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strangehamster posted:I got a $2000 estimate to change the front struts/alignment on my Grand Caravan. Can I do it much cheaper if I buy parts from Rock Auto and spend a weekend in my garage? I have intermediate mechanical skills. The struts are probably pretty straightforward. Be advised that suspension components tend to use larger fasteners and are more likely to be rusted / a real pain in the rear end unless you have big wrenches or an impact. Look up instructions / videos to see if you need to buy/rent/borrow any specialized tools. Alignment is best left to the professionals, and is necessary basically whenever you make changes to your suspension.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:28
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did you get that $2k estimate from a dealership, because if so, don't do that, check at an indepdendent mechanic also please be very careful about dealing with compressed springs. They have enormous amounts of energy. There are special tools for compressing springs that you can maybe rent or get at harbor freight or w/e if you need to do that. You might not.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:45
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strangehamster posted:I got a $2000 estimate to change the front struts/alignment on my Grand Caravan. Can I do it much cheaper if I buy parts from Rock Auto and spend a weekend in my garage? I have intermediate mechanical skills. Yes. But poo poo can go sideways real quick with a broken bolt.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:46
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C-Bangin' it 
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If you buy preloaded strut spring combos (I think they call them quick struts on rockauto) it should eliminate most of the pain and risk, you'll want a pro alignment though. Should be about 150 bucks.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:05
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On RockAuto I think they are called "Shock / Strut & Coil Spring Assembly" but yeah that will save you some time and risk. Doesn't do anything about the rust, though.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:08
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My guy at Midas quoted me about 800 parts 800 labor 200 alignment. I’m going to ask a friend if they’re up for it, thank you all 
strangehamster fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 20:35
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kastein posted:If you buy preloaded strut spring combos (I think they call them quick struts on rockauto) it should eliminate most of the pain and risk, you'll want a pro alignment though. Should be about 150 bucks. Should op also consider replacing the strut bearings or does Chrysler use bushings or some poo poo? I'd be relaxing the bearings with the rest of this is I was doing my struts.
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Apr 25, 2024 20:43
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strangehamster posted:My guy at Midas quoted me about 800 parts 800 labor 200 alignment, I’m going to ask a friend if they’re up for it. Is anyone from the Des Moines metro? I just paid 800 cdn dollars for 4 quick struts for my corolla from rock auto.. That includes shipping. I know there's a difference in price/ currency for different parts and all that, but it seems a bit high if it's just the fronts. Labor, if they're buying parts separately and putting them together, doesn't seem unreasonable. It's probably 5-6 hours work and lots of places are charging over 100 per hour these days.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:02
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Please beat some sense into me. I get fairly frequent alignments and I hate relying on a shop. I watched a youtube video about this tool and it looks like it works pretty well. Am I crazy for wanting to spend $120 on this?
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Apr 26, 2024 02:01
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You need a good floor jack, jackstands, a breaker bar, a ratchet (both in 1/2" drive), an extension or two, a handful of wooden blocks, and maybe some penetrating oil to do full strut replacements. Do swaybar links at the same time. Like wesleywillis, I did all that on a Matrix/Corolla for maybe $500 USD a couple years ago over two days, maybe total of 6 hours of work going slow.
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Apr 26, 2024 02:55
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Colostomy Bag posted:Yes. This is why I have developed a new habit where I just buy new bolts when doing anything suspension-wise. Having a spare handy when poo poo goes sideways is nice and fitting new hardware means you then give the stuff a fighting chance of being aligned properly and holding it afterwards. It's a bit more cash but certainly less than a $2000 charge! Oh and it took me far too long to incorporate using heat when disassembling things, very stupid of me. A good penetrating fluid is a no-brainer.
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Apr 26, 2024 08:40
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two_beer_bishes posted:Please beat some sense into me. I get fairly frequent alignments and I hate relying on a shop. I watched a youtube video about this tool and it looks like it works pretty well. Am I crazy for wanting to spend $120 on this? Those are great for race car alignments at the track. They're not great if you want your tires to last 50k miles. Your toe will be good to maybe 1/32 of a inch. How frequently are you getting alignments?
