Struts -- are there any good ones?

[LavaRand]

I put Duralast struts ($200 /ea) in my Toyota Sienna, but there is a weird problem with consistency.

The ride-height randomly varies and I haven't figured out why. Sometimes the front will ride as much as 2 inches higher than other times. I assume there is some problem inside the struts with friction or air pressure that changes with temperature or something. But I can't stand the van looking unlevel half the time.

I'm going to buy another set of struts, swap them out and return these. But what do I buy? Are there any brands of aftermarket that are trustworthy? Unfortunately I tossed the old struts so I need complete struts with springs.

 

[Lockasiam]

did you pump them before installing them

 

[spasm3]

Ride height is controlled by the springs, not the struts.

 

[LavaRand]

Ride height is controlled by the springs, not the struts.

Ride height is not consistent though. One day, I go out in my driveway and measure the height of the wheel well and it's 30.5 inches. The next morning, I measure it and it's almost 32 inches. You don't have to measure; you can see the vehicle is completely unlevel, camber is bad, and headlights are going to blind oncoming traffic. Then the next day it looks totally normal. I've never had it happen before but it reminds me of when I used to have motorcycles if they had air built up in the shocks it would get hot and change the suspension. I don't think that can be the spring because springs don't change from day to day.

 

[chris719]

Konis are great

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Get the KYB quick struts

 

[We're Metals]

Sounds like the struts are bad.

KYB Quick Struts would be my choice.

 

[edyvw]

Konis are great

Nothing really good for Sienna. KYB is as good as you gonna get for it.

 

[zzyzzx]

Don't buy cheap Chinese off brand parts (which is what you did) and you are a lot less likely to have these problems. Monroe / Gabriel / KYB / Sachs / OE are all likely to be better choices. And if you mail order don't get new old stock (Rock Auto wholesaler closeout) because those are often shot right out of the box (died of old age).

 

[D60]

Do you get any clunks or other symptoms when driving?

I'm wondering if the upper strut mounts are properly secured? If they were coming out of the unibody at times this could account for some variations in ride height.

I've seen this on KL Cherokees which use a horrendous method to retain the struts, but I don't think Toyota has this problem.

Are they leaking? I think the only way the slider tube could bind enough in the stanchion would be a HUGE amount of slop (think pipe stands with an eccentric locking collar) and I'd expect MASSIVE evidence of leaking as such.

 

[LavaRand]

They ride OK, except for the van being a different height every time I get in it.

I should have known better but I reasoned that they had a lifetime warranty and they were the only thing in local stock when I had the van taken apart for another reason and noticed the stock struts were leaking.

I ordered some KYB complete struts from rockauto (about 140 each) and I will swap them in and return these (save a few bucks too).

 

[IndyIan]

They ride OK, except for the van being a different height every time I get in it.

I should have known better but I reasoned that they had a lifetime warranty and they were the only thing in local stock when I had the van taken apart for another reason and noticed the stock struts were leaking.

I ordered some KYB complete struts from rockauto (about 140 each) and I will swap them in and return these (save a few bucks too).

Ideally you use the factory springs on the struts, to keep ride height you had, but IME the KYB's added almost 1/2" initially to the front of my old Focus, and settled down to ~1/4" higher? Close enough anyways. I have the manual transmission so its a bit lighter than the automatic.
Let us know how they work for you, I've found their quick struts upper mounts exceptionally good at absorbing any roughness.

 

[D60]

KYB would not have been my first choice but I think you get a LT warranty with the full strut assy (vs a la carte)

 

[Dr_Dr3i]

I replaced OE struts and shocks with Bilstein B4, I'm very happy with the improvement in ride and handling. So I'd recommend Bilstein if available for your application, or Sachs as another option.

I reused the original springs, therefore ride height is unaffected.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Whats the deal with that? Do non adjustable struts need to have that done ? Bottom out couple of times?

 

[loneryder]

Bilstein

 

[NJC]

I replaced the OEM struts on my Sienna (I think 2014?) with KYB and they've been excellent. That would be about 180K KM's

 

[michaelluscher]

Are you sure you got the strut mount orientation correct?
We need more specifics on your particular Sienna
The factory mounts have a marking that you you have to clock correctly
You can install the strut 3 different ways, no guarantee you got it right
Although it's probably poor quality aftermarket parts at play here

 

[LavaRand]

The strut mount doesn't freely rotate on an assembled strut does it? I put the replacement struts in the only way they would go.

 

[Elroy the Brave]

Autozone / Duralast have lifetime warranty?

Seems like you might need to do this job over, since the stuff they sold you is defective.