Quick Struts vs Replacing the struts by themselves

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Quick struts come as an assembly including the springs; the struts themselves; and the strut mount/bearings. I've heard some rumors that the quality of quick struts aren't as good as replacing the struts by themselves. In an effort to keep costs down and be competitive in price, manufacturers will skimp on the quality of the springs; the struts; and maybe even the strut mount/bearings.

Is there any validity to that? Also --- when is it time to replace the strut coil springs?

Quick Strut $133.79 --- https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3844038&cc=1358018&jsn=421&jsn=421

Strut Only $136.79 --- https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=94085&cc=1358018&jsn=410

Yes that's right; the quick strut costs less than the strut by itself.
 
Well all manufacturers make good and bad parts. I'd still go with a quick strut over a regular strut, less dangerous, quicker and cheaper. I'd replace the spring, they also sag/break with age so you're not really saving yourself anything aside from having to do it twice at some point. Most quality quick struts have lifetime warranties so don't get anything with just a one year warranty, that probably means they'll fail after 20-30k. It's basically a roll of the dice, maybe Monroe, KYB or Moog makes decent ones, but if you search around, you'll find lots of people that hate them also, sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. I've had good and bad sets of Monroe in the past, but they were lifetime warranty and once when there was a manufacturer defect, they admitted it and sent me a new set of struts without making me pay to ship back the old ones. The problem was that the new struts sat a little lower than normal. I had thought it was just an installation problem but I read online that there was a bad batch at one point and mine was part of it. They even offered to pay for labor. Monroe usually has rebates in the spring and fall.
 
I've been reading some reviews on Amazon and a lot of customers are complaining that the ride hight has increased after installing quick struts. That stands to reason since the coil springs are new on quick struts. It's the new springs that raise up the ride hight. The most favorable review I've read is for Monroe struts by themselves.
 
Are they complaining that the ride height permanently increased? Because they do temporarily increase until they compress and break in.

Every time I did quick struts the initial ride height was indeed higher but then after a while they returned back to previous measurements.
 
I use the quick struts. I ain't messing around with springs, I like my garage without holes in the walls and I like my face how it is currently shaped.

Almost got taken out by a MillWrong putting entirely too much force on a bearing. One of the balls flew inches past my head, went through a heavy fabric like welding curtain, and put a huge dent in the wall 30ft behind me. Kinda put me off of being around anything with that kind of stored energy loosely contained.
 
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I've put together struts/springs in my garage, not too terrible if you are careful.

the only reason I did so was because the springs were broke and I found a good deal on some clearanced struts and mounts etc on rockauto, and I couldn't find any quick struts for my car, or they were only for the rear and I think they were gabriels which Ive heard weren't very good and i didn't want to have to do this job again.


this is the tool that I used. https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-255...mp;psc=1&refRID=PWQH4YS5SF12QEBKN07A


and yes the vehicle will sit higher for a time being until the springs settle.
 
I have had both good & bad experiences with whole assemblies.
When they're good, they're good and when they're bad, they don't last long at all and you have to replace them soon(er).
Here in the North East where we experience a lot of winter road salt, this salt compromises everything so, replacing the whole assembly is an easy no brainer. However, you want to get good stuff or you'll be replacing them again.

Years ago when I replaced struts/shocks, these replacement units lasted the remainder of the life of the vehicle. You know, maybe another 10 years or longer. I still have a set(4) Monroe GAS shocks in the Firebird in my sig for over 30 yrs now. And I have had Monroe outlast the OE in other vehicles.

But, it seems as though they just don't last anymore and 2 years can often be the norm. I don't trust Monroe any longer. Many here may disagree but, when they used to be my go to shocks/struts now find them to be JU-HU-HUNK!

You'll put'em in your vehicle, get a nice alignment, maybe rotate or get new tires and everything seems hunky/dorey, right? And then you'll discover that the Monroe's start to dissolve like an Alka-Seltzer. First the mounts make rattling noises, then you new tires start to get flat spots and then when you hit a bump in the road there are all kinds of noises and then...Absolute rubbish!

Maybe the ACDelco is good stuff, IDK!

Best of luck,

CB
 
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On an old car, quick strut is the way to go because you get all new hardware. Stick to popular brands and avoid the cheap Ebay and "economy" series junk. A buddy installed Monroe's and it increased the ride height. It later came down but was still a little high. This messed with the camber (despite it being non-adjustable on his car). The alignment shop had to ground out the strut holes to fix this. I also installed Monroe's on my car and didn't have this issue. Go figure.
 
I only tried them once KYB IIRC and that was the last time, the ride height was way off, I took them out and put my own together as usual.
It turns out almost all of them buy the springs from one supplier (i found this out from a very reliable source) and the springs fit but that's it otherwise they are generic in spring rate, etc.

Some cars are very picky about the springs to the point that the specific car options it has will determine the spring and will have paint dots on them to identify the spring characteristics. Use OE springs and buy them to the paint code on them or if you are lucky there may be a aftermarket that specifies the color code like those from Lesjöfors.
Doing it right is more expensive but worth it if you intend on keeping the car.
 
