I found the Big Green Book (factory service manual) for my car online. I took a gander at the front shock absorber section. Notice anything Mo?

I sure as hell don't remember that spring bumper being on that assembly. When I get home I'm gonna pull both front wheels off and take a look. I'll be stoked if the only problem is the little piece.

Does anyone (ToyotaTechGeek, Mr.2) if having that piece missing could cause a pretty bad knocking problem on the suspension? Or what "strut notch not lined up with strut cap" means?

Here's the rest of that section.

edit: Just looked at it some more. It appears that there is a "right way" (4th from the top) for the spring seat to go. Did we pay attention to that Mo? Also, if you look at this (first pic) picture, there's some kind of directional marking there too. I'll try to check both of these things.