Complete Suspension Kits

RockAuto now offers Suspension Kits from Monroe, KYB, SenSen and Unity that make it even easier to improve your vehicle's ride with four new struts and/or shocks. Each suspension kit contains the front and rear strut assemblies, shocks and/or mounts that your specific vehicle needs.

RockAuto's manufacturers of original equipment (OE) struts and shock absorbers recommend replacing them at 50,000 mile (80,000 km) intervals. This is not only to restore ride quality. New struts/shocks also improve handling and braking. They protect brake, suspension and steering parts and even make the tires last longer.

Struts/shocks usually degrade slowly over time and it is hard to remember how your vehicle rode, handled and stopped when it was new. Monroe let us drive vehicles with new struts and then the same models equipped with struts that had 50,000 miles on them. Driving new and old back to back made it clearer how old struts/shocks degrade ride, handling and braking. Read more about our strut/shock test drives in this past newsletter.

These new suspension kits conveniently simplify choosing all the parts you need to restore your vehicle’s original performance. Through April, there are rebates available on sets of both KYB and Monroe shocks and struts. You can find these kits under “Suspension Kit” in the "Suspension" category of the RockAuto catalog for thousands of vehicles, everything from a 1986 Ford Taurus to a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 to a 2015 Toyota Tacoma.

Typical SenSen and KYB Suspension Kits

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Repair Mistakes & Blunders

I am reminded of a time in my late teens/early twenties when I did backyard shade tree maintenance on a ’58 Buick station wagon. That hot afternoon, I opened a Coke (one of the new plastic bottles) while working on the brakes of the big Buick. While bleeding the brake system, I walked to the front of the car to add more fluid to the master cylinder, a can of brake fluid in one hand and the bottle of Coke in the other.

You guessed it, after taking a quick shot of (what I thought was) Coke before adding brake fluid, my mouth and taste buds were greeted with a warm, smooth and foreign sensation that immediately contracted my throat! After spitting out the brake fluid and flushing my mouth with water and Coke, I made a mental note to myself, "one bottle of fluids at a time and be sure to identify the contents before drinking!"

Jason in Texas

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Automotive Trivia

Which hand should you use to crank the lever to start a Ford Model T?

A. Your right hand.
B. Your left hand.
C. Whichever hand is attached to your strongest arm.

Answer below

Occasional Weird Engine Surging and Stalling

My family's fleet includes Fords from the '80s and early '90s. I have learned to replace the Throttle Position Sensors (TPS) on these vehicles the moment I buy them. The original sensors seem to fail intermittently. Why not just replace TPS immediately instead of putting up with the occasional weird engine surging and stalling? "No, I do not want to race! My Mustang decided to rev its own engine at the stoplight."

The drive-by-wire throttle systems on newer cars use an electric Throttle Body Motor and gears to move the throttle plate rather than a cable connected to the accelerator pedal. The throttle body motor is mounted on the Throttle Body alongside the TPS. A separate Idle Air Control Valve (IAC) may no longer be needed because the throttle body motor can slightly open the throttle plate to let in air at idle.

On some of the newest engines, the TPS and throttle body motor are melded with the throttle body. The sensors, gears, motors and throttle body become one complex part with one part number. It may no longer be possible or practical to replace the TPS, throttle body motor or other parts individually.

Throttle Position Sensor, Throttle Body Motor and a complex Throttle Body

The good news is that the newest throttle bodies with all the complex parts built into them often cost about the same or even less than the total price of the similar individual parts for an older car. There is less troubleshooting of motors, gears, sensors, etc. because more parts are replaced at once. All my relatively simple old Fords got a new TPS, but at least one of them also got a new IAC when some of that "weird engine surging and stalling" persisted. I don't mind that my late model Dodge Challenger has a throttle body that functions as TPS, IAC and more. Installing one part (throttle body A-1 Cardone 677001, currently less than $100 at RockAuto) on the Dodge would fix and prevent multiple problems.

The complex throttle bodies on the newest cars remind me of carburetors. Buying a complete, professionally remanufactured carburetor can be more convenient and ultimately less expensive than trying to dissect a carburetor and replace individual floats, jets, etc.

Look under "Fuel/Air" in the catalog to see the throttle position sensor, throttle body motor, idle air control valve and/or throttle body for your specific vehicle. (That is the place to find carburetors and other fuel system parts too!)

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

Zach's 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT

This is my 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT 5-speed. It is in all original condition (the factory wheels are in storage) and garage kept but driven every chance I get. My two boys love to go for rides in it, even if they have to take turns, and it is great for date nights with my beautiful wife.

I have used RockAuto for: an oil pan, engine mount, transmission mounts, distributor rebuild parts, coolant hoses, various gaskets and suspension pieces. There are 109,000 miles on the odometer and the little 2.8l runs like new.

1988 Fieros are fairly scarce and with their one-year-only suspension and other components, parts are hard to find. So, thank you RockAuto for helping me keep this fun little car on the road.

Zach in West Virginia

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