1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

frost suspension dust covers in bad shape

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by jmann, May 25, 2015.

  1. jmann

    jmann Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2005
    182
    10
    0
    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I lifted the car up to check which wheel bearing was bad. In the process, I noticed that the dust covers on the frost suspension where in bad shape. How important are these? I assume they are an absolute royal pain in the nice person to replace.

    On a side note, re: bearings. at 107,780 miles, this will be the third hub bearing assembly for that wheel. The other front wheel got its third bearing somewhere around 90,000 mi. I can't imagine it is me, but who knows. The part that annoys me though, is that I just had new tires put on at a orange/red themed warehouse store. Then I took it somewhere else for an alignment and brake check, and then I took it back to the warehouse store for a safety check. At no point did anyone tell me that the frickin' wheel wiggled slightly. I don't know what the hell they could have aligned when the wheel wiggled. I should probably lift the back end up and spin those wheels while I am at it.
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 jmann, May 25, 2015
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,198
    6,464
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The pleated rubber covers are part of the top insulator, which separates the top of the coil spring from the top strut mount.

    You typically would not go to the trouble of removing the front struts if you were only concerned about the pleated rubber covers.

    When you are ready to replace the front struts, you would also replace the rubber insulators (located both above and below the coil springs) as well as the top strut mounts for a complete job.

    Yes, it would not hurt to raise the rear end of the car (using the inverted tower jack point) so that you can examine how well the wheels rotate, thus allowing you to assess the bearings as well as to see whether there is any drag from the rear brake shoes.

    For that matter you could also remove the tires, then remove the brake drums to inspect the rear brake shoe lining thickness (4 mm is new; 1 mm is minimum allowable thickness)
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, May 25, 2015
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)