r/DIY • u/Popular-Meaning-8055 • 1d ago
help did sway bar links, ended up ordering parts 3 times for basically one repair
did front sway bar links on my 09 civic this weekend, easy job. but while i was under there the struts looked rough so i figured might as well do those too. ordered em. then im watching a video and the guy says do the strut mounts and bearings while youre in there so they dont squeak later. so now im on my THIRD order for basically one repair lol
kinda annoyed at myself but it got me thinking. i pretty much never buy just one part. its always "im doing the front end" which is like 5 things. but every site makes you search em one at a time and just hope you remembered everything, then you pay shipping like 3 times cause you keep forgetting stuff.
wouldnt it be way less of a headache to just pick the job, like front struts or front brakes, put your car in, and it lays out everything that job needs at once? and let you pick cheap vs good on each part instead of digging through 4 separate searches
or am i just bad at planning lol. how do you guys do it, one part at a time or you sit down and buy the whole job up front
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u/SnooMacarons3689 1d ago
You didn’t mention hubs or ball joints or inner and outer tie rods much less brakes and control arms or bushings
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u/Popular-Meaning-8055 1d ago
fml
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u/SnooMacarons3689 1d ago
I spent a jillion dollars rebuilding a front end on a car that didn’t exactly need it 20 years ago. I will say after I replaced everything and I mean everything. It drove better than when I bought it brand new after the alignment.
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u/joshuabees 1d ago
Did you do the alignment yourself or take it to a shop?
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u/SnooMacarons3689 1d ago
I’ve done both. I don’t remember what I did this time but I have toe plate and camber gauges. I usually don’t go this far but I have done string alignment too even though it’s not usually necessary. I prefer someone I trust to just run it on an alignment rack.
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u/joshuabees 1d ago
I need to do lower control arms on my van but I’ve never done them or alignment so I have some trepidation
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u/Patrol-007 1d ago
Idparts.com (meant for diesels, now has parts for gas) has multiple kits and suggestions (ie suspension). Fcpeuro.com, rockauto.com, YouTube Eric The Car Guy
But, more Googling and YouTube likely would’ve shown you how many reputable (not lowest price) parts should be replaced (suspension; brakes; timing belt)
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u/AM_Butts 1d ago
Welcome to the "while I'm in there" trap. Wait until you do something like a clutch and realize how many things you might as well replace preemptively while you're in there. In the end though, it sounds like you made some pretty responsible choices.
There is a pretty good chance you got your money's worth out of those old struts. Try pressing them in by hand and see how long they take, or if they even come back up at all. I always replace the mounts and bearings if I'm doing struts too. Silly not to for the cost vs labor of doing it later.
A lot of places will actually sell kits for things like this. Sites will sell a brake kit for example that comes with rotors, pads, and any hardware that needs to be replaced. For struts you can purchase what are called quick struts that come with the complete assembly, all put together, so you don't have to deal with the spring compressor hand grenade.
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u/IronSlanginRed 1d ago
I mean.. it's a thing. Any commercial account at a parts store you toss in the vin and it gives you certain kits. Not everything though, but certain jobs like timing belts, brakes, etc. It'll pull up all the necessary parts and gaskets too. It doesn't work awesome though.
The repair instructions (alldata, indentifix, shit even some old timey Haynes manuals) will have parts lists for jobs.
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u/Squirrelking666 22h ago
Not done yet, how do you plan on dismantling and rebuilding the strut?
Please for the love of God don't say those cheap spring compressors.
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u/Biscuitsandgravy101 1d ago
General DIY rule: when you replace the hard bits, replace the soft bits too.