
springs at my usual parts houses and even on the internet. While
researching the part, I found that spacers exist which can be placed
within the spring to make them ride higher. I would like to hear
from people who are experienced with these so I can determine if they
are any good. I can get them at my local AutoZone for about seven
bucks.

Thanks, Al Kondo

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N8N - 13 Aug 2005 17:27 GMT

> I have a 91 Toyota Camry LE. I know that my front struts are worn and
> need replacing. I have done this procedure before and will be doing
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Thanks, Al Kondo

In a word, no. Honestly if your struts really are shot you may not
have a spring problem at all. Otherwise I would just buy a new set of
springs and be done with it. The only good spring spacers are the ones
that sit in the spring seat; I assume you're talking about the little
things that go in between the coils, which are worthless.

nate

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HLS@nospam.nix - 13 Aug 2005 18:29 GMT

> In a word, no. Honestly if your struts really are shot you may not
> have a spring problem at all. Otherwise I would just buy a new set of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> nate

I have had to use these when trailering with a car that was not really
set up for it. Used them on my rear coils, and they gave me enough
lift to get me home, and stability was fine.

I would not use them as a long term alternative, and agree with Nate
that you may not have a spring problem at all. New struts may solve
the issue.

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scrook - 14 Aug 2005 02:38 GMT

The spacers will just negate some of the the action of the springs making
the car ride harder (and bottom out harder), the bottoming probably arises
from lack of damping due to the worn out struts.

>> In a word, no. Honestly if your struts really are shot you may not
>> have a spring problem at all. Otherwise I would just buy a new set of
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> that you may not have a spring problem at all. New struts may solve
> the issue.

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MisterSkippy - 14 Aug 2005 18:05 GMT

>I have a 91 Toyota Camry LE. I know that my front struts are worn and
>need replacing. I have done this procedure before and will be doing
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Thanks, Al Kondo

IMHO, the bottoming might well be due to the fact that the struts are
doing little to dampen the spring travel.
Back in the day, I used those rubber spacers between the front coils
on a '61 Galaxy In which I replaced the original 292 with a 390.
Still bottomed. Eventually I had to change the springs.
FWIW
YMMV
DFB

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