strut replacement 80K

[Jeff Lesperance]

It really depends on the roads where you drive. In the Detroit area, the
roads here are worse than in Afghanistan, so it's not uncommon to replace
rims, struts, tires, shocks, and all kinds of other bits before the rest of
the civilized world would even consider it. For conspiracy theorists, it
could be a way to force people to buy new cars sooner, or maybe just the
whole area is one big squeak and rattle test track.

I replaced my struts and shocks at about 115,000 miles, and they were still
in good shape, but one shock was leaking oil, so the rears were done first.
Then I thought since I switched brands, I should do the struts too. I even
did it all myself.

I'd say 80,000 miles is a bit early, unless you drive 55 over speed bumps or
do a lot of stunt driving.However, at that point there are less miles ahead
of the struts then have gone by, so if you like the car and want to keep it,
it's worth the upgrade.

Sometimes as well, if a strut was damaged from a big hole, the tire could
have some damage as well. It would bear looking at, especially a front tire.

Jeff

 

[squirrely]

consensus appears to be that 80K was early

suffering a little buyers remorse

replacing the strut link and front strut did get rid of some serious
shimmy/vibration, but probably could have saved some money on repair. Plan
to hold on to vehicle, so should get my investment back eventually.