Opinions on automotive strut makers | GTAMotorcycle.com

Opinions on automotive strut makers

DJM

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Struts are worn on my car. Not looking for performance just daily driver. OEM replacements are an arm and a leg.

Any particular brands last longer/perform better than others or are they all the same? I see KYB, Monroe, Bilstein. All around $100-120. Leaning toward Bilstein but only cause they're German, no idea if that makes them any better.
 
My experience, albeit limited, suggests they are basically all the same in that range. You have to spend a fair amount more to see any real improvement which is likely not worthwhile on your DD.
 
If it were me, I would look on Rock Auto to see if there's a strut assembly available (strut + mount + spring pre-installed) and go with that one since I'm a lazy POS. Otherwise I would probably go with Bilstein too using the same reasoning, unless KYB was the OEM supplier for the vehicle
 
Given the option I'd go Bilstein and not think twice about it. Used them on a few vehicles over the years and always been happy.
 
Look south of the border. I got new OEM shocks/struts/bushings etc for my last car for ~$300 all in (it was obscenely more in Canada). Most cars won't wear out a second suspension before they die or people stop doing maintenance on them.

On your list of aftermarket, Bilstein wins for me with monroe on the bottom, but I don't have any personal experience with any of them.

Pay attention to the series. If it's your daily driver you may not want to put the sportier versions on as the ride can go to ****. For a dd I would pick the bottom of the range or 1 up, not the stiff ones.
 
Might want to look in to Koni FSD for greatly improved handling without sacrificing rough road characteristics. Lifetime warranty that they usually honor.

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Those FSD's look sweet but at $1100 it's a bit more than I want to spend on a car I may only keep another year or two.

So I think I'll try the Bilsteins, I found them for $90 each, less than the other brands.
 
Maybe h&r springs, swift springs, there are so many brands out there...
 
Those FSD's look sweet but at $1100 it's a bit more than I want to spend on a car I may only keep another year or two.

So I think I'll try the Bilsteins, I found them for $90 each, less than the other brands.
They usually go on sale once a year for 20-25% off. I got them for 550 usd. Since you are not keeping the car you might as well just get bilsteins off rockauto.

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If you're only keeping the car for a year, get whatever is cheapest. If you're keeping the car for a while, get monroe. The reason I say that is because like Koni, they also offer a lifetime warranty on their suspensions, but unlike Koni, or other brands, you can remove them, and exchange them wherever you bought them the same day. With any of the other brands you have to remove them from the car, ship them back, and wait for new ones to arrive. If you only have one car, this isn't exactly convenient. Also, shocks/struts are generally dead at 100k.
 
Look south of the border. I got new OEM shocks/struts/bushings etc for my last car for ~$300 all in (it was obscenely more in Canada). Most cars won't wear out a second suspension before they die or people stop doing maintenance on them.

On your list of aftermarket, Bilstein wins for me with monroe on the bottom, but I don't have any personal experience with any of them.

Pay attention to the series. If it's your daily driver you may not want to put the sportier versions on as the ride can go to ****. For a dd I would pick the bottom of the range or 1 up, not the stiff ones.

yeah this is what I'd do, weekend in the US, get them done while shopping or something
drive back, even with a 77 cent dollar I think it would save some dough

of course there's some members here will advise against this as the suspension police will check coming back across the border
 
Well, I ordered Bilstein struts, Eibach springs, a strut mount kit and a front upper/lower control arm kit.

There wasn't that much of a difference after taxes and shipping compared to the US and the wait time is less since I'd like to bang this off next weekend.

May as well do it right, I'm in there anyways...
 
Total cost if you don't mind me asking? I may have to do this soon as well.

Thanks
 
This is for a German sedan so it could be apples and oranges but the Bilstein struts were $90 each, the spring kit was $404 and the front-end kit was $511. There's 8 freakin' control arm/ball joints on the front of this so the cost is higher than say, a Dodge Caliber with only 2 control arms.

The miscellaneous stuff like strut mounts and fasteners were less than $100. Will pretty well have a whole new front end after this. I'll take care of the shocks and springs on the back-end shortly and that should do it for a while. (I hope).
 
What brand control arms did u get? At least the control arms come with bushings.
Why replace the springs?

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Febi brand control arm kit. It's the original bushings that were giving out, noticed that when I was swapping out the winter tires.

As for the Eibach kit, I have a broken spring, and I figured, may as well tighten up the ride while I'm at it. It's only a 1.2" drop from the OEM allroad-height ones I have now.
 
This is for a German sedan so it could be apples and oranges but the Bilstein struts were $90 each, the spring kit was $404 and the front-end kit was $511. There's 8 freakin' control arm/ball joints on the front of this so the cost is higher than say, a Dodge Caliber with only 2 control arms.

The miscellaneous stuff like strut mounts and fasteners were less than $100. Will pretty well have a whole new front end after this. I'll take care of the shocks and springs on the back-end shortly and that should do it for a while. (I hope).
Stupid Audi.
 
Thank you for your in-depth analysis. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter...
Hahaha, my wife has an audi, and it's a pain in the hole with all the control arms. Every time you replace one, you need an alignment. If you have to replace a control arm, replace them all and live in peace for another 100k. Also hate the fact that the tie rods sit very high up, so when you do an alignment it's also a pain in the hole to loosen the jam nut, then tighten the jam nut without moving the inner tie rod and changing the toe adjustment. Love the look and interior of them, but would never get another one again.
 

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