I've a '99 Z28 with 75K on it. Went to replace the front struts with new Bilstiens. When I pulled the struts, water had pooled on top of the strut tower even though it was sealed with rubber gaskets at the factory. Extensive rust! Barely got one apart using vice grips. Unable to get the nut off the shock's shaft on the other. Rusted so bad threads were almost gone and bolt started breaking apart. Got spring compressors on it real quick. It does not rain that much in TX! Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a technical bulletin out on this? Only workable solution I can think of is to smear axle grease all over the nut and shaft to prevent rust. Still got to get the other one apart. Recommend not going past 50K without changing the front shocks.

 

greeeaaat. just what i wanted to hear.. >< guess i should have mine checked

/tek.

 

75K and just getting around to replacing the struts???? Sorry but you have really been missing the boat Hope your car didnt ride like rocks. Ummm you think the original rears might still be good too j/k If they were the original decarbons youve been riding on your springs for awhile Ive had 4 f - bodies and none of the original stuff was any good much past 40K

 

Done it on 3 cars, and they were all badly rusted. Whenever i do it now, i don't bother trying the nut. I just fire up the reciprocating saw and cut them off. Smeared grease on the new ones.

 

I took the strut into the dealer today. They stated they have never seen this before on any Camaro or Firebird. Glad to see from prior posts that I'm not the only one. They stated the only way they knew of that this could happen was for the water to come in from inside the hood. I have power washed my engine compartment a couple of times. Maybe this is the root cause. They were kind enough to get the nut off for me. They used a metal grinder and bit to grind off what was left of the nut.

BTW, my front shocks were still doing OK at 75K. I do lots of highway driving. My rears were getting weak - I could feel the backend not holding when I hit a bump in a corner. They still had plenty of dampening on the bench but glad to get some better quality units on the vehicle. SHOX.com!!

 

First, our cars use shocks, not struts. Next, the stock ones suck. I replaced mine before 3k miles.

 

what do u think the front suspension is??......front uses struts buddy.

 

nope, 4th gens got double a arm coil over shocks from the factory.

3rd gens use struts.