Wife's CR-V needs struts.
- Thread starter Starving Electrician
- Start date
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
B6 are performance struts and shocks. I don’t think it matters much what vehicle it is.
You get what you pay.
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- Oct 15, 2021
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Here’s how I’d approach it. If you expect another 100k out of this car, OEM Honda, no question.
Any less, KYB or Bilstein should be fine. But I’d still get OE mounts and bearings if you can.
KYB and Bilstein are great options but they don’t put the same effort into aftermarket as their OEM offerings. Even though the excel-g and the B4 are marketed as “oem grade” they need to be profitable and it’s impossible to do that for such a small production run compared to OEM. They’re never hyper-customized to the car and there’s a lot of shared tooling involved. They are built to a price point. And they’ll get the job done.
Any less, KYB or Bilstein should be fine. But I’d still get OE mounts and bearings if you can.
KYB and Bilstein are great options but they don’t put the same effort into aftermarket as their OEM offerings. Even though the excel-g and the B4 are marketed as “oem grade” they need to be profitable and it’s impossible to do that for such a small production run compared to OEM. They’re never hyper-customized to the car and there’s a lot of shared tooling involved. They are built to a price point. And they’ll get the job done.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Started an account and looked - oh my - Euro bcs I’m overseas LoL
Please. The reason that new struts don’t go the same distance as factory is that they go onto old, worn out cars. It’s just logical that a 150,000 mile car is going to stress the struts more. We are several years out from the pandemic, and there is no logic to the idea that the world has lost the playbook on building struts. I mean, we still have good tie rod ends and control arms, right? You don’t replace struts every day, but when the time comes, I will be going with KYBs as I have in the past on Hondas. In the parts world, I have found NAPA to be excellent in sourcing decent quality parts. They don’t have snob appeal, but they get the job done. In fact, my Acura/Honda specialist mechanic will install NAPA struts, unless you ask specifically for something else.
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I think I am going to follow the crowd and go KYB like seems to be the vote. I looked at pricing and they have a reasonable price point and I don't see us putting but maybe another 50K on the vehicle. By that point my boys will be bigger and we will probably look to get a bit more room.
I say that but I have really liked the CR-V its an AWD EX-L and has been just fantastic. So I might keep it as a backup or something. We brought my sons home in it so I am sort of sentimental about it.
Please yourself.
Please elaborate, as I mentioned previously, I replaced all worn out suspension components as soon as I get a car, the vehicles aren't "worn out" anymore.
not when the suspension has been refreshed...
please stop using the word "logic" because you are not using it correctly, especially considering the fact that you are not taking inflation into account, the price point of parts aren't the same as they used to be before the Pandemic, I have bought countless after market parts as I was an engine rebuilder to put myself and wife through college, a lot of after market parts are now in the same price range as OEM, with an OEM brand like Toyota, you are almost guaranteed good parts when buying OEM.
The last 5 years have been full of poor quality after market parts, especially from my experience, buying new complete strut assemblies that are bad out of the box was a common thing I had to deal with.
Obviously there are still some good after market brands but when it comes to labor, anything labor intensive, it is always best to use the best available parts otherwise doing it again will be a huge waste of time, and time is money, even if you can DIY. Suspension is a labor intensive job, other then sway bar end links.
OEM is still superior, especially for Toyotas, can't really speak for other car manufacturers.
Exactly my point
Good idea, but OEM is far superior, especially Honda suspension parts, they are significantly better then Toyota suspension parts from my experience.
Can't speak for Napa as I have never tried any of their suspension components, at their price point, I can buy Toyota OEM parts, I never understood the appeal because of cost.
I think I have watched enough Star Trek, and studied enough moral philosophy, to know I am using the word “logic” correctly.
Yea, I am sure that would mean a lot to me as well.
I still miss my first vehicle, 2000 Honda Civic VP, the suspension on it after 300k miles was still perfect, never ever had any premature tire failure, the good ole days of double wish bone suspension from Honda. The car handled like a champ, I don't remember a single time a turn felt like it was "too fast" since then I have owned Toyotas/Lexus's and their suspension has never handled like the 2000 Honda Civic I had.
That car was good, but did not have the double wishbone setup.
Yea, I am sure that would mean a lot to me as well.
I still miss my first vehicle, 2000 Honda Civic VP, the suspension on it after 300k miles was still perfect, never ever had any premature tire failure, the good ole days of double wish bone suspension from Honda. The car handled like a champ, I don't remember a single time a turn felt like it was "too fast" since then I have owned Toyotas/Lexus's and their suspension has never handled like the 2000 Honda Civic I had.
the 2000 Honda Civic? it absolutely did...what are you on about?
and I only understood it's real value after switching to Toyotas as they handled terribly compared to my 1st car (2000 Honda Civic)
The best that I can get out of aftermarket shocks/struts these days is about 2-3 years. If you're only going to keep the CR-V a short time after the strut replacement then fine. However, if you are going to keep'er for any length of time, get the OE.
Correctamundo as Fonzie would have said. 2000 was the last model year.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Bilstein will outlast OE Honda. It also has lifetime warranty.
Bilstein tunes B4 for each application. That is the reason why they are most popular aftermarket upgrade.
Wow, the opinions here are quite incongruous. I was going to ask about a famous BITOG member's comment in another thread that Bilstein B4's were nothing special, but based on opinions expressed in this thread, my question would be pointless. What's an OCD person to do??? I like a recent comment here "a person's perception is often their reality" or something close to that.
Anyway, future strut selection for my Patriot is between OEM (2x $), KYB, and B4. Following @troymcclure post, the decision is based on expected ownership time. Good advice.
Anyway, future strut selection for my Patriot is between OEM (2x $), KYB, and B4. Following @troymcclure post, the decision is based on expected ownership time. Good advice.
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This thread motivated me to see how much it would cost to replace all the struts assemblies on our daughter's 2009 CR-V using KYB Strut-Plus mentioned several times in this thread (sometimes positively, others times not so positively). With tax, they'd cost ~$750 through Amazon (shipped and sold by Amazon, not a third party). Slightly higher cost from other sources.
If it’s just sweating you can probably get another 2-3 years out of them. And then see where you are with this car.
I’ve recently replaced front struts on my wife’s pilot (passenger side all leaked out and the strut was shot) with KYB struts, kept OEM spring and replaced bearing and other accessories with OEM Honda parts. Works great
I’ve recently replaced front struts on my wife’s pilot (passenger side all leaked out and the strut was shot) with KYB struts, kept OEM spring and replaced bearing and other accessories with OEM Honda parts. Works great
