Shocks and Struts

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ls1mike

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I recently helped a friend do the ones on his 07 Camry. He had noise from the front passenger side strut mount. 72,000 miles. What I noticed was even thought everything appeared to be fine they were worn out. Got me to thinking about people who go 120,000-200,000 on the original ones. My guess is they wear out over time and you don't notice. Kind of like the frog in boiling water deal.

Anyway prompted me to do the ones in the Grand Prix. Even though it was quiet and rode nice, they are shot. Took 4 hours.
I used all KYB parts. I used the Excel/G2 Struts and KYB mounts. Everything shipped from Rock Auto was just under $370. All I can say is wow! What a difference.
Here are some photos. Easy to do if you take your time.
IMG_3775.jpg

Not a lot of room to get the wrench on the nut that holds the mount to the strut.
IMG_3774.jpg


Front spring compressed.
IMG_3770.jpg

IMG_3768.jpg

IMG_3779.jpg


Here is a short video. I compressed the old strut and the new one. As you can see the old one, well it wasn't very happy.

Strut Video
 
That's because the originals are oil filled not gas charged. There should be in AND out resistance on the OE's if they're still good. They look dry so that's a good sign; wet, not so much.
 
I think most aftermarket struts and shocks intentionally have more dampening producing a stiffer ride. This way when you change your shocks/struts, even if the old ones were still good, you are led to believe they were worn out.

Not saying this is the case here, but it's something to consider.
 
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I frequently wonder about that. In the old days it was obvious when a shock wore out. Today it doesn't seem to be.

I currently have 160K and 130K miles on 2 of my cars with all OE suspension parts. They are both quiet, handle well and don't bounce. I am hesitant to spend the money on aftermarket parts and find out that they are not as good, and I am really hesitant to pay for OEM without being able to tell that anything is wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Next time get quick struts. Saves a lot of time, and no spring compressor needed
smile.gif




Quick struts are garbage in my experience, well at least Monroe Quick Struts. 3/4 of mine failed within' 5,000 miles, and one of them was defective out of the box and had to replaced.
 
Originally Posted By: hypervish
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Next time get quick struts. Saves a lot of time, and no spring compressor needed
smile.gif




Quick struts are garbage in my experience, well at least Monroe Quick Struts. 3/4 of mine failed within' 5,000 miles, and one of them was defective out of the box and had to replaced.

That has been mine as well.
 
Originally Posted By: GSCJR
That's because the originals are oil filled not gas charged. There should be in AND out resistance on the OE's if they're still good. They look dry so that's a good sign; wet, not so much.

Right problem is two of them never returned to full travel.
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: hypervish
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Next time get quick struts. Saves a lot of time, and no spring compressor needed
smile.gif




Quick struts are garbage in my experience, well at least Monroe Quick Struts. 3/4 of mine failed within' 5,000 miles, and one of them was defective out of the box and had to replaced.

That has been mine as well.


On my car Monroe Quickstruts use the same spring on I4 and V6 versions of the car. I had the I4 and they jacked up my ride height an inch over factory spec and made the suspension super stiff. I drove a year like this with no change. Makes me feel like it's a [censored] generic part and not engineered to work with your car.
 
Originally Posted By: camrydriver111



On my car Monroe Quickstruts use the same spring on I4 and V6 versions of the car. I had the I4 and they jacked up my ride height an inch over factory spec and made the suspension super stiff. I drove a year like this with no change. Makes me feel like it's a [censored] generic part and not engineered to work with your car.


Wow that is junk! I thought Monroe is the good stuff when it comes to struts!!!!
 
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Originally Posted By: hypervish
Quick struts are garbage in my experience, well at least Monroe Quick Struts. 3/4 of mine failed within' 5,000 miles, and one of them was defective out of the box and had to replaced.


Wow, I'm surprised at people's poor results with quick struts! I used Gabriel Readymount quick struts on another car (an older Camry, in fact), and they lasted at least 10k with no problems. I got rid of the car for other reasons, but nothing would suggest they wouldn't last at least 50k.
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Anyway prompted me to do the ones in the Grand Prix. Even though it was quiet and rode nice, they are shot. Took 4 hours.
I used all KYB parts. I used the Excel/G2 Struts and KYB mounts. Everything shipped from Rock Auto was just under $370. All I can say is wow! What a difference.

Here are some photos. Easy to do if you take your time.

You're are way better than me in term of DIY, very nice work.

This kind of work is way beyond my pay rate. The most I could do was change brake pads, spark plugs for inline 4-cyl engines. I couldn't change alternator, power steering pump ... I take my cars to a trusted garage for those things.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
As you can see the old one, well it wasn't very happy.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't see any defective of all 4 struts from the picture. Only thing I saw was some dirt.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: hypervish
Quick struts are garbage in my experience, well at least Monroe Quick Struts. 3/4 of mine failed within' 5,000 miles, and one of them was defective out of the box and had to replaced.


Wow, I'm surprised at people's poor results with quick struts! I used Gabriel Readymount quick struts on another car (an older Camry, in fact), and they lasted at least 10k with no problems. I got rid of the car for other reasons, but nothing would suggest they wouldn't last at least 50k.


Quick struts cost more too. Thats ok if you don't want or know how to compress springs. A bearing mount and struts are less expensive than quick struts. Also on the rear , unless the mounts are cracked up , you don't always have to replace them. Fronts, i always change the mounts.
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
[You're are way better than me in term of DIY, very nice work.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't see any defective of all 4 struts from the picture. Only thing I saw was some dirt.


You didn't read my other post. Two of them didn't return to full decompressed position. In the video the old one stopped there and didn't go any further.

That is bad. That means the spring is doing all the work.
 
Oil filled OE struts are not designed to operate that way. Struts and shocks are designed to control spring oscillation. Force is required to pull the cylinders out of your OE struts once you compress them (if they're still good). Once again, force is also required to compress the cylinder. Gas charged units (your new ones) will return automatically once you compress them.

Make sense?
 
Right, but all four of the old ones should all operate the same, they should return eventually. Two did not. I get it. I have an 11 second Trans Am I built myself with pricey shocks and struts. Just because they don't leak does not mean the they are good.
Two not returning to full travel overnight is bad even without the spring. They are designed to dampen not carry the load. They should return in a reasonable amount of time without a spring.
 
Nice choice of struts, I hear KYB is one of the best in build quality. They come a bit stiffer than other brands too. Also, I have seen people with Pontiac Bonnevilles buy quick struts, even Monroe and AC Delco, and the car sat higher. Different car but you could of had the same situation.
Also, I kind of doubt the Grand Prix came with oil filled struts. A quick search on google doesn't support that the car came with oil filled struts either.
How many miles were on your car? I have rear KYB shocks ready to put on my 04 Buick Lesabre w/60k miles because the rears are shot, but the fronts seem ok.
 
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Just over 70,000. I imagine the Bonneville is about the same as it too is a W-Body.

I used quick struts on my 98 Buick. Worst choice for that car, the springs sucked. The strut itself was ok.

I bet you will like them. I am happy with them so far!
 
Actually the Bonneville 00-05 is an H body as well as the Buick Lesabre. Pretty similar to the W body Grand Prix I'd imagine.
How was your ride before and after? I am contemplating replacing my front struts now..
 
Originally Posted By: GerGa
Actually the Bonneville 00-05 is an H body as well as the Buick Lesabre. Pretty similar to the W body Grand Prix I'd imagine.
How was your ride before and after? I am contemplating replacing my front struts now..


Really nice. In the W-body community the KYB have nothing but good comments. When I had my Regal it was what I should have used.
 
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