Struts blown

After 2 1/2 years since I lowered my '03 Trix, my front OEM struts have finally blown out on me. I'm using Tein S-tech springs which probably helped in the process, and was wondering what struts could work well with this aftermarket setup, that won't kill my bank account. I went to Midas, and they wanted something close to $900 US for parts & labor. That's not gonna happen. They probably looked up the most expensive struts on the market. I'm willing to spend about $300-400 on parts. That's about what I was quoted by another body shop for the OEM struts, but I do not want those again. Anyone have any thoughts/experiences/opinions?

Reply 1 : Struts blown

ebay tokico blues 375 shipped. i was just looking myself. awd dropped on dropzones for over a year. my rears are toasted.





NEUMAN

Reply 2 : Struts blown

You'[ll be suprised that at lease half that price they quoted is labor.





Most places will replace with OE equvilant. You should be spending about $300~$500 on your own for good quality stuff (e.g. maybe mounts, struts, some bushings if needs, alignment, etc, etc).





When my mom replaced her 4 struts on her '01 Camry LE I4, she got it done for about $1200. That included alignment + struts and labor. Labor was pretty much about half of that.







I'm not an expert on what you should get because they are lowered springs, so usually you need to match them with struts that can take it...I'll let the others chime in on that

Reply 3 : Struts blown

Most of the struts out there that won't break your budget are not designed for aggressively lowered suspensions. If the drop is more than 1.5"-1.8" - that will mean a lot more stress on the strut assembly. Last time I checked, Tein S.Tech are little over 2" drop and relatively "soft" compared to other springs, so they will stroke the strut over its range even over mild road imperfections.



That said, Tokico Blues and Koni Sport Struts have lifetime warranties and seem to hold up well under lowered instances. Tokico Blues run in the $80-$90 price range, Koni Sports run in the $130-$150 range. KYB are the OEM manufacturer of struts for Toyota - they can handle a mild drop no problem, but with a 2"+ drop - 2-3 years is about the most you can expect from there.



Myself, I'm running TRD springs (rebadged Eibach Pro) that settled to about a 1.5"-1.75" drop on KYB-GR2 struts - got about 8 years / 140K on them and they are started to show some wear now. Perfectly exceptable IMO, down the road, probably looking to upgrade to H&R springs and Koni Sports - little firmer, without dropping excessively, and still have a decent city/highway ride.

Reply 4 : Struts blown

Thanks for all the input guys. I haven't made a decision on type of strut yet, but I have a friend who will put be putting them on for me, so there at least goes the labor cost.