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Apr 26, 2024 12:30
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honda whisperer posted:Those are great for race car alignments at the track. They're not great if you want your tires to last 50k miles. My wife's car and the truck, every 6mo or so because of the lovely roads here. Sounds like I should keep bringing those to the shop. I just put coilovers on my BRZ that gets driven about 3000 miles a year and tire life isn't ever a concern since they age out before I hit any tread limits. Plus the Satellite race car I'm working on probably needs an alignment but I don't see myself ever bringing that to a shop.
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Apr 26, 2024 13:03
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Every 6 months I'd look for a shop that offers lifetime alignments when you get tires installed. If you're doing race car and BRZ stuff I'd look into string gauges or hub stands. Then your problem becomes having a level enough floor for repeatable results. Jegs and summit have toe plates for the same price as Amazon and I'd trust them more. Paco motors is selling hub stands for $900 through flying Miata. They're fantastic for the money. I'd use the stands for home adjustment and take toe plates for track repairs and adjustments.
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Apr 26, 2024 15:19
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I need to replace the rear view mirror in a 2011 Honda Civic. Do I need OEM parts, or is third-party good? And what’s a good marketplace for Honda parts (Google isn’t very helpful)?
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Apr 26, 2024 17:08
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I'd try a junkyard first, that part probably fits 10 years of every Honda model on the market and 13 years old is easily old enough for there to be plenty of them in the local pick n pull.
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Apr 26, 2024 17:15
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Wing mirror or interior mirror?
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Apr 26, 2024 17:18
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Interior, i.e. windshield. There’s a used auto parts place nearby so I could hit that up and try my luck!
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Apr 26, 2024 17:49
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If there’s not any wires going to it (for map lights or thermometer or whatever else) you can just glue whichever rearview mirror you want in there.
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Apr 26, 2024 22:03
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there's also like loads of aftermarket "better" rear view mirrors from catalogs and poo poo yeah ultrawides and panoramics and so on and "universal" for any car
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Apr 26, 2024 22:44
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No wires, all mirror. In that case, is there a compendium out there of mirrors compatible with a particular mounting hardware? Or maybe just an outright better one that comes with mounting hardware, and I just remove the whole thing.
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Apr 27, 2024 15:43
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I like to use car-part.com to help me find used parts / what parts interchange. Looks like LKQ charges $53.50 and has tons of them: https://www.lkqonline.com/2011-honda-civic-interior-rear-view-mirror/-hFnPnOcFKm/-i~376100892 Rockauto has some pretty cheap universal ones: https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/interior,mirror,inside+rear+view+mirror,1076
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Apr 27, 2024 15:52
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The problem with universals is that all the options I can find these days use the screw-in wedge style while the 2011 Civic had a slide-in twist style and since only the glass is busted I can't be arsed to remove the whole thing. I could get a clip-on but eh. I'll see if a site like LKQ suits my needs - thanks!
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Apr 27, 2024 16:06
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You can use a heat gun and remove the mount, giving you near limitless options
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Apr 27, 2024 16:18
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https://x.com/EmiSakura_gtmv/status/1784268390137540756 what car is she drving? all i can tell is "small red hatchback that's different from the small red hatchback I drive" and i'm wondering what the hell is overheating during a 3.5 hour drive. i had a hand me down 1996 saab that did that but nothing since
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Apr 27, 2024 18:59
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Thauros posted:https://x.com/EmiSakura_gtmv/status/1784268390137540756 Fiat 500
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Apr 27, 2024 19:45
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I’ve got some random old car parts taking up space in my garage and shed that I’ve got no use for, but others might (like stuff that was replaced by upgrades but could still be used). I’d feel bad just trashing it but also don’t think it is worth my time to try to sell; I care more that they might not go to waste than I do about getting any money for them. Any suggestions?
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Apr 27, 2024 21:14
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Do they fit a car that people restore or maintain where it's hard to find spares? If so find their forum and post free but you pay shipping for the lot.
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Apr 27, 2024 22:49
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Kia Soul Enthusias posted:Fiat 500 lol and that basically is the model of small red hatch i drive but without the ground effects or wings of the abarth i have it looked just off enough i thought it was someting else
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Apr 27, 2024 23:00
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His Divine Shadow posted:Looks interesting I have that laser myself and been thinking in similar ways. Also looked at how to do it with string and thought about various DIY tools I could make using an aluminium extrusion with a screw to make a kind of gauge that measure the inside of the wheels. I just need a really huge micrometer ...and another thing that showed up in my YouTube flow was the Vevor alignment plates: https://www.vevor.com/toe-plate-c_10328/vevor-wheel-alignment-tool-camber-caster-toe-plates-6-probes-w-digit-screen-p_010841058601 Haven't had time to find / watch any videos where they actually double check it with an actual alignment.
