1998 Toyota Camry Strut vs strut mount

BSCHLEETER

MEMBER
1998 TOYOTA CAMRY
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
120,000 MILES

I have been hearing a clunking noise as I drive over bumps for some time. I finally took the car into a mechanic and he said that replacement of the struts may not solve the clunking, because it may be caused by worn out strut mounts. Could this be the case? Also, he believed that the struts and strut mounts were sold seperately. Is this true?

Thank you,

Brad

1 Reply

HEYROBERTO

MEMBER
1 POST

Hey, I have a 1998 camry v6 and I have the same noise more like a rattle like something is loose at the wheels when I go over small bumps too. I thought it was the struts (that's what I was told, and it sounded right) so I got them replaced. The noise still was there. I told another mechanic the problem and he asked if I had replaced the strut mounts which I hadn't, and he said that that the strut mounts can get worn out and that could very well be the cause of the noise.
And to be honest when I took my old struts out for the new ones, they looked pretty good. I felt bad throwing them away.
So in my opinion, go ahead and replace the struts and it would be smart to replace the strut mounts too. Because new struts alone didn't help me get rid of the rattle.