I gave my mother my Lexus and now her old car has became my work car to keep miles/wear down on my Benz.

Its a 1997 Oldsmobile Achieva SL sedan with the 2.4L I4and suprisingly its been a good car for a 90s American car. My grandpa bought it nearly new, then my mother inherited it. It has about 175K and has never had a major problem except a water pump replacement and a starter solenoid replaced. The only other problem that has gotten worse is that when the A/C compressor is not engaged the compressor is making a horrible scraping sound when the temp outside is below 60°. I guess the compressor is going out.

Lately though the front suspension is making a horrible clunking over bumps... it started out lightly, but its getting worse. Sounds like its coming from the right front area. I am guessing its a bad strut. We had $450 tires put on this car about 2 months ago before it started. We were supposed to take it back within the month to have it aligned, but it started that noise, so we have delayed. I do not want to have it aligned, then have to have new struts installed, because wont it have to be re-aligned again?

The steering is still very tight, no looseness. SO... with that said, does this sound like simply a worn bushing on the RF strut?

Thanks for any info.