How long do struts usually last?

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What is the range of mileage between which you would typically expect a car's shocks or struts to fail in?
I heard 30K-60K from a guy at my garage/body shop today, and I had trouble swallowing that.
I'm specifically thinking about the struts in an '02 Sable LS I'm looking at with 37,400 miles on it.
Then again, he works at a place with wrecked cars all day, so maybe he's telling me his experience, and his experience is just biased.
 
It depends on many factors including the vehicle's weight, the driver's typical practices (driving too fast, bumpy roads, cornering too hard, etc), quality of the shocks, typical load in the car, etc.

A sable probably has very soft shocks with low pressure in them... They probably keep cool and dont loose pressure very fast. Id say theyre good for a while.

That said, my father had a highway only toyota corolla, always unloaded, and the rear shocks went bad in about 30k after the car was purchased new.

JMH
 
Factory shocks last about 15-30K and Struts 30-50K on average. I have seen some go a LITTLE longer but more that were low on my averages or even sooner.

Factory use very soft struts and shocks so when you test drive the car it rides very nice but handles ok as well. Good for test drive, bad for long life.
Also shocks/struts wear out very slow. So its not like they work one day and don;t the next, it is a slow wear item. So when/if you have new ones put on it will make the car feal very rough for about 1-3weeks depending on what brand and level you got.

Oh and I am a mechanic that hs installed at least 60-80 shocks/struts
 
I don't think there's any set mileage you can go by anymore. My 98 ZX2 still has the original struts after 140K. My old 91 Tracer had 70K on the original struts before being totaled. I just don't replace them as often as I used to. As long as it passes the bounce test and handles at high speeds, struts don't need to be changed until they wear out.
 
quote:

I don't think there's any set mileage you can go by anymore.

I don't think that there ever was a typical mileage. I've only replaced one set up OEM struts and shocks in 130k/11 years on one vehicle. The wife's shocks were only new due to a lift on her jeep ...60k without an issue. The 91 Taurus has all the OEM stuff on it.

Passenger cars must have taken the brunt of the cost cutting if people routinely replace these components.

quote:

and the rear shocks went bad in about 30k after the car was purchased new.

This wouldn't make it beyond the average bumper to bumper wrap.
shocked.gif
 
I've had 4 Tauri and have never changed struts on any of them. All had between 130,000 miles to 150,000 until I sold them, too. I'll ask the guys over on the Tauruscarclub.com site but have never heard anyone there having to change struts. Certainly not with under 60,000 miles.

I'd do the following with the money. Make sure your AT fluid is clean via flush or filter change and replace. Spent $130 at a Uhaul place and have a transmission cooler added to your car.
 
Our 87 Riv started showing signs of worn struts around 190k, no noticable bounce when moving the suspensions by hand, but a little more bounce on big bumps. It really depends on the car. If your struts are bad at 15k then you have major problems.
 
My Volvo 740 Wagon use to go through a set of OEM shocks and struts about every 75K - 100K. I put on a set of Bilstein HD's 120K miles ago and they are holding up fine. Sure as heck is surprising me they have lasted this long since I am pretty hard on the car.
 
My philosophy on OEM shocks/struts is replace them within year 1 of ownership. My thinking is going aftermarket will improve the quality of ride/handling immediately, rather than waiting for a slow degradation of that ride. I typically buy for the long term, so why wait? I like to use KYBs as they seem to be a good performer for the price paid.
 
In some cases, aftermarket shocks aren't superior. For my car they only make a one size fits all shock that's geared toward the softer side. My cars have the touring suspension which is MUCH stiffer then stock and using the aftermarket part, even if it's supposed to be an upgrade, wouldn't lead to superior performance.

-T
 
quote:

In some cases, aftermarket shocks aren't superior.

I would tend to agree. Common aftermarket parts (shocks and most batteries) are not manufactured to last. The possibility of the original owner exceeding the MTBF rate would be unlikely given the OEM longevity. Many offerings now come in a "good, better, best" variety. I would say if you aren't buying a Bilstein or a Koni (plug in your favorite) ..that you get a generic that is geared to an owner who is unlikely to own the car as long as the part can last.

