Front Struts 02 Camry

[BIGNASTY]

Im the owner of a 2002 Camry with 5,500 miles, Front end seems to be a tad low. Going over a dip in the intersection the skirt under the front Plastic bumper scraps. I would imagine that this has been sitting and the struts went bad? don't know if that can happen as this is the first one of these strut type cars ive had. Do I need special tools to replace the struts? what kind are suggested? Its Sunday in a Rural town no auto parts open to get a Chiltons and Im not driving 150 miles to get one, today anyway.

Thanks BIG

 

[DavidC]

Don't know a whole lot about those but a spring compressor and regular oriental sockets and wrenches should do it. The ones I have been associated required the spring to be compressed for removal and install, that was a long time ago tho.

Dave

 

[mwilson]

big,, space using speech to text so bear with me.it sounds like the springs have settled.you might want to consider buying a strut spring combo unit.that way you will not have to deal with compressing the spring simply changing out the strut unit. Also the car must be aligned as soon as you do that..

 

[Wayne M.]

Yes like mike said, only they're usually called loaded struts. Come complete ready to go in. You'll probably wind up with a domestic brand like Monroe. Look around rock auto.com to satisfy your curiosity. The only caution I can think of is that some cars strut removal changes wheel alignment. Sometimes the lower bolts are slotted allowing camber adjustment.
'02 Camry- how many miles?

 

[BIGNASTY]

I Googled this and came up with how it was done, I also had made a call to a mechanic that I worked with he said the same thing, Buy the whole set up it makes the install much easier and better. 5,500 miles

Thanks for the info, for the price vs the mileage I don't think we could have gone wrong, its a Nevada car so the first thing after the front end work is a trip to Ziebart shop.


BIG

 

[crispyboy]

Thanks for the info, for the price vs the mileage I don't think we could have gone wrong, its a Nevada car so the first thing after the front end work is a trip to Ziebart shop.


BIG

I thought cars in Montana didn't have to worry about rust? Everytime I have been west it seems like going back in a time warp seeing many of the older cars/trucks on the road still in good shape.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I thought cars in Montana didn't have to worry about rust? Everytime I have been west it seems like going back in a time warp seeing many of the older cars/trucks on the road still in good shape.

If I wanted to stay within the unincorporated part of our county, rust isn't much of a problem. We have some green peace weenies that keep the state from dumping salt by the truck loads on our stretch of the hwy. We live on Hwy 83 which is a Montana Senic Hwy and the salt causes the trees and grass's do die on the shoulder of the road and its NOT NATURAL

 

[BIGNASTY]

Went into town today and got two complete setups spring, struts, mounts the whole works $110.00 each MONROE + a Chiltons and a new cabin filter found a mouse that looked pretty stiff. Oil filter, trans fluid, anti freeze, thermostat and a start on new hose's they look kind of iffy after sitting so long 12 years and only 5,500 miles???

 

[Wayne M.]

might want to do the timing belt soon- just in case.....

 

[BIGNASTY]

might want to do the timing belt soon- just in case.....

Way ahead of ya on that the 4cyl has a chain not a belt like the V6

 

[JR]

Supposedly the timing chains on those Camrys are "lifetime". I have a hard time wrapping my head around that claim having owned several 22r and 22re engines years ago. They manufactured the 22re up until 97 and you would be doing good to make 100k on a chain before it started beating itself off the front cover. I've seen em break the chintsy plastic guides and wear a hole right through the timing cover at 80k miles I know the 2.4 In the Camry is a whole different animal than the 22re even though they are the same displacement. I've never seen the inside of the 2.4 In the Camry but I would sure be interested to see what they did differently to keep the chain from stretching so much. A co worker's wife drives an 04 that has nearly 300k miles on it and the original chain. That would never happen in a 22re.

 

[BIGNASTY]

At 5,500 miles I really shouldn't have to do to very much, I was busy today with some other things going on and tomorrow is the car day, I want to get the struts done and put some new rubber on it before it goes to the alignment shop. It runs really good for a 4 banger, plenty of poop for what it is. Super Clean inside and out, it was stored in a enclosed self storage unit with a cover on it. My friend put a new batt in it to drive it home, it started but I told him being stuck at the END OF NOWHERE is not a good time, so just put a batt in and be done with it.

My Toyota Taco 4x4 is a V6 its a damn good little truck, I drive it 99% of the time, if I can get it away from Penny :-laf

 

[BIGNASTY]

Put the struts on this AM (not any big deal) the hardest part was getting the tool box to where I wanted to work on it. Installed the whole thing strut, spring, mount. Drove to Kalispell got it aligned went to Costco had new rubber all around with spare. It works great!!

 

[MMeier]

Gotta luv those older 'yota's ! 26 years and coming up on 800k on my 89 4 runner with a 22 RE and a 5 speed, head hasn't been off or the oil pan yet !! Doesn't use a drop of oil either !!!!

 

[BIGNASTY]

Gotta luv those older 'yota's ! 26 years and coming up on 800k on my 89 4 runner with a 22 RE and a 5 speed, head hasn't been off or the oil pan yet !! Doesn't use a drop of oil either !!!!

I had a 86 1/2 Nissan Hardbody 4 cyl with 8 spark plugs Z 24 motor cab and a half. I put 150k on it driving to work and back, then got transferred close to home so I rode a bicycle to work and let some family members drive the hell out of it, when my Daughter got rear ended it had 489K took the motor/trans out of it and sold it to her boyfriend he had put the motor and trans in his when we left Calif 4 years ago still running like a top.

We bought a 4x4 2013 Tacoma 4 door V6 runs like a striped a** ape cant wait to see what its like in the snow.

 

[Grizzly]

I love Toyotas. They're the only cars my wife and I buy. My wife has a 2010 4-Runner and I have a 2003 Avalon, which we bought new.