I replaced all 4 struts on my Explorer about 3 years ago. I looked online and there were a million different ones to chose from. My car was sagging, so I went with the quick strut option. Glad I did as the rears had broken springs in both. The front springs were OK, but had 150k on them so I wasn't going thru the trouble of reusing them. I looked at warranty's and most stunk, 6 mos to one year. I found the aftermarket brand SEN SEN came with a 10 year warranty, so I went with them. They did raise the car up an inch or 2 over the sagged out oem one's, but that was fine with me. I pull a trailer and they made a noticeable difference there. I've never been a fan of using strictly OEM parts . My logic is if they are so much better, Why am I replacing them?.,,,
 
This has come up before.
I believe the difficulties in fitting the correct spring are what has prevented car companies' parts departments from offering these complete replacement struts themselves.

Think about it. If such assemblies made sense, the car companies could've offered them "the next day".

Also, all the ads and displays you've seen for such replacement struts say, "...for enhanced profitability" or "Work faster for more profits".

The poor slob consumer isn't their concern at all.
 
I had very poor experience with quick struts. Took me 4 tries to get a non-defective front left strut from rockauto. Not their fault, they were great replacing it. First two struts had the rubber grommet installed improperly. The third one made funny noises going over a bump. The rear struts squeaked whenever the temperature dropped before 40°F. These were name brand quick struts from Monroe and Gabriel.
 
The struts themselves should be the same, it's the bearing mounts and springs they cheap out on.

I complained long and loud a few years ago about the Monroe quick struts I put on my wife's commuter Corolla. The front shock damping was too soft and so were the spring rates. Then the front mounts would loosen up and get noisy over bumps. It totally was not worth it. I went with new KYB struts and mounts for my Impreza and swapped the springs over and had such positive results I vowed to never bother with quick struts again regardless of how convenient they are.
 
I replaced the struts in our 2005 Toyota Avalon but there were no quick strut assemblies by either Monroe or KYB. i emailed their tech departments and asked why, there's no quick struts for 2005 but there is for 2004 and earlier and 2006 and later. Their response is there's no plans for quick struts so I asked it I could use ones for 2006 and they said no. Well I bought the OTC strut clamshell spring compressor and did it my self. Some shops wanted $50 per strut, some said I had to buy it from them and others wanted $100 for each and they had to install it.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
This has come up before.
I believe the difficulties in fitting the correct spring are what has prevented car companies' parts departments from offering these complete replacement struts themselves.

Think about it. If such assemblies made sense, the car companies could've offered them "the next day".

Also, all the ads and displays you've seen for such replacement struts say, "...for enhanced profitability" or "Work faster for more profits".

The poor slob consumer isn't their concern at all.

Car manufacturers do offer quick struts...I know Honda does it for a fact because I've bought them many times. They were always perfect, they were so convenient I would never unravel a strut instead of just doing a complete replacement.
 
The problem with quick struts is the quality of the parts, if you are handy you could just compress the spring and install the new parts.

I done few times with a helper, going to do my Volvo over the summer but will also install the new springs. The car is 22 years on the OEM springs.
 
Quick struts are awesome. No need to mess with spring compressors or piece several components together. They save you a lot of time and money
smile.gif


One thing to note though, those ACDelco quick struts aren't actual OE parts. They are reboxed Gabriel. The ACDelco Professional shocks and struts are reboxed Gabriel. Only the shocks labeled GM Original Equipment gets you actual OE parts. The ACDelco Professional reboxed Gabriel bare strut is listed at $61 on Rock Auto. The Gabriel bare strut is $56, and the Gabriel quick strut is $76.

My choice would be the KYB quick struts.

NOTE: GM's quick strut offerings are not actual OE struts, but Ford and Honda DO offer quick struts that really are the actual OE parts. Honda's OEM quick struts are ultra expensive. while Ford's Motorcraft quick struts are reasonably-priced on Rock Auto.
 
I have replaced shocks numerous times . Much easier than struts .

But , to the OP's question . I have replaced struts on only 1 or 2 occasions . They were clearly a pain in the rear !

I did not use quick struts . Plain struts were cheaper & I have never felt it necessary to replace springs . I do not live in the rust / salt belt . Do not know if that has any thing to do with replacing springs ?

Anyway , I picked up a spring compressor at Harbor Freight ( on sale ) and used my HF electric impact . As I said , it was a pain .

I am older now & I might consider quick struts , now , if the price was close enough .
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
I have replaced shocks numerous times . Much easier than struts .

But , to the OP's question . I have replaced struts on only 1 or 2 occasions . They were clearly a pain in the rear !

I did not use quick struts . Plain struts were cheaper & I have never felt it necessary to replace springs . I do not live in the rust / salt belt . Do not know if that has any thing to do with replacing springs ?

Anyway , I picked up a spring compressor at Harbor Freight ( on sale ) and used my HF electric impact . As I said , it was a pain .

I am older now & I might consider quick struts , now , if the price was close enough .


You are brave to use a Harbor Freight spring compressor. OTC makes a good one but it's a lot more money. My mechanic won't use those cheap Harbor Freight ones, he wants to keep on living with most of his body intact.

As mentioned earlier, the problem with some generic quick struts is that the spring rate isn't the same as OEM. My car is kind of pain with the front struts, there's no quick struts and you have to match up the color codes. They had AWD, luxury and sport suspension and different sized engines so I guess there were multiple types of springs you could have even though it's the same car body.

On the Ford Taurus I had before, the springs had a habit of breaking once they hit 80-90k, had one puncture a tire before, but luckily that was when it sat in the parking lot.
 
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