In short, I don't think that the struts and shocks that I replaced on my Caravan @ 130k+/- are going to last to 250k+. I doubt that they will last 60k and at that point the vehicle is bucking odds on other major components failing and sending it to the junkyard.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Marlin:
Factory shocks last about 15-30K and Struts 30-50K on average. I have seen some go a LITTLE longer but more that were low on my averages or even sooner.

No way. The shocks on my mom's 96 Maxima SE have at least 175k on them currently. While the car doesn't have the ultra-firm feel that it did at 52k when my family bought it, it still shames most cars for damping rate.

I once broke the lower shock mount bolt on my Caprice's rear Bilsteins and I sent them back to Bilstein for replacement. In the meantime, I bought the cheapest shocks Autozone had, $13 monroes. Let me tell you, these shocks were dangerously under-damped. Just horrible. The axle hopped all over the place. Got my bilsteins back and, ahh....
I will say that my front bilsteins have about 85k on them and over speed bumps the front end bounces a bit much for my liking. So they don't last forever.
 
So what kind of life can you expect from the typical aftermarket strut, such as the KYB GR2?

I'm sure shock performance degrades long before the strut is "shot". How can you tell if yours need replacing?

I installed GR2s on the wife's Grand Am 40k miles ago, and I need to replace a strut mount. I am trying to decide if I should throw on another pair of struts while it is apart.
 
I think it depends on the OE quality. My 130,000 mile BMW has Boge and the rears are still original. I replaced the fronts last year because one was leaking.

I have had Chevy OE shocks start leaking within the warranty. One set of Ford struts had NO damping left at all after only 18,000 miles.
 
I agree with the 80-150k mi. average depending on the manuf. and OEM quality.
 
Jeep shocks are pretty much gone by the time they hit 65K. When i had mine changed at 65K, they would compress... and never come rebound. This is on the non upcountry suspension Grand Cherokees.

I second the KYB shocks. My Jeep handles the roads very well and has proven themselves with emergancy lane changes a few times.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Dr. T:
I agree with the 80-150k mi. average depending on the manuf. and OEM quality.

I agree on most vehicles but it depends if the vehicle is equipped with gas or oil filled shocks. Oil filled shocks usually last around 40-50K and can leak if one really bad pot hole get to them. Most vehicles are now being equipped with gas filled shocks because of durability and ride comfort.
 
For the record, it turns out on that car where I thought the shocks were shot, there was NOTHING WRONG with them. I test drove a same year Taurus as the Sable I was looking at, and *ALL* Taurus/Sable twins from that year just have relatively harsh rides by my standards.
 
The Toyota TRD package has the upgraded shocks and struts. But, I plan to change the entire suspension to Old Man Emu by 60K miles.

Every automobile is different. There are some awesome aftermarket suspension systems available.
 
I can tell when a vehicle needs new struts or shocks just by driving over a speedbump in it...

I replaced the shocks and struts on my 1988 Mustang 5.0 at 159,000 miles with Tokico blues.

The OE struts were very easy to compress (50 pounds of force is supposed to be what is required) and extended back slowly while making a sick-sounding moaning noise. One of them had also started to rust.

The Ford OE struts on the Mustang were actually made by Tokico, but to Ford's specs, making them different than Tokico-branded struts.

By the way, as a bit of history from this great book entitled "Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference and Performance Handbook":

"For 1984 1/2, low pressure, gas-charged(nitrogen over oil) strut cartridges were put into Mustang service. Ford's 1982 Lincoln Continental was the first domestic production passenger car model to use nitrogen-gas-filled shocks and MacPherson struts. In Lincoln-Mercury Capri applications, this arrangement was referred to as the Nitra-Cushion suspension."

Same book also says that the Mustang got gas-charged shocks (in addition to struts) in 1984 1/2.

So.....how long do gas charged struts and shocks last? Less than 17 years and 159,000 miles.

I hope that's helpful
grin.gif
 
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