2002 Chrysler Sebring LX (4 door, 4 cyl.).

There is a loud rattle coming from the passenger-side rear wheel area, and peeling back the felt in the trunk, it appears that the strut is loose, it does not sit high & firm like the driver-side rear, and you can shake it around with just a finger. The car still drives fine, no excessive pitch, roll, or pull to one side.

Mechanics have told me over the phone so far: they all agree the shock should be replaced. They also agree the rear struts should be done as a set. Then they disagree, some say this calls for an alignment, others say to align the rear wheels they’d have to drill holes and do it manually. The one who says it should be aligned called the others “absolutely crazy” and that it is a 4-wheel alignment vehicle. 3 out of 4 say the mounting bracket should be replaced. The one who disagrees refuses to say what the noise could be without seeing it themselves, despite my description.

So... can you align just the rear? Do you need align to after just replacing rear struts? I understand that upon further inspection other issues or an obvious solution may be come apparent. However, I am not going to take it to a mechanic whose knowledge I cannot trust.

We have a family friend with a car lift so I'm going to have them take a peek and see what they think, but they are not an expert (but jeez, a hydraulic lift, you'd hope they know a thing or two, aside from being loaded).

Thanks!

 

Rear camber and toe-in can be aligned. The preferred method of alignment is to align the rear wheels first, so it is possible to align the rear wheels without aligning the fronts. That being said, the car is 9 years old, so the chance of needing a front end alignment is probably pretty good.
If nothing other than the rear shocks are replaced, alignment may not be necessary, but a responsible mechanic would probably recommend check of alignment especially if the car has been driven with loose components.
The guy who said he would have to enlarge holes to do an alignment sounds like he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Given that something is loose and rattling around there, some damage could have occurred. Don't trust any estimate of someone who hasn't actually inspected the car carefully.

 

In all honesty...Thats the one I would trust.

 

thank you all for your responses, they were helpful.

The one who refused to say without seeing is likely the most trustworthy, but also lacks people skills and prices are inflated due to having a good reputation.

Luckily, my father-in-law has a good friend that is a retired master mechanic, with a garage half the size of his home, complete with hydraulic lift and paint booth. On his advice, replacing both shocks, bushings, and mounts (broken), checking alignment optional, or do it later when you find a good coupon or special offer. Sometimes bundled with replacing tires which will happen this fall anyway.

Took it to Midas #1, they just called back and practically doubled the estimate from $350 (given by Midas #2) to $650. I understood about $120 extra as the $350 only included two shocks and a mount, and we were adding a mount and two bushings ($50 mount, $30 bushing x2). But calling Midas #2 resulted in a quote of $500 even, not $650. #2 Stated the labor would be 1hr/side, whereas Midas #1 was trying to tell me that their book says labor is 2.8 hours per side, but that he'd "knock it down to one, just for me."

Playing the negotiation game, I called the Midas #1 back, told him flat out what the other Midas across town said, and he said "tell you what, life is too short, we'll match their quote". Either he was being genuinely nice, or as Midas #2 was explaining, when you're replacing the strut, you can get at the bushing & mount at the same time, no separate labor cost, and Midas #1 was double-charging me for the labor.

I hate to have #1 do the work after being dishonest, but they matched the price, I don't suspect they will sabotage the car, and the hassle to take more time off work to move the car to another garage, wait for the parts to arrive and doing all this while only owning one car and depending on family for additional transportation is not worth it. I did call #2 back and thank them for their honesty and assistance, and let them know any future work will come their way first.

Fingers crossed.

 

I had same issue. I live in Michigan and the original mounting plates for the rear struts were aluminum. The road salt corroded them. The new ones from Chrysler were steel! This happened in 2007 car was only 4 years old

 

I had the shop clarify that the replacement mounts were indeed steel. Thankfully.

 

You may want to make sure if you haven't already check the bushings in the back as well. We had very similar issue with our 2002 LXI which are pricey as well. PM. <><

 

The passenger side bushing was missing, and they stated the driver side was worn, so both were replaced.

Car feels right as rain.

 

awesome!!