Need opinions on timing belt and front end parts replacement

[Infinitrium]

I was asking about my Aspire's problems on the festiva Yahoo group, and Burgess told me my front end clunk and wandering problems are probably caused by deteriorated rubber in the suspension. He told me the control arm bushings, ball joints (aren't they pressed into the control arms?) sway bar bushings and the strut mount bushings would probably have to be replaced. Does that sound about right? How much are the parts gonna cost me? I'm Canadian, so that'll figure into the cost. How hard are they to replace? And about my car's unusual lack of power and odd intake sound, he says it's probably the timing belt jumped a tooth on the sprocket. Shouldn't that cause the car to run rough? The car idles pretty smoothly as it is right now. I suppose I should replace the belt anyway, don't know when it was last done. How much do timing belts go for, and how hard are they to replace? I have a wholesale account number at one of the Ford parts houses in town (who now stock parts for all cars) so with the wholesale number I might save some money on the parts I need.

[FB71]

no, jumping one or two teeth on the timing belt will not cause it to run rough. usually makes it run very smooth, in fact. it retards the cam timing, which gives you great fuel economy while sacrificing nearly all of your power! And yes, the odd intake sound is an indicator as well.

[Infinitrium]

no, jumping one or two teeth on the timing belt will not cause it to run rough. usually makes it run very smooth, in fact. it retards the cam timing, which gives you great fuel economy while sacrificing nearly all of your power! And yes, the odd intake sound is an indicator as well.

Ah, okay. So I am looking at a timing belt replacement then. It does idle really nice and smooth, but there's very little power under 2000 rpm. Once the tach gets up to 2500 then there's a bit more power available but not much. It's still making that sick moose intake sound. On another note, I found out what's causing the clunk in the front end. I have a broken spring on the right front strut. The coil is broke almost at the top of the strut itself. Since I know this is causing the clunk, could this also cause the wandering and twitchiness?

edit: I also have a bad left rear strut. Nothing is broken on it, but all the oil has leaked out

[mattswabb]

I have a set of stock springs (117,000 miles) if you need them.

matt