Hi all, new Prius v owner

Did the front struts this weekend. Took far longer than anticipated ( as usual ). Will try to post some photos at some point..although I don't have many.

Just for fun...here is all the stuff I have done to this car since purchase...to bad I can't put this up in the first post.

---128,009
o OIL CHANGE - MOBIL1
o Used BG-EPR treatment before oil change.
o Replaced Engine Air Filter and Cabin Air Filter.
o Replaced Engine Under Vehicle Splash Covers.
o Installed Clazzio Seat Covers.
o Replaced 12V Battery.
o Cleaned Hybrid battery Fan.
o Changed Transmission Fluid.
o Changed Engine coolant.
o Changed Inverter Coolant.
---128,532
o Manifold Cleaning.
o Changed PCV valve & tube.
o Changed Spark plugs.
o EGR Cleaning.
o Rear Brakes.
o Front Brakes.
---130,267
o Rear Shocks.
o Front Strut Assembly.

Thanks to @NutzAboutBolts, Surfer Dan, and the crew here for the help and awesome videos!

Edit - It wanted to embed the video links..so I removed them for now.

 

First recommendation is to get a car that doesn't have rusted suspension components! I have spent more time cleaning the existing components than anything else. Looks like you should be OK there.

Second recommendation is to get full assemblies. Some call them 'quick struts'. Eliminated the need to do spring compression, etc...Great for the DIY'er. Plus, with my vehicle any new vs. reused component is a good thing ( i.e. - rust ).

Yes but the vids sure help when you haven't done any suspension work before.

 

Just took it for a drive ( it was too late when I finished the job yesterday ) . Looks like it will need an alignment. Not alarming because this is the way it was when I got it ( a slight pull to the right and the steering wheel is not quite centered ). I'm waiting for sway bars to be delivered and after that I will get the alignment done.

Edit: @Raytheeagle this post answers your question above. Got caught on a cross post.

 

Folks are not going to like my answer..and I struggled with my decision for a while. However, I went with Sensen (yes, I really did ) because it is the only 'quick strut' assembly I could find for the Prius v (wagon). Note that the v (wagon) strut does differ from the liftback quite a bit.

Yes, there are 'horror stories' out there on Youtube ( well at least one infamous video ) about Sensen. However, the more I looked into it the more I found that yes, many people use Sensen without issue....and many other brands fail too ( along with the requisite 'horror stories' ). Also seems like they have gotten better. I looked over complaints about them and many were due to 'bad welds'. Knowing that, I looked over the struts quite a bit and they look great to me ( nice clean welds, etc.. ). They also ride quite nice. I'll keep an eye on them and if they wear out faster or look suspect...oh well lesson learned.

Please folks...I don't want to start a religious war about struts here...so please refrain from doing that here...pretty please?

Ironically, I also ordered some 'premium' sway bars :

2 FRONT SWAY BAR LINKS FOR TOYOTA PRIUS V 2012-2015 | eBay

And they are *really* nice and sturdy. However, I'm contacting the seller due to the weld points :



Is it just me or do the weld points look odd....or am I being too picky? At any rate, they do not look anything like the photos on the product page. Unfortunate because other than that they look fantastic.

 

So here is the reply from the seller when I asked if I could get replacement sway bar that 'look decent'.

"no. welding is good. if you do not believe me. you can bend it to see whether it is broken or not. we did test a lot already."

I get the impression they don't want to replace it..sigh.. And it does imply they 'test' them at the factory. Note that this airmailed direct from Taiwan ( and went thru Anchorage, Alaska ) so I'm assuming this is 'direct from the factory. It does seem sturdy..maybe I will use it?

 

Ok you guys convinced me...I will demand a decent replacement. So the technical name for a bad weld like this is what then?

Unfortunately, I'm thinking they will put up a fight. However, when you compare the product page info with my photos above...it seems like I *should* have enough info to make a case with Ebay when they disagree. However, you never know with Ebay these days.

 

Nifty. Thanks!

BTW - here is the photo from the product page with nice clean welds :


The welds on the units I got ( Hi all, new Prius v owner | Page 5 | PriusChat ) certianly do look horrible compared to that! I'm not sure what category I would put it in when looking at your 'weld problems' picture though.

 

For the record....after I submitted the comparison photos above via an official return request, and pointed out it is a potential safety issue, I got the refund without any whining. So now that it is settled I'm going to go with genuine Toyota sway bar links. However, I was only going to change them since 'I was in there' when I did the struts and I'm past that point now. If I do decide to change them it will be a very easy job compared to the struts...that's for sure!

BTW - looking at photos of genuine sway bar links it appears they are one single unit...with no weld points like these had. Seems like a much better design. Maybe the Toyota engineers do know what they are doing..eh?

Edit : Moog is a good brand..correct? Looks like very good quality.