Quick struts

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
733
Location
MD
I've read through as many posts as I could about quick struts.

My predicament is my 2011 sienna needs strut bearings. At 130k or however many miles it has, the strut bellows boots are also destroyed. It drives fine but there's no sense in buying $90 mounts, $10 boot kits and not replacing the struts.

I worked at a dealer for a long time so my parts guy there quoted me my employee price still...about $260 per side to do my mounts, struts, and bellows boots.

Monroe and KYB quick struts are about $110 a side.

As a tech I never loved quick struts, seemed to be noisey and fail too quick, throw the ride height off and make me wonder if they use a spring for many different "close enough" applications. But at that price difference it's hard to not want to do quick struts.

I asked a couple independent shops we deal with (I'm in a government fleet shop now, so a little out of touch with what is good in the real word) and two said they like Napa and Monroe (which judging my Napa part numbers, they ARE Monroe's parts). One prefers KYB.

Anyone know what is the oem manufacture Toyota uses for strut parts? I can't remember for sure but I know we use some Monroe stuff at my shop and find it to be junk, but maybe it's the line of stuff we use?

Any advice or opinions greatly appreciated.
 
I put KYB Quick Strut on a 2004 Sienna and used it for 60K before selling it.
It was still good.

I am not sure why people say there is a height difference.
Of course there is, compare to the old worn out strut. LOL.
 
Originally Posted by JMJNet
IOf course there is, compare to the old worn out strut. LOL.

The strut usually doe not determine it's ride height.
It's used to control the movement of the coil spring.
 
Given the choice I'd go with KYB's every time.

That said I've been burned by incorrect spring rates on quick struts before. If the price is right, and you're able, I'd use your OE springs on the quick struts if all the other stuff needs replacing anyway.
 
A lot of oem parts are sourced from major manufacturers.

For example, Many Honda parts are denso. I could pay Honda $5-600 for a compressor I needed, or get the same exact thing from a parts store or amazon straight from denso for about $220.

I've also used a lot of complete junk from aftermarket. Just trying to get a feel for if this stuff is some of that complete junk or not. I don't see a reason a strut mount, strut, and boot should be 260. Struts are typically made by just a few manufacturers.
 
I'm with you Maryland. It's just that those few manufacturers can select from an apparent array of quality to fill their tubes.
Shocks can blow out so fast or last for years.
Add to that...the majority consensus here regarding Quicky-Poos is low.

And yes, it would be sooooo cool if someone posted about finding a rugged quality Quick-Strut.

To me it seems going with known (as well as one can know) components is better than opting for a product designed to appeal to the fast lane of automotive maintenance.
 
Build your strut if you care about the car, ride height or handling ability. Quick struts won't have the right spring rate and will have a crappy mount.

This topic is beat to death on here, anyone who opts for a quick strut is a cheapskate.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Build your strut if you care about the car, ride height or handling ability. Quick struts won't have the right spring rate and will have a crappy mount.

This topic is beat to death on here, anyone who opts for a quick strut is a cheapskate.

Describes me to a Tee I guess. It's weird but I have no complaints after 70k on the set on my Camry. Monroes no less.

One upshot to QS's is that you could keep your old springs. If the QS's don't work for you (ride height, spring rate) you could always buy the struts and have a local shop install the springs for you, if so inclined.
 
Originally Posted by supton
One upshot to QS's is that you could keep your old springs. If the QS's don't work for you (ride height, spring rate) you could always buy the struts and have a local shop install the springs for you, if so inclined.
Pay for quick struts, pay to have them installed, then pay to have them uninstalled, then pay to have the old worn out springs swapped and then pay to have them reinstalled.

Dimes over dollars baby, the way of the cheapskate.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by supton
One upshot to QS's is that you could keep your old springs. If the QS's don't work for you (ride height, spring rate) you could always buy the struts and have a local shop install the springs for you, if so inclined.
Pay for quick struts, pay to have them installed, then pay to have them uninstalled, then pay to have the old worn out springs swapped and then pay to have them reinstalled.

Dimes over dollars baby, the way of the cheapskate.

lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by supton
One upshot to QS's is that you could keep your old springs. If the QS's don't work for you (ride height, spring rate) you could always buy the struts and have a local shop install the springs for you, if so inclined.
Pay for quick struts, pay to have them installed, then pay to have them uninstalled, then pay to have the old worn out springs swapped and then pay to have them reinstalled.

Dimes over dollars baby, the way of the cheapskate.

Why would you pay to have them put in? It was like 2 hours of labor in the dooryard to do all four on my Camry. Are there vehicles where it's harder?

