Shock and Strut Replacement -- Cheap, OEM, or Upgrade?

158 messages, Last post on Nov 04, 2009 at 7:41 AM

You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright

What is this discussion about? Performance Mods, Suspension

This forum is to discuss shock/strut problems and how to best deal with what is becoming a rather expensive replacement item on cars approaching 60K-80K miles. Are products sold by chain stores just too cheesy to give decent performance? Is it worth upgrading shocks and struts if you are a more or less docile driver? Is OEM a rip-off for what you get?

Let's hear your ideas and experiences.

Outline

Messages Page 1 of 16: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; ...; 16; Prev; Next; Last

#1 of 158 Shocks: Now I Know How They Got Their Name! by Mr_Shiftright HOST Nov 20, 2005 (7:39 pm)
Ever had a shocking experience when pricing out placement shocks or struts for your car? This forum was suggested by a member who will share his stories and would like to find ways of bringing down the cost of shock/strut replacement. Replies to this message: annamma (Dec 17, 2006 6:37 am)
#2 of 158 Shocking by bottgers Nov 21, 2005 (5:29 am)
I called Midas the other day (they just happened to be the first place in the yellow pages I came across) for estimate for replacing the shocks (actually they're called struts on my Corolla). Are you sitting down? Drum roll please.....over $800. That's right, that wasn't a typo. The struts were $80 each, $200+ labor for the fronts, $300+ labor for the rears, and $70 for an alignment. You should've heard me laughing at the guy on the phone. He probably thought I was nuts, but I'm not as nuts as the estimate he gave me. I guess the days of having new shocks installed on for $100 are long gone! What could possibly be so difficult as to incure over $500 worth of labor for installing struts? They can't be that difficult to install! Where do you folks take you vehicles to have new shocks (or struts) installed and who has the best prices. I've got to find some place much more reasonable than Midas! Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 21, 2005 12:22 pm) kjdfl (Jan 11, 2006 6:55 am) Mr_Shiftright (Jan 11, 2006 11:06 am) dean0101 (Jun 25, 2007 8:40 am)
#3 of 158 Re: Shocking [bottgers] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Nov 21, 2005 (12:22 pm)
Replying to: bottgers (Nov 21, 2005 5:29 am) What you are coming up against is shop labor rates, which are going up and up due to higher operating costs and the inability to find qualified techs at low salaries. Shop rates in my area at dealerships is about $135/hr and at private shops about $100/hr. Some day soon you will have to look at auto repair labor as the same as hiring a custom cabinet maker or expert brick layer or tile sculpturist.
#4 of 158 I can understand.... by bottgers Nov 21, 2005 (1:29 pm)
....the higher operating costs, but why on earth would it take a tech 2 hours to replace front struts and 3 hours for the rears? Struts are a pretty simple, straight forward part that's basically just held in place with a bolt at each end. It seems to me it shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes per strut. If that were the case, the price wouldn't be so astronomically high. Replies to this message: alcan (Nov 21, 2005 3:00 pm)
#5 of 158 Re: I can understand.... [bottgers] by alcan Nov 21, 2005 (3:00 pm)
Replying to: bottgers (Nov 21, 2005 1:29 pm) Yoou didn't get a price for removing and reinstalling the strut assemblies, you got the price for replacing the struts. After the strut assembly is removed it has to be installed in a strut compressor and taken apart, then the springs, lower spring insulators and upper mounts transferred to the new struts, and reassembled. After that's done and the struts are re-installed, an alignment is absolutely necessary. And if you can find anybody who can replace struts in 15 minutes, including bringing the car in, hoisting it, removing the old struts and installing the new ones, road testing, parking the car, and processing the paperwork in 15 minutes, then please send me his phone number. I'll hire him in a blink.
#6 of 158 I didn't realize.... by bottgers Nov 22, 2005 (5:17 am)
....there was that much involved with strut replacement, but I still can't see it taking an hour for each front, and an hour and a half to do each rear. At any rate, I really didn't start this discussion to talk about every technical aspect of replacing struts, I'm actually hoping to have people post the places they've found that have the lowest prices for having this done.
#7 of 158 Anyone? by bottgers Nov 24, 2005 (6:44 am)
Am I to believe no one has had their shocks/struts replaced before? Replies to this message: guiermo (Dec 17, 2008 7:31 pm)
#8 of 158 What's it gonna take.... by bottgers Nov 25, 2005 (5:11 pm)
...to generate some interest in this topic?
#9 of 158 one idea by Mr_Shiftright HOST Nov 25, 2005 (6:14 pm)
I think most people like forums that are marque-specific when it comes to discussing repairs unless they are really big ticket/complex components like transmissions. We might try changing the title of the forum, like the one on Brakes...if you'd like.... Shifty the Host
#10 of 158 Sure.... by bottgers Nov 25, 2005 (8:11 pm)
....I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas for a new title? Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Nov 26, 2005 8:37 am)