97 Pontiac GA 3.1 V6 with 130k+ miles. The car rides nice, tight and smooth
until I hit a square edged rut in the road then it hits with a bang in the
front. This car is running Eibach coil springs and Gabriel Struts. Struts
are about 30 or 40k miles old. I get no excessive bounce. The car will
bottom out when hitting a deep bump which is expected with the eibach spring
but I can't explain the bang I get when hitting those sharp square edge
bumps. Do I need new struts, if so what brand is recommended?

I can't tell you for sure about the banging, but I can tell you this. I
will never, ever put Gabriel (Carquest uses the same) struts on a car again.
I had problems with my 94 Grand Prix after I replaced the struts. I even
took them back and got my money back, only to get a set at Carquest, which
I didn't know were the same make. The car rode like a truck and they were
supposed to be the soft ride. I went and bought Monroe struts and it was
like night and day. Live and learn.

"Barney Rebel" <tyytt2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:12c89q4pu6acr8e@corp.supernews.com...
> 97 Pontiac GA 3.1 V6 with 130k+ miles. The car rides nice, tight and
> smooth until I hit a square edged rut in the road then it hits with a bang
> in the front. This car is running Eibach coil springs and Gabriel Struts.
> Struts are about 30 or 40k miles old. I get no excessive bounce. The car
> will bottom out when hitting a deep bump which is expected with the eibach
> spring but I can't explain the bang I get when hitting those sharp square
> edge bumps. Do I need new struts, if so what brand is recommended?
>