Quote Originally Posted by odypilots View Post
Maybe your inspector wasn't aware that the car is what it is. Tell him you can't change that. He should understand.
Actually I'm on good terms with this shop. They are honest, experienced guys. The owner is probably well over age 60 and the mechanic doing the inspection is at least 50. The owner told me that he's never seen a strut suspension like that. Since it isn't bolted down at the top of the strut tower, everything can float up and down on both sides when the car is on a lift. Frankly, I'm close to 60 myself, and I had never seen strut mounts like this either. Aveos are very uncommon in my area. When they pulled the car into the shop it goes over something like a speed bump, which will cause this floating suspension to clunk. That's what prompted the mechanic to go looking for what caused the noise, so he told me.

It wasn't as if they were trying to sell me struts. They agreed that the struts work fine. It was the way they are mounted as a floating concept that was unfamiliar to them. By my adding the rubber bushings to eliminate the slack it put them in the position of having nothing left to complain about - so they had to issue the inspection sticker. But the shop owner wouldn't accept my explanation that it appears to be designed that way. He searched the web while I was in his office and found nothing on the subject. I also did a search at home, and can find nothing official that verifies that the 1/2" gap and the floating is normal.

At least now I have documentation from Chevy that they inspected it and found no problem. Frankly, I still think this is a cheaply designed suspension and not a good idea - but it's one we have to live with.