Questions and Answers

Topaz Bouncing Too Much Q. Hi. I have a question concerning my 1992 Topaz. It has a 4 cylinder, automatic, 178,000 miles, fuel injection, and cruise control. I noticed lately that the front ends been shaking when I drive the highway starting about 50 miles per hour.

There are indents on the two front tires, that the firestone guy says is the radial belts connected on the inside. My tires are very worn, and I know they need to be replaced, but my question is this- My front alignment needs done also. Before I get new tires I should have this done to eliminate bad wear and tear, right? But, I also think my struts or shocks may be bad, because when I hit any bump it feels like it's going to rip the whole front end off. Would this be bad struts, or shocks? What do you think it would cost me to replace? And, if I get an alignment and new tires first, when I hit a bump since it hits so hard will it just throw the alignment right back out? Help!!! I don't have a ton of money to fix, but this is my only car, and I drive the highway every day to work. Suggestions please.

Thanks,
Michelle

A. Those indents are normal in radial tires. It's as the tire people say, it's due to the way the tires are constructed. The vibration at about 50 mph is probably due to the wheels being out of balance. Also the struts being bad will cause the front end to bounce around. At 178,000 miles it's a pretty safe bet to say the struts are shot. The original struts usually only last about 60,000 mile.

What I suggest you do is this, replace the struts front and rear. Then have the steering checked to make sure it is nice and tight and replace any parts that are not. That done, you can go ahead and put the new tires on and then have the alignment done. The alignment can't be done accurately with bad or worn out tires.

As far as the alignment being knocked out again, you have to hit a pretty hefty pothole or bang a curb pretty hard to knock it out. On that particular car, the struts account for most of the alignment so by replacing them, you will bring the front end back into specification. The reason alignments are not guaranteed is because road conditions can knock it out. Generally this is not a problem unless, like I said, you hit something pretty hard.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA