Although I mad my living at one time as a front end guy at a Goodyear store. it has been years since I left that line of work. My 2000 Focus needs struts. Researching the usual sites like Rock Auto etc. I see that complete assemblies, strut, spring and upper bearing, seem to be the way to go. Makes replacing them myself in the realm off possibility. Looking at a cost of the assembly versus labor to remove the old strut, swap springs upper bearing etc., seems to be a push. And with the assembly you get new springs, bearing and rubber parts Anyone have experience with this? What brands of strut do you favor and why?
Struts, complete assembly or bare strut?
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ultimately, the question is, how capable are you RE: doing the strut work yourself? If you cannot do it (compressing the springs, etc.) then get the complete assembly and slap them on.
I have no experience with Monroe quickstruts; although my pool of friends (the ones that I don't service their vehicles) have decent outcome with monroe quickstruts so I wouldn't doubt how decent they are.
Myself: I'm a complete teardown/compress spring and replace the strut type of deal, and I would either go with Monroe (bare minimum, Sensatrac) or most OE equivalent such as Sach-borge (sp?) for some European cars; KYB, Showa or Tokicos for Jpn vehicles.
Always lubricate (repack) or buy new replacement strut top plate bearings.
Q.
I have no experience with Monroe quickstruts; although my pool of friends (the ones that I don't service their vehicles) have decent outcome with monroe quickstruts so I wouldn't doubt how decent they are.
Myself: I'm a complete teardown/compress spring and replace the strut type of deal, and I would either go with Monroe (bare minimum, Sensatrac) or most OE equivalent such as Sach-borge (sp?) for some European cars; KYB, Showa or Tokicos for Jpn vehicles.
Always lubricate (repack) or buy new replacement strut top plate bearings.
Q.
I just installed monroe quick struts on my 03 bonneville. Easy to do, cheap, much improved ride.
I have strut compressor and have done many, but when you add up the parts, its a wash, or even cheaper to use the quick struts. They even had the fasteners in the correct location for the brake hose and abs wires. Amazon was cheapest.
I have strut compressor and have done many, but when you add up the parts, its a wash, or even cheaper to use the quick struts. They even had the fasteners in the correct location for the brake hose and abs wires. Amazon was cheapest.
I replaced just the strut with borrowed spring compressor from autozone. I am no great mechanic, but liked the challenge and money savings. But the complete assembly is the premium and easy way to go. So either will work and is a good choice depending on whether you want to minimize cost or you think you are going to keep the car a very, very long time. I vote for the former.
I go bare strut, it is way cheaper, and the strut and mount are really all you need to replace anyways.
I just replaced the struts on my 2006 Elantra a couple weeks ago and did just the struts, mounts and rear sway bar links. It's not particularly difficult, and since there was nothing wrong with the spring I couldn't see the fiscal logic in the complete strut assembly.
It's not difficult to compress the spring and move it to the new strut.
It's not difficult to compress the spring and move it to the new strut.
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 951Indy
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
Best answer right here!
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
Best answer right here!
All you really need to replace is the strut but sometimes the bearing falls to pieces when you remove it. If it was mine I'd just buy struts and the mount. And rent a spring compressor. It's easy to do and for both front it might take you and extra 15-20 mins. So its worth the money saved imo. I would buy the mount that way if they look worn or anything you can replace and you may very well pull then apart and say wow they still look good ill take the new I ones I bought back and save 60 + bucks or you may say I already got the new ones ill just use them. You probably dont need the spring or the bellows boot the boot doesn't see a hard life. Other than convenience I cannot see why you would need a complete assembly . But im cheap and don't like spending money
JHZR2
Staff member
Wow, Im seeing young cars needing struts. 2000? 2006?
I have seen no real reason to replace shocks and struts, even my 30 year old MB boge or bilstein shocks have good pressure in them.
Is there another criteria Im missing? Sorry to hijack, but the bounce test isnt doing it for me and the cars ride and handle fine.
I have seen no real reason to replace shocks and struts, even my 30 year old MB boge or bilstein shocks have good pressure in them.
Is there another criteria Im missing? Sorry to hijack, but the bounce test isnt doing it for me and the cars ride and handle fine.
Originally Posted By: 951Indy
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
+2 This is the smartest move IMO.
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
+2 This is the smartest move IMO.
That generation of focus has a habbit of breaking the coil springs. I have seen this often on high mileage trade ins. If it were my focus and I wanted to keep the car for a while I would do the quick struts.
I think for rear struts, a bare strut can be the way to go, as atleast on my Neon I could see the rubber in the mount before taking it out and it was fine. Rear springs were fine and I wanted a specific bump stop and bellows. So I got KYB's for ~$80 each.
The bottom spring isolaters were shot but I didn't bother with new ones and I don't notice any more road noise.
Atleast in Canada I can't find quick struts with a quality strut, and I don't want to pay $200+ each for a monroe assembly... I've used their mounts and strut bearing on the front of my car and I wasn't impressed.
Also to the OP, I really doubt you need 4 struts or even more than one, I've only had one original strut fail on my Neon so far. I've had the front struts apart to put on some [censored] new monroe mounts and bearings and both struts tested fine, and in hindsight I should've just bought new mopar front strut bearings as the mounts were fine and fit better than the monroes.
The bottom spring isolaters were shot but I didn't bother with new ones and I don't notice any more road noise.
Atleast in Canada I can't find quick struts with a quality strut, and I don't want to pay $200+ each for a monroe assembly... I've used their mounts and strut bearing on the front of my car and I wasn't impressed.
