Upper Strut Mounts

I have a little bit of an issue I'm trying to track down. I've got a pretty bad shimmy in the steering wheel at speeds above 40MPH. Today I lifted the front end of my 05 Sedan and noticed that if I take the wheel/tire and move them top/bottom with my hands, there is a good bit of play. I proceeded to get completely under the car in order to see if the ball joints or control arm bushings were worn. Then I noticed that the movement was located at the top of the strut. I opened the hood and shook the wheel/tire again. As I do this, the upper strut mount moves about 1/2" or so within the hole the mount goes into.

I did a search about the upper strut mount here and noticed that there are others out there that have a gap in the strut mount (exactly like mine).

Does any one else's car do this? I just don't want to throw money at this car chasing down a suspension problem. But I seriously think something just isn't right with mine.


Wink
2005 Aveo LT Sedan

the upper mounts "float" so if you take the weight of the car off the mount, they can be pulled out of position, that is what the metal "hat" does it keep them from falling out..
on an 05 sedan you might have a control arm bushing issue, or an inner tierod that is worn. Both have come up regularly as suspension issues.

should the mount move side to side or just up and down? Mine moves side to side and up and down.

its kind of conical shaped. so the more it dropped the more it can move side to side. the important part of it is when there is some load on it (just jack the control arm up slowly and see if it seats solidly.) that there is no movement.

The bearing contained inside the mount should only spin, not wobble or rock. so if you have it low enough to verify the rubber has no play and just spins it should not bind either.