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Apr 28, 2024 06:51
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Hey guys, car idiot here. Never sold a car before and just want some advice. Got a 2009 Acura TSX, 6 speed manual. 210k miles, timing chain was replaced last year and in this model of Acura they basically have to tear the engine down to do it. Never missed an oil change. Got a couple dings and nicks but nothing serious. Still drives great. Was gonna make a Facebook account and throw it up on marketplace. I see them go from anywbeee from 2.5k to 6k. What’s a good starting price for mine, do you guys think? Thanks!
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Apr 29, 2024 13:32
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I would also like to sell my car. Is there an AI car selling thread? I kinda want to dump it on a dealership and wash my hands of it but I'll probably get hosed on value? This poo poo is too complicated
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Apr 29, 2024 17:27
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FizFashizzle posted:Hey guys, car idiot here. Never sold a car before and just want some advice. You got me thinking about my 2013 Audi A4 which has a TFSI engine, timing chain, and is apparently an interference engine. Even if there’s no replacement interval in the manual, should I start thinking about replacement at a mechanic before it fails? I’m creeping up on 135k miles I think, and google says 125k mi is close to that point. I’m also on the “lifetime” ATF, I think I will ride that until it dies rather than try replacing. For the ZF 8speed seems like it can do more harm than good. I’m a car dummy tho.
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Apr 29, 2024 17:34
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The (pinned!) AI Marketplace thread is where goons sell cars and car parts to other goons. @Fiz, price is somewhat dependent on location as well as condition. But a running car with a clean title is worth at least $5k IMO, anything you see lower than that probably has a salvage title or is busted in some severe way.
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Apr 29, 2024 17:35
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Inner Light posted:You got me thinking about my 2013 Audi A4 which has a TFSI engine, timing chain, and is apparently an interference engine. The timing chain isn't gonna snap and cause your interference engine to detonate: but over a long period they can stretch a bit, which causes the timing to stop being quite right. If the engine is running smoothly with no timing issues I think you can leave the timing chain alone. A lot of folks are sure that flushing a transmission after a certain amount of miles will cause sediments at the bottom of the pan to mix into the transmission and gently caress it up. I'm less convinced of that, I suspect that there's a coincidental relationship between "transmission so old I did a flush" and "old transmissions are close to failure regardless" but I can't prove that. I believe in some cars you can do a transmission drain without a flush though. A partial change shouldn't stir too much stuff? Not sure about your Audi.
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Apr 29, 2024 17:38
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Pretty much the best way is to drop the pan, clean it out completely, and put it back on with fresh fluid back to regular level, but it is a huge mess and if possible drain it with a drain plug first. Some transmissions just don't have them though because auto makers don't care about us at all past the warranty period.
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Apr 29, 2024 19:10
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2011 Honda Civic, ~35k miles. Driver side powered window seems to get stuck on something halfway up. https://youtu.be/EJznDAK-MoQ?si=4bC9h4_ueCBqcMaZ Any idea what causes this? Easy fix or mechanic time?
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Apr 29, 2024 22:39
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Pollyanna posted:2011 Honda Civic, ~35k miles. Driver side powered window seems to get stuck on something halfway up. That could be as simple as something fell down the track and got stuck or as complicated as a new motor.
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Apr 29, 2024 22:45
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 Guess I’ll take the panel off.Edit: got the panel off after much difficulty, tested it and it worked perfectly. Put it all back together and it’s happening again. gently caress it, I’ll live with it. At least didn’t forget any screws, right? Right? Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Apr 29, 2024 |
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Apr 29, 2024 22:54
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It could still be a tiny thing inside the motor, or the switch could be faulty. does your car have a function that lets you roll down the windows any other way? For example on my old golf I could insert the key int he door and turn and hold, and it'd roll down all the windows. If so, try that and see if it still does the weird thing.
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Apr 29, 2024 23:42
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