Also to the OP, I really doubt you need 4 struts or even more than one, I've only had one original strut fail on my Neon so far. I've had the front struts apart to put on some [censored] new monroe mounts and bearings and both struts tested fine, and in hindsight I should've just bought new mopar front strut bearings as the mounts were fine and fit better than the monroes.
Jhzr2: technically if they aren't leaking , popping, or bouncing bad they are considered good. But sometimes struts can fail where they get hard to push down when I replaced mine on my Saturn this was the case. They didn't rebound but had plenty of pressure. I could have kept them on there but it rode hard. I put new struts on it and replaced one bad mount and they when pushing the front end down go down a lot easier. They do not bounce up amd down but do go down easier than the other ones. So if you push and they don't go down with out some good amount of force they are bad. Go push on a new car and compare it then you'll have a rough idea of what I'm trying to explain once you feel good vs old you'll know what I am trying to say. And struts can last a long time.I've seen cars with 200k and they were still in decent working order just depends on conditions the car is subject to and a little good luck.
Given the age of the car, go with complete units. That way you can save the labour cost which can be put to an alignment (which you'll need after install). That's taking into account that you'll be keeping the car for a couple more years...
Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
All you really need to replace is the strut but sometimes the bearing falls to pieces when you remove it. If it was mine I'd just buy struts and the mount. And rent a spring compressor. It's easy to do and for both front it might take you and extra 15-20 mins. So its worth the money saved imo. I would buy the mount that way if they look worn or anything you can replace and you may very well pull then apart and say wow they still look good ill take the new I ones I bought back and save 60 + bucks or you may say I already got the new ones ill just use them. You probably dont need the spring or the bellows boot the boot doesn't see a hard life. Other than convenience I cannot see why you would need a complete assembly . But im cheap and don't like spending money
I hear you, but when a complete new assy is so cost effective, why bother? See this guys post - he hits the nail right on the head:
Originally Posted By: 951Indy
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
All you really need to replace is the strut but sometimes the bearing falls to pieces when you remove it. If it was mine I'd just buy struts and the mount. And rent a spring compressor. It's easy to do and for both front it might take you and extra 15-20 mins. So its worth the money saved imo. I would buy the mount that way if they look worn or anything you can replace and you may very well pull then apart and say wow they still look good ill take the new I ones I bought back and save 60 + bucks or you may say I already got the new ones ill just use them. You probably dont need the spring or the bellows boot the boot doesn't see a hard life. Other than convenience I cannot see why you would need a complete assembly . But im cheap and don't like spending money
I hear you, but when a complete new assy is so cost effective, why bother? See this guys post - he hits the nail right on the head:
Originally Posted By: 951Indy
Bare strut = $60. Mount with bearing = $60. Bellows/bumper = $15 Spring seat = $15 Coil spring = $35
Total = $185 each plus the pleasure of taking it all apart and putting back together. If you choose to take it apart to see which parts are needed, the local prices, tax, and running around will make the price go up quickly.
Quick strut = $122 no tax, and shipped for free. No checking any parts, no running around for anything, and predictable "down time". 15-20 minutes per side to install, most of which is getting the jack and stands under the car.
You may not NEED a new bearing, spring, bellows, seat, etc but with high miles, why debate. This assumes a quick strut is available for the car, which in the OP's case, it is.
On the other hand another example for a given application: Monroe Sensatrac strut $59.79 strut mount $32.79 so $92.60 vs Monroe Quick-strut 121.79. So about $30 more per side, not a lot and still a good value but not an insignificant price difference.
Most people seem happy with the ride and handling of the quick struts, but springs usually don't need to be replaced anyway. For my own car if I feel the spring needs changed I'd rather get the exact OEM since the spring has such a big effect on ride quality and handling. Also aftermarket springs don't seem to resist rusting as well and that's the main reason an original spring needs replaced.
Most people seem happy with the ride and handling of the quick struts, but springs usually don't need to be replaced anyway. For my own car if I feel the spring needs changed I'd rather get the exact OEM since the spring has such a big effect on ride quality and handling. Also aftermarket springs don't seem to resist rusting as well and that's the main reason an original spring needs replaced.
Do both sides at once, get the quickstruts, and have the car aligned afterwards.
I forgot to have a car aligned and I chewed up a tire real quick after putting on new quickstruts.
The car I did needed strut bearings, I just replaced the entire thing at once.
I forgot to have a car aligned and I chewed up a tire real quick after putting on new quickstruts.
The car I did needed strut bearings, I just replaced the entire thing at once.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Wow, Im seeing young cars needing struts. 2000? 2006?
I have seen no real reason to replace shocks and struts, even my 30 year old MB boge or bilstein shocks have good pressure in them.
Is there another criteria Im missing? Sorry to hijack, but the bounce test isnt doing it for me and the cars ride and handle fine.
A lot of the dampeners on newer vehicles aren't made to the same high quality standards as your older MBZ vehicles, especially ones with Bilstein dampeners.
Quick Strut is the way to go for the DIY'er. If they offered them for my Volvo I would do it, but since I have the 4-C suspension everything is individual.
Wow, Im seeing young cars needing struts. 2000? 2006?
I have seen no real reason to replace shocks and struts, even my 30 year old MB boge or bilstein shocks have good pressure in them.
Is there another criteria Im missing? Sorry to hijack, but the bounce test isnt doing it for me and the cars ride and handle fine.
A lot of the dampeners on newer vehicles aren't made to the same high quality standards as your older MBZ vehicles, especially ones with Bilstein dampeners.
Quick Strut is the way to go for the DIY'er. If they offered them for my Volvo I would do it, but since I have the 4-C suspension everything is individual.
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