21.gif


It's not exactly rocket science...
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by supton
One upshot to QS's is that you could keep your old springs. If the QS's don't work for you (ride height, spring rate) you could always buy the struts and have a local shop install the springs for you, if so inclined.
Pay for quick struts, pay to have them installed, then pay to have them uninstalled, then pay to have the old worn out springs swapped and then pay to have them reinstalled.

Dimes over dollars baby, the way of the cheapskate.


Depends what you're paying to have them installed. Last time I had them done, guy only wanted $80 to install the pair. Fairly fast too, a little under 2 hours to do the pair.

If you don't like the spring rate, don't install the old springs, just get a new set. At 130k the old springs are worn out, they're probably only good for 80-100k, maybe a little more, but I bet if you install springs with 130k, they probably won't be good at 150 or 180k.

Monroe quickstruts have a lifetime warranty, if they wear out at 60k, you just get another set under warranty and they're free, just make sure you keep the receipt which is why I like to order them online so you always have a copy of the receipt in your email.
 
Quick struts are awesome
smile.gif


KYB is probably the OE supplier for your Sienna, and they are also the largest shock manufacturer and the OE supplier to most Japanese cars.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Why would you pay to have them put in? It was like 2 hours of labor in the dooryard to do all four on my Camry. Are there vehicles where it's harder?

21.gif


It's not exactly rocket science...
If you can DIY struts, you can DIY assembling them and building your own strut. Rarely do I see people talk about putting them in themselves. It's always an old dude who wants ride quality restored without sacrificing too much of their beer budget but doesn't want to DIY as that would cut into their drinking time.

Originally Posted by Wolf359
If you don't like the spring rate, don't install the old springs, just get a new set. At 130k the old springs are worn out, they're probably only good for 80-100k, maybe a little more, but I bet if you install springs with 130k, they probably won't be good at 150 or 180k.
The QS have to be installed to evaluate the spring rate, unless you plan on disassembling the strut to measure the spring, which would be insane.
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Monroe quickstruts have a lifetime warranty, if they wear out at 60k, you just get another set under warranty and they're free, just make sure you keep the receipt which is why I like to order them online so you always have a copy of the receipt in your email.
I don't see a shop doing more than a single warranty replacement. How many struts do you want to replace in your driveway?

Why are there so many excuses and work arounds for QS? They don't care enough to match the spring rate and that doesn't matter to everyone. It matters big time to me, so I say they are junk.
 
Quick struts are fine, but I would pass on the Monroe's. They used to be fine, but I've had 4 different sets (and different applications) fail in the last 6 months, all less than a month after install. Several had bad mounts, one was noisy over bumps, and one flat out threw the spring off the seat and cocked to the side. Scared the crap out of the customer when it happened, too.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
If you can DIY struts, you can DIY assembling them and building your own strut. Rarely do I see people talk about putting them in themselves. It's always an old dude who wants ride quality restored without sacrificing too much of their beer budget but doesn't want to DIY as that would cut into their drinking time.

crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by Wolf359
If you don't like the spring rate, don't install the old springs, just get a new set. At 130k the old springs are worn out, they're probably only good for 80-100k, maybe a little more, but I bet if you install springs with 130k, they probably won't be good at 150 or 180k.
The QS have to be installed to evaluate the spring rate, unless you plan on disassembling the strut to measure the spring, which would be insane.

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Monroe quickstruts have a lifetime warranty, if they wear out at 60k, you just get another set under warranty and they're free, just make sure you keep the receipt which is why I like to order them online so you always have a copy of the receipt in your email.
I don't see a shop doing more than a single warranty replacement. How many struts do you want to replace in your driveway?

Why are there so many excuses and work arounds for QS? They don't care enough to match the spring rate and that doesn't matter to everyone. It matters big time to me, so I say they are junk.


One of the previous replies was the insane one, they wanted to replace the QS springs with the OEM ones which had 130k miles.

I never mentioned the shop doing a warranty replacement, I've found mechanics that will do them for $80-$100 because it takes less than 2 hours to put in a pair. After 60-80k, I wouldn't mind paying $80 for another set of struts, I just get the replacements for free and just pay for labor. At 130k, I bet the struts were shot a while ago and OP probably just didn't notice. Most people here make out like they're spring experts, I bet most people wouldn't even notice the difference in the spring rate and if they're speced for the vehicle they may be close enough not to matter. For me, didn't notice a different with the spring rate, but this was on a Taurus and maybe they were designed for that model instead of the one size fits most model that some QS may be using.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top