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Maintenance & Repair 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
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.
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Replying to: guiermo (Dec 17, 2008 8:24 pm) Your top mounting plate bolts to the body,right? The one's I've seen have a heavy, stiff rubber insert/grommet/bushing with a hole through the center. The hole is where the threaded end of the shock goes, right? That hole usually has a metal sleeve (bushing) in it that prevents the shock rod(terminolgy?) from rubbing directly against and wearing the rubber. It sounds like the cylindrical metal piece you are describing is that bushing. It's part of the mounting plate, and probably not supplied with the shock itself.
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Replying to: srs_49 (Dec 18, 2008 7:23 am) In my Celica, the old struts only had a metal sleeve (bushing, there was NO rubber), through which the shock piston (rod) was inserted, i.e., the threaded end was inserted. I re-used that part because a new bushing did not come with the new "strut." There were no instructions in the Celica repair manual (Haynes) or with the new strut talking about this part, so I wasn't sure it was needed or not, and if it was needed, I wasn't sure whether it should go onto the shock rod prior to or after the mounting plate (I forgot to take a photo of the "before" condition of the old struts). My decision was to go ahead and use the old bushing, and to put the mounting plate on the rod before the bushing, just before the damper nut. I am seeking verification that what I did was proper or not. A shop did an alignment yesterday, and did not complain that it couldn't be aligned, so I assume it might be ok, but still want to understand what is actually right, and learn what that bushing is for, so I could understand what would happen if the bushing had not been used. BTW: the strut boot (kit) had a plastic "bumper" up top that replaced the one that was on the original strut, but the original one fit completely over the shoulder of the threaded part, onto the slick part of the stainless steel of the piston. This means that the new plastic bumper fits around the shoulder and therefore about 3/32 in of plastic is wedged between the mounting plate and the shoulder of the piston, holding whatever forces get transmitted at that point. That seemed a little strange to me, but all of the clunking from the rear end is now gone. I do appreciate your kind response, many thanks. |
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Replying to: kiawah (Sep 18, 2007 7:58 pm) I thought she was kidding till I drove it. Absolutely no suspension. It felt like someone had welded the shock absorbers together. The garage said it was not their problem. My question, did you ever get to the bottom of "What happened?" Or, who did what? |
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| Hi everyone I own a 2005 lexus ls 430 with 256,000 miles and my shocks are leaking. Lexus dealers charge almost a thousand dollars for 4 shocks. Should I buy lexus shocks when I can get KYB shocks for less than $400.00. Does anyone out there can give me some advise on what to do? I don't want to sacrifice ride comfort and also I don't know how long the KYB's will last, please let me know | |
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Replying to: dexmon (May 22, 2009 10:30 am) I guess I'd go with KYB, but be prepared to sacrifice some ride comfort and durability I think. Or spring for the OEM if you plan to get another 100K out of the car and it's otherwise in really nice shape.
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Replying to: dexmon (May 22, 2009 10:30 am) |
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Replying to: dexmon (May 22, 2009 10:30 am)
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Replying to: obyone (May 22, 2009 11:02 pm) I think KYB meets the demands of a substantial number of drivers but I think the product has design limitations---and you may indeed never exceed these limitations. Both a $99 and a $1000 digital camera take pretty good pictures, but......
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 23, 2009 6:43 am) Kayaba Industry US Also a look a the types of products that they manufacture. Products All I'm saying is that due to their limited marketing efforts, the technology that this company represents is well understated. As an oem manufacturer one can understand their limited marketing efforts to the masses.
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Replying to: obyone (May 24, 2009 2:03 pm) |
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