At what mileage generally you need to change struts?

The bounce is similar to what one feels when driving over many undulations in the road. When you drive over bumps in the road your suspension compresses then uncompresses once or twice. When driving over the same bump with worn struts, the suspension will compress and uncompress many more times such that it kind of feels like someone is jumping up and down on your roof in slow motion. Does that make any sense? lol

Look here for more info:
MONROE SHOCKS & STRUTS :: Symptoms :: Worn Shocks

CheckYourShocks.com

I 'm scared to do the calculations if I were to include mods. Eek!

 

Is it necessary or advised to buy a mounting kit when I replace the front struts ?

 

Mods go under entertainment, not maintenance

 

If you are referring to the front suspension support subassembly, which is located between the top of the front strut and the body, then yes. I would suggest replacing that if the car has logged more than 100K miles.

I would also recommend replacing the rubber insulators that fit above and below the coil spring. The upper insulator also has the pleated rubber cover that protects the polished strut rod.

I would say that the struts and shocks become marginal after 60K miles.

I recognize that the replacement cost is relatively high so some owners wish to defer the replacement. Nevertheless you should not kid yourself into thinking that the struts and shocks are in great condition after that odometer reading has been logged.

 

Obviously YMMV here - rough roads vs smooth, highway cruising vs city pounding, weight loading, etc. I'm right at 60K now and won't be considering this task for a while yet. Lots of smooth highway miles in that 60K.

- D

 

+1...I tried to get the dealer to replace mine at 80k....they wouldn't

 

I was quoted $1,700 replacement cost for struts on my 2005 Prius:nono:. It has 166K miles. Tire wear is normal and ride is pretty good because my tires are rotated and balanced regularly. Dealer replied to my email by saying that only a visual check could really tell to see if any oil was leaking from any of the struts. Sounds steep. But I want to ask some independent dealers if they also replace struts and or shocks for less than $1,700

Tomorrow I do have an appointment for a brake job if needed. 166K miles on original set of brakes. Last check said pads were down to 6mm. It must be time. Maybe I should wait to see what the indy shop might say. And no, I am not talking about bongo toyoda......

Overall this has been a good car. Mostly driven in cruise control at 65 mph average. Averaging 48mpg on the display after all these years.

 

The struts should cost no more than $400 and labor should be no more than $350. If you are quoted higher then look for another shop.

 

Bouncing does not necessarily mean the struts are bad, it's a question of how excessive the bouncing is. Outside of a testing device, it is very difficult to prove that struts are bad unless they are visibly leaking. That is why strut replacements are generally sold as ride control upgrades.

On my 2011, my struts bounce a lot more at 16k than they did at 0. IMO, they already have quite a bit of wear on them and I see myself replacing these no later than 50k, especially since a new set of Genuine Toyota struts/shocks are about $300 shipped.

You need a Hunter SA400 to correct analyze the condition of the ride control components.

 

respectfully disagree with this assessment; at least not on GenIII. Our '10 has 66K on it an shocks/struts not even close to need to be replaced, they will go at least as much, perhaps more. This is in daily driving in pothole capital of USA (also known as nation's capital)

Now we had owned the Chrysler minivans for which 50-60K was the death bed in much less harsh driving conditions, YMMV

 

Not really, Mike. It is quite easy to determine your struts are bad when the car is bouncing on the springs with very little control. Once you know what bad struts feel like it becomes easy to diagnose. Marginally worn struts are a lot harder to diagnose. FWIW my struts were not leaking at all but they were very worn. A compression and rebound test after removal from the car confirmed my diagnosis.

 

Yes, I understand, and so can I. But a SA400 is a more accurate tool for confirming strut condition. Shops should really be using tools such as that one if they want to be selling more ride control upgrades in a responsible manner.

 

Do you change non-leaking struts if they're rusted but still working?

I had a tire puncture and had to get two tires replaced. While the wheels were off the repair shop inspected the struts and said the fronts were all rusted. I had a look with them and indeed there is heavy surface corrosion with rust flaking too, but there was no obvious leak. They said the rears were fine though, and indeed they looked quite OK without that corrosion, and of course there was no obvious leak. They suggested replacing the fronts soon, although they said they were still safe for the time being.

However, I had brought the car in just a few hundred km ago to the local Toyota dealership for a full tuneup and inspection, and they made no comment at all about the struts.

I don't notice an obvious bounciness or harshness to the drive, but nonetheless the amount of corrosion on those front struts is significant. Replace? I have about 115500 km on the car.

--

P.S. For the tire puncture, I initially specifically went to a shop that ONLY deals with wheels and tires. They said they could fix and 30 minutes later came back with a plugged hole. However it did not look like they had removed the tire. I asked and they said they used a mushroom plug (from the outside) and couldn't do a proper patch and plug from the inside because the hole was too close to the sidewall. Not comfortable with that answer, I went to the other shop mentioned above and they said that they wouldn't have even bothered trying to fix it since it close to the side wall. If the can't do the patching part from the inside, they don't consider it a proper repair. Hence I bought two new Michelin Harmony tires. I had four Primacy MXV4 185/65/R15 88H tires on this Prius 2004 but unfortunately, this model size has been discontinued.

 

I have 141,000 on mine. Firestone recommended I get new front struts at around 120,000, said they saw it leaking. They quoted me $1200 which was more than I was prepared to pay. I haven't seen any degradation in performance and next time I was in they didn't say anything. I'm wondering if they just wanted to take my money....

 

Is that 141000 km or miles? I think if I were at 141000 miles I probably would have replaced them a while ago anyway, just because. However, I'm wondering if I should maybe keep what I have to say about 140000-160000 km (up to 100000 miles), and then replace them.

The corrosion concerns me, but then again, I see no leakage at all, and there is no obvious bounciness. That said, it's possible it's not quite as responsive as when I first got the car, but I just don't notice the difference because it was such a gradual degradation.

 

Re: Do you change non-leaking struts if they're rusted but still working?

If the car handles OK, then I'd just leave the struts alone. It's not like they're going to leave you stranded somewhere. The front ones that are rusted probably get splashed more than the rears.

 

its miles and what do you mean just because? Car handles and breaks fine.

 

I'm at 94,000 and had considered doing shocks and struts because I'm putting TRD coils on, but I have not noticed any significant issues. Maybe just let them go longer.?

 

I assume you are installing new springs because you are interested in performance. It makes no sense to reinstall old struts/shocks.

 

Yes, that's what I'm thinking

SGH-M919N ?