2005 Accord: Struts Needed...?

[Finz]

177,400 miles on this car. During one of the cold snaps this winter, I noticed a "hissing" sound when turning up or downhill, driving over speed bumps... Happened whether car was driving for 2 minutes or 2 hours

The cold snap subsided and the noise went away.... Blamed it on cold hydraulic fluid

Well, it started again this week... Exactly the same thing and occurs under same cicumstances.... Speed bumps, up or downhill turns,.. Whenever the strut(s) seem to be compressed

Car doesn't "bounce" along otherwise

10 year old car with 177k miles... Time for new struts or might it be something else?

What kind of money do you figure this will run me? Should I avoid any brands or franchise shops?

With college tuitions and my daughter's wedding next year, need this like a hole in the head.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions...

 

[Mr Nice]

We got the same car. Replace front and rear with Monroe SensaTrac and very nice ride.
At 177K miles you got your moneys worth out of the original struts and shocks.

I bought online from Amazon.com with free shipping. I had my brother in law install them, then I got an alignment at a shop only specializing in alignments. Monroe has the Buy 3, get one Free mail in rebate a few times during the year.

 

[JHZR2]

Apparently modern gas charged struts don't have the same bounce test. At that age, is replace them if the car is worth keeping.

 

[Finz]

Thanks Mr Nice.... They seem to be about $115 each. Could be worse

JHRZ... Didn't know that about the bounce test. But then again, haven't had a car need replacement work like this in... 20 years? Longer actually. Yes... The car is worth the few hundred. I'm amazed at how well the car is holding up in appearance and performance. Brakes, tires and plugs are all that have been needed (I think).

So pretty much no question the noise is emanating from the struts? I realize it's hard to diagnose thru a computer screen, but the sound is distinguishable and, combined with the age of the care, makes sense, right?

 

[hansj3]

to me it would be worth it, those cars seem to hold up really well. I replaced the struts on my girlfriends 98 Subaru Forester at two hundred and ninety five thousand miles. the car itself only made it another 55,000 miles but it seemed to do alright And ride much better. What I was looking for struts for the thing, I learned there is a Chinese company that makes their own version of a KYB gr2. to me they rode great and I liked them a lot. they were Sen sen struts and they had a bunch of great reviews

They may not last as long as OEM, but I hated how squishy Monroe struts were on my impreza

 

[CT8]

Change the fronts and rears and have an alignment.

 

[asand1]

I've had brand new shocks on a Chevy 1500 make the hissing noise on bumps. Honestly, that would be the least of my worries.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Quick struts would be the best way to go.

Monroe, Gabriel, and KYB all have rebate promotions going on until the end of the month 4/30.

You can order them on Amazon or Rock, as long as you place the order in April. Even if you receive them after 4/30, it's ok as long as you place the order before the deadline.

My first choice would be KYB, but if you don't want to spend that much, then there's nothing wrong with Monroe or Gabriel.

 

[mister_two]

I have a 2000 Accord 4 cylinder with 198K. Have been eyeing the Monroe quick struts and Gabriel Readymounts for a while now. Both brands currently have rebate promotions, Monroe for 120 with 4 quick struts and Gabriel for 20% off for readymounts. I bought the Monroes over weekend from rockauto.com The Monroes were about 100 dollars cheaper and it appears the rockauto prices dropped for the Monroes. I had a spreadsheet setup to track the prices and it was lowered than the last time I checked. After rebate, 5 % rockauto discount, the four quick struts should be apx 270. FEDEX should deliver this week. KYB's promotion is only 40 dollars off for 4. I was only shopping for quick struts, didn't want to deal with spring compressors.

 

[Finz]

Good stuff everyone... Thank you for the input.

Mister_two... I would greatly appreciate how smoothly the installation goes for you and how you like the new struts...?

 

[mister_two]

Did the fronts this weekend. Overall not too bad. Tools needed 12mm 14mm 17mm socket wrench sizes. For the install Monroe package included nuts sized 13 and 15 mm. And of course a jack to lift the knuckle to seat the fork up the shaft of the struts. On the driver side I had a tough time lining up the notch on the strut to the hole on the fork. It wouldn't line up right, it's off a few mm. The pass side lined up fine. Also replaced the stabilizer link on the driver side. That took a while. The lower bolt is recessed into the lower control arm so that made access difficult. I had purchased an open socket set from HF to tackle this job but the sockets were too shallow. I bought Deeza links that came with 17mm nuts. I tightened it the best that I could, but a set of thinned wall sockets would have helped. Doesn't seem right that stabilizer links should be this difficult and requiring special tools. I have stabilizer bushings coming this week from rockauto. It was suppose to get here on Friday but for reason delayed.

The car drives/handle about the same. The main reason I am replacing the struts were because I was hearing/feeling a lot of clunkiness. With the new struts I wouldn't say the car feels like new but at least 50% of the clunky noise are now gone. The old struts looked okay but some of the rubber parts on the shaft were torn/ripped, not sure if that's where the noise were coming from. If I have time I may disassemble the old parts and inspect more thoroughly.

May tackle the rears next weekend, looking at the repair manual one of the rear links need to be disconnected. I may replace the links at the same time.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Quick struts would be the best way to go.

Monroe, Gabriel, and KYB all have rebate promotions going on until the end of the month 4/30.

You can order them on Amazon or Rock, as long as you place the order in April. Even if you receive them after 4/30, it's ok as long as you place the order before the deadline.

My first choice would be KYB, but if you don't want to spend that much, then there's nothing wrong with Monroe or Gabriel.

I agree.

Personally I would avoid Monroes since the Quick Struts I bought for my wife's Corolla were very softly valved and sprung. The KYB struts only I installed on my Impreza were on the stiff side that many folks apparently don't like (but I did). I haven't heard anything good or bad about the Gabriels but I'm curious. They seem like a decent product.