'07 Pontiac G6 - good replacement struts?

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I did a bit of work on my friend's '07 Pontiac G6 today. The front end was making a terrible clanking/banging noise, and Midas (correctly) diagnosed a bad stabilizer bar bushing, and also noted that the front struts needed replacement. He was quoted about $1000 (13% taxes in) for the two new bushings and two Monroe Quik-Struts installed.

Midas's diagnosis was free, but my friend wanted a 2nd opinion and the dealer was going to charge him $30. I offered to have take a look instead, and at least save him the $30. We found that the rubber stabilizer bar bushing on the passenger side had worked mostly out, leaving the stabilizer bar banging on the lower control arm. We bought a pair of bushings from NAPA - surprisingly to me, they were polyurethane, with no option for rubber. I replaced the one that had worked out - it was pretty tight going, but fortunately the bolts were not rusted in. I lubed the new bushing with silicone grease, which seemed to be the prevailing best practice online.

Anyway, the symptoms are gone, and my friend is really happy with the outcome.

I've offered to change out the other bushing, and to change the struts. (Yes, they're leaking.)

The car is really nice - it's one-owner since new, 70K km, glossy black, and is a convertible with a retractable hardtop. It's equipped with the 3.9 l V6. There's very little rust - nothing of any consequence at all.

On that basis, I'd prefer to not use Quik-Struts; this is not a beater that my friend needs to get a couple of years out of. It's a modern-day classic that I hope he'll keep indefinitely. So, I'd like to know what you, the BITOG community, recommend for replacement struts. Also, at that low mileage, would you recommend that the strut mounts and isolator rubbers also be changed?

I haven't phoned around yet, but will check out genuine GM parts. Any and all recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!

This is not the actual car, but gives you an idea:

 
I have a similar car and the front suspension on these things are terrible. Noise after noise from the strut mounts, control arm bushings, stab bar links and the steering shaft to rack joint. Do not go cheap on the struts. If I was to do it all again, I'd go with OEM struts and strut mounts. After market quick struts will produce an overly stiff ride and the front will sit too high.
Just my two cents.
 
KYBs are excellent quality for aftermarket and currently $117 each for quick struts at RA. Plus an additional $40 MIR.
Not bad for approx $200 +tax+shipping....
 
Quick struts are awesome, as long as you get quality name brand quick struts and not the cheap Chinese garbage.

My choice would be KYB's quick struts, along with the rear shocks. If you buy all four, they have a $60 rebate if you order them by the end of the month. It's OK if you receive them in May, as long as you buy them in April, as long as you order them and pay for them by 4/30
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Monroe's premium quick struts are also good quality products. Their rebate is $75 on the set of four.

hehehe a G6 being a modern day classic
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Rock Auto,

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/pontiac,2007,g6,3.9l+v6,1440263,suspension

Look at the bottom, “Suspension Kit”,

AC Delco Professional, ready strut, left and right, and two shocks, $299.86...
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/pontiac,2007,g6,3.9l+v6,1440263,suspension,suspension+kit,10922
 
Rock has GM OE and Sachs cheaper than KYB. I would use either one and feel good about it.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/pontiac,2007,g6,3.9l+v6,1440263,suspension,strut,7584
 
I purchased as new a 2006 G6 2.4 for my daughter to finish college with. She graduated in 2007. When she lived in this area, I maintained it. It's now a DD near Kansas City with 130K. Up to 110k, my maintenance included replacing the LCAs, front struts cartridges and rear shocks @ 7/15-80K. Nothing out of the ordinary in procedure to do these tasks.

Believe the shocks and struts were Monroe.
 
My dad had the base model 4-door 2007 Pontiac G6. I used Monroe sensa-trac, kept the OEM springs, and used MOOG strut mounts. It held up well enough during the 50,000 miles they were in use.

I like that you can buy Sachs shocks and struts. I worked on many cars that had them from the factory and got over 100,000 miles out of them.
 
Guys, thanks for the input. I went with the OEM struts from Rock Auto. They were about C$125 each, plus about C$40 for shipping.

I phoned a local dealer and the same pair of struts would have been > C$600 + 13% sales tax.

Rock Auto had said that the struts would not ship until c. May 8, but they showed up a few days earlier. My friend came over and we installed the passenger side strut side yesterday. It went fairly well, with nothing badly rusted in. Knocked off after the one side because the temperature had risen to +32 C and we were getting scorched in the hot sun. We plan to pick it up next week on a cooler day.

The old strut didn't have much left - I could push the rod down with the palm of my hand, and it took a couple of minutes to rebound. A bit disappointing for only 60K km, but not bad for 11 years. Even with just the one side done the ride seems much improved.
 
If it was me, any of the better aftermarket lines or ACDelco OE would be my pick.

GM for a while was using French-made DeCarbon shocks on their "performance" suspension RPOs. Seems like now from my observation of new K2XX trucks with the Z71 badge that Bilstein or DeCarbon are nowhere to be found. It's now consumer-labeled OE-spec Tenneco. I think GM made a big deal with DeCarbon on Z28/Z06/ZZ4 RPOs.
 
Originally Posted By: nthach
If it was me, any of the better aftermarket lines or ACDelco OE would be my pick.

GM for a while was using French-made DeCarbon shocks on their "performance" suspension RPOs. Seems like now from my observation of new K2XX trucks with the Z71 badge that Bilstein or DeCarbon are nowhere to be found. It's now consumer-labeled OE-spec Tenneco. I think GM made a big deal with DeCarbon on Z28/Z06/ZZ4 RPOs.


DeCarbon was bought out by BWI, which also makes GM's magnetic shocks.
 
Springs have a bigger impact on ride quality than the shocks/struts do which are only responsible for controlling spring oscillations .. I would make sure the springs are at specs too.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Springs have a bigger impact on ride quality than the shocks/struts do which are only responsible for controlling spring oscillations .. I would make sure the springs are at specs too.


This fact is so underrated, because springs are so expensive. Whenever someone who does not work on cars gets their suspension repaired, it is always a new set of shocks. You never hear anyone say "Hey, I swapped my springs and now my car feels brand new".

That car needs lowering springs badly, the wheel well gap is awful.
 
We changed the driver's side strut yesterday. It went well, no surprises. Like the passenger side, this strut had nothing left - I was able to push the rod in easily, and it didn't want to rebound. My friend is pleased with the outcome. Rock Auto was really good to deal with, and I felt good about using the OEM AC Delco struts. I was mistaken in my original post when I said the car had 70K km on it - the actual mileage is only 60K km - around 37K miles!
 
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