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Does your 2007 Caliber have any suspension problems?

2007 suspension questions

5K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  dolplak 
#1 ·
I have a 2007 rt caliber. I love it. Love the heated seats, the sunlight, the hot orange color. But I am wondering about the suspension. I already had a rear bushing and wheel bearing replaced, and now am told gotta get the front ball joint assemblies (both sides) replaced. The estimate is almost $800.00 US. I have 64,000 miles on it and just wondered if anyone else has been seeing these problems. Seems like a lot of suspension problems for a young car? Also wondering on the estimate if this seems fair. Thanks for any input.
 
#2 ·
my 08 is not as sound as id like.. Most of these cars seems to have one form of suspension problem or another.

Ive replaced two front struts(due to my own stupidity)

my rear struts are on their last legs

replaced endlinks front and rear

replaced a front right outer tie rod

still have an occasional creaking noise from the rear end when the suspension flexes. No idea what it is. I just turn the radio up louder and ignore it

Also lowered on eibach sportlines, so two inches of drop has not helped my car out much, but i do enjoy the drop and the ride. Just have to keep fixing ****, thats all...
 
#3 ·
Suspension

I have a 2007 rt caliber. I love it. Love the heated seats, the sunlight, the hot orange color. But I am wondering about the suspension. I already had a rear bushing and wheel bearing replaced, and now am told gotta get the front ball joint assemblies (both sides) replaced. The estimate is almost $800.00 US. I have 64,000 miles on it and just wondered if anyone else has been seeing these problems. Seems like a lot of suspension problems for a young car? Also wondering on the estimate if this seems fair. Thanks for any input.
The suspension is really the ONLY thing i'm disappointed with. I have basically the same car as you. Just had another tie-rod and another control arm replaced, just before my 100,000 km warranty expired. It still sounds like crap over any speed bump or dip in the road, but I'd definitely recommend the R/T to anyone. I'm looking at going to the SRT4 just for more power and navigation, but the R/T still looks and ,overall, drives like new after 3 years (still creaking) :jester:.
 
#6 ·
I have a 2008 and since about 60k miles I've had problems with creaking and thuds when I go over bumps or with turning left or right. First the dealer tightened "Sub Frame Bolts". Didn't work. Then they replaced the entire rack and pinion. Helped but still thunks and creaks. At 90k they replaced the steering column. That seemed to work for the last 6 months but now it is thunking again when I turn right. I have 100,200 miles now. The suspension/steering is the only real problem I've had with the car. I love it and would buy it again. Glad I have a Lifetime Max Car warranty
 
#7 ·
I recently got mine but already had the lower control arms replaced (less than a week after I got it), and about to take it in for another mystery suspension sound. It seems everyone has suspension problems and people just turn up the radio. What I'm wondering is are the sounds actually damaging to the vehicle? Yeah, every sound could be from something different and no two situations are the same, but has anyone had a mechanical failure while driving? Could it be that many of these suspension repairs are only because of the sounds their making and not because the part is actually near breaking?

I'd love to hear from people that had a suspension related breakdown.
 
#8 ·
Well, i drove on two completely blown front struts for about a week while waiting for the new ones to ship out. The car was still driveable, just had to be careful and not drive far.

I think the majority of the people have heard a noise and gotten it fixed before it became serious though.

If you let a control arm bushing go, chances are you wont be able to get away with driving it though.
 
#9 ·
If the part is obviously broken then yeah it needs replaced, but what I mean is does a creaking sound automatically mean something needs to be replaced when it comes to service shops. Of all the vehicles I've had, this is the first one to have any suspension problems so I'm not familiar with that part of a car. Mine will be out of warranty (Carmax 30 day warranty) this coming week and I'm taking it in on Monday because it's still making noises. I don't want them to blow it off since the warranty is about up, and I'd have to pay for it.
 
#10 ·
Well, no suspension component is supposed to make a noise that youre not used to. There is normal noise, there is normal noise for a lowered car, and then there are broken noises
 
#11 ·
I agree with Un4... need a middle option. For all the miles I have I can't complain about having to swap out tie rod ends, and the left LCA. I might replace sway bushings this winter - or wait til warmer weather; as they seem to respond to shots of WD40 to quiet down.
 
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#13 ·
Our 09 se suspension is rat bagged at 144000 km (86k miles) BUT we live in the country in Saskatchewan and these are hard, hard miles full of gravel roads, pot hole, frost heaves, snow drifts and other assorted nastiness.

I am tremendously impressed with this car and suspension. Now I am trying to figure what struts to put in. I would take heavy duty/ rally over street performance. Something in the light truck category lol
 
#14 ·
I can't necessarily say that I'm "impressed"... as I feel it is definitely the weakest part of the car. As of this point, I've replaced:
Front
Left Wheel bearing,
Both LCAs (left side twice),
Both Outer Tie Rod Ends,
Right Lower Spring Seat and Spring (found the spring was broken when I returned stateside in July)

Rear
Both Toe Adjust links
Both UCAs

The front LCAs (both) have rear bushings delaminated again, rear LCAs a starting to get loose but I'm trying to put them off until summer (if I do 'em at all). Same goes for all four struts which are still OEM. I'm hoping that GM launches their 2014 "Colorado" in ~August with the 2.8L diesel offering that is available in the presently "globally" offered S10 (except here). If so, I'll be parting ways with my Cali.

As far as the estimate goes in terms of current repair options/availability... you can get Dorman replacement LCAs with all bushings and ball joints for $80 each on Amazon. They are pretty easy to do in the home garage (3 bolts each) and only require a fresh wheel alignment afterwards -- $160 parts, 1 hr labor, +$80 4 wheel align is almost reasonable considering that most will need to do it more than once in the life of their car.

Just make sure you use anti-sieze on the bolt shanks or the bushings might get frozen to the bolts making it harder to get them out next time. My front parts came out ok the first time, but the rear susp was a real PITA - especially the toe adjusters' inner ends!
 
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