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shocks and springs hatchet job Posted by TML [Email] ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Backstory:
Bought a 2007 9-5 wagon with full maintenance history, which included a bill for front struts and mounts, rear struts, springs on Aug 14, 2018. Owner delivered the car to me today, and immediately I noticed the rear left wheel arch is actually below the top of the tire. It wasn't like that when I looked at the car before.
After taking the tires off, here's what I found out:
Rear struts were not replaced, they were clearly many years old. The shocks are Monroe OESpectrum p/n 5992; interesting, since the price the shop charged was roughly double the retail price of those shocks, and almost double what genuine SAAB shocks would have cost. Funny business going on there. I can't tell what brand the springs are, but what struck me is that the bottom of the coil doesn't look like it seats properly in the shock perch; the perch looks to be 50mm OD, and the coil ID is at least 56mm (see attached picture).
Prior to taking the wheels off, I noted that the coil on the left side was compressed much more than the right side - I could fit my knuckle between the coils on the right, and not even close on the left. After lifting the car to take the wheels off and putting it back down, the car seems to ride at a more reasonable height, though the right is still somewhat higher. The cost of the springs was quadruple the cost of genuine SAAB springs!
Is replacing the springs and shocks with ones that are actually meant to go together likely to solve this problem, or should I be looking elsewhere? I examined the strut in situ and it seems ok.
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