What struts and shocks are good for a Gen 3.

Well there's struts not shock so hopefully you're going to get struts springs top plates and all that assembled ready to drop into and up onto the car $600 well you've already got started with bigger tires and wheels so that tells me you're into the car look game 17-in wheels and tires and 245 series tires and where does this end for you now do we need to go to top of the line adjustable shocks and struts with all the bills and whistles adjustable damping adjustable collars coilovers maybe? You have to tell me where it is you're going. You'll easily spend $120 a corner generally speaking not quite 600 and that's for reasonable stuff purchased properly your generation 3 is you know quite a few years old now it's not like you're keeping up with the Joneses per se All the big manufacturers that made all the good stuff for all the Toyotas and what not over the years like KYB and tokico are still around You don't have to buy all the cheap stuff that all the kids are purchasing on the internet because they're fluorescent green or blue You know what I mean. You're living in a real good time there's a lot of stuff out there to get this is not something I would lose a lot of sleep over but I wouldn't be looking to buy the kids fluorescent powder coated nonsense from China and I'll leave it at that people have lots of preferences when it comes to things like shocks and add-ons to their car even if they don't make any sense or don't have a valid reason it's theirs.

 

I use KYB and tokico I have used Monroe before they're complete strut assemblies little soft kind of like factory almost. I've also used some coilovers and without extensive tuning and tweaking those things bounce you around like a little kid's car or a go-kart usually because they're not set up properly but they're the most adjustable most people don't need all this adjustability and what have you I never used much of it got everything set up and working right I never touched them again I would say with your trim level and the car you're driving it's like a persona or something and imagining you have the 17-in wheels or something along those lines so I would say the KYB or the other that begin with the t would serve you well then again some drivers the softer Monroe complete strut assembly for a given side of the car are probably okay for most folks If you read here oh God you've got hours of reading to do everyone's opinion about every shock they've tried and what have you so it's very subjective it's a personal feelings and emotions I guess I've always liked the KYB stuff personally but that's just me.

 

If you can do the work yourself or can find a local Indy shop to do it, you can get original Toyota parts online. The rear shocks are cheaper than most aftermarket brands. The front ones are a little more but OEM quality is the best. Lasted you 190k miles.

remember to also change the strut mounts, those will cost more than the strut itself but it’s very important to change them out when you change your struts.

a less expensive alternative is to use complete front strut kits from KYB that’s already mounted to the springs and strut mounts. But since you have a model 5, the spring rating will be slightly different than your OEM spring rating. I’ve used both OEM and KYB complete kits, I didn’t find much of a difference in my prius 5