Could that thing cause the rattles?

Hi All,

I live in a place that the streets have a hole and a sewer cover every 100 meter, my 06 prius with 89k mile(imported from USA on 85k, just 4k mile here),recently, i feel strong rattles and knocks from the driver side wheel area whenever pass on a small hole or a crack on the street, i went to a dealer to figure the reason he told me the front arm rubber is what causes the rattles and knocks (he called it arm box, see attached pics), i got the arm out and inspected it, it has two cracks, is that bad? or that cracks are normal? is this part is a possible the reason of the rattles and knocks?

due to the streets here, what mechanics do is buying only the "Box" part (the circular steel and rubber) and remove the old one and using a professional machine insert a new one!!! we dont replace the whole arm, i called the Toyota parts dealer, the just sell the arm as a hole for 150 $ each , i'm not welling to buy it because i'll need to replace it after 6 months at most, is that "Box" in prius is same as other toyota models? corolla for example? because the prius is rare here but other models are common, i might buy it as another model part and fix mine with it.

the mechanic told me that filling the cracks with rubber pieces could help, is that true?

should i stop inflating my tires on 42-44 psi? im thinking of lowering the pressure to 37-39 due the bad streets here.


you support plz.

 

Thanks Alot Patrick, just to be clear, the struts is the shock absorbers right? the thing inside the spring ? :-D

i called the dealer and they are very expensive compared with other toyota absorbers, are they similar to any other model? corolla for example, we have that problem here because prius considered as strange and almost rare car for the dealers, they sell the parts very expensive compared to other models parts.

 

Thanks a lot Patrick, here it costs 200$, i'll look for a used one from a low mileage salvaged car, because i'll need to replace them again within 6 months due to the god damn roads right here. thanx alot