Brought the Corolla to an annual government inspection. Passed.
Replaced a pair of the front suspension strut mounts. Some clunking suspension noise is now gone. And magically the ride seems to be improved (smoother and more fluid) and the handling sharpened by a slight and yet perceptible amount. In the end I feel positive. This Corolla strut mount comes with two layers of hard plastic sandwiching a rubber and a bearing. It is more complicated than and has more function than I expect.
That's the product description for the strut mount: "Optimizes steering and suspension performance by acting as a pivot for the steering mechanism; Reduces squeaks, rattles, and vibration noise."
Also at the same time I have replaced the right side universal joint/drive shaft. It is quite expensive and a lot of work. Somehow it is better but need to test if grinding noise when during right turn still exists.
The most obvious change to me now is the steering. It is direct and fluid. There is an increase in the connection between the steering wheel and road. The vagueness ia gone. The conner limit has somehow increased, despite the ridiculous ride height. It is good that I can always lower the ride height to sharpen the handling without a change in ride quality.
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