so it turns out that the rear drivers side strut tower rusted through and broke. my strut is not attatched at the top at all and just bangs around the tower when i hit bumps. i was looking at the manual and it looks like there is a adaptor plate that actually bolts the strut top to the frame of the car, in the trunk in my case. does anyone have any experience with this... im gonna call some junkyards to see if i can find the adaptor piece and switch them out, cause i need to fix this kinda soon... this ever happen to anyone else.. any and all info/opinions are welcome

 

I think it is quite common, it has happened to me as well. It is not that hard to fix, but you need a spring compressor. Don't waste you time with a used one, just buy a new one. This is the part you are after: http://www.autopartsworld.com/1990_m...unt_parts.html

 

you're fucked. My escort had the same problem because the rubber seal on the trunk kept leaking, with salt and dirt from the road ate it through. There's no way someone will repair this and it wont pass your state's inspection. Your car is junk.

 

upon inspection, all of the mount thingy on all 4 corners are pretty rusty lookin, but only the one broke. tried lookin around to some places online and some local junkyards, and no place would part out a strut assembly just so i can have the little piece. i actually wound up buying a whole strut with the spring and every thing from a local junkyard. im gonna do all the work myself, so im not really concerned if someplace will fix it for me or not. i guess it is a pretty common occurance, even the dude at the junkyard said it was, so.....

 

This happened to me too. Your car is NOT junked if only the strut hat broke, not the actual strut tower.

I just went to a local auto parts store and got a pair of rear strut hats from Monroe for $60. I don't know what you paid for a used strut assembly, but this may be a cheaper option.

Eh, just something to consider.

 

**** i wish i knew that i could go to monro for that. the junkyard was expensive, but they gave me the whole strut assembly, with spring and all(although i really didnt need it). its all fixed now, new one is in and rockin good. i was just in a rush cause its my pizza/winter/daily driver and my honda isnt driveable with the potholes and poor road conditions during the winter so i had to take a day off of work to fix it