How do you know when it's time for new shocks and/or struts

[islandboy57]

I've been driving my mom's car lately, and I'm going to be dropping her off at work for the next few weeks. The road to her office is horrendous; one of the worst on the island. It's constant shallow potholes and bumps in every single lane. I switch between my car and her car and there is a HUGE difference. I realize my car is a lot newer but I really don't remember her car ever riding this rough. I cringe because I can feel every single bump and hole and pebble I'm driving over in her car. It feels like it travels straight up from the road to the top of the car and it drives me nuts. Her tires might be slightly underinflated (~29 psi) but I usually keep the tires at 32-35 psi.

Is it time for new shocks and/or struts? I looked online and people seem to mention a floaty feeling when it's time for new shocks or struts. The one thing I noticed is that the car gets VERY low in the back with just one person in the back seat (plus some crap in the trunk, less than 40lbs worth) - which I suppose is a good indicator that something isn't working right?

Any ideas? And if I am right on the shocks/struts, about how much will they run? I think they were last replaced 5-6 years ago. The car is a '95 w/ 79K miles and Monday through Friday on the way to work it gets driven on that horrendous road which I know is slowly killing the car

[AyzhenInvasion]

push down hard on one end of your car. if it comes back up PAST the equilibrium point and then goes down again (or occilates even more) then you have bad shocks/struts. if you push down and it goes back up to equilibrium without extra occilations, then ur shocks don't have a problem.
if you have little weight in the back and the car sags, it should be a spring problem because the spring isn't providing enough force per distance of compression.

if ur shock needs replacing, they usually run (tokico shocks) around $190-350 for all four.
springs usually go around $100-200 for all four

79k and u've already replaced the shocks a few years ago ??? ur roads there must SUCK. i replaced mine around 260k and they weren't even bad.....

[BlueFusion6851]

What year is your mom's car?

[95WhiteCamry]

^^ '95

[Unco]

also have a look at the strut assembly. if there's any signs of moisture around the gas insert, then it needs replacing.

[islandboy57]

Okay.. I'm driving my mom's car again and pressed on the front and back of the car. It went down, came up past the point of equilibrium then settled at equilibrium. On "good" shocks/struts, after you press down should it just go back up to equilibrium? My car is parked on the street now so I haven't tested mine.

I checked the tire pressure, it's between 31-32 psi. I also checked the (what I think is) the strut assembly and there's no moisture or sign of anything leaking.

No matter though. My mom is fine so I told her she should get it checked out after they pave the road to work in the next 6 months or so. No sense change everything out only to abuse it everyday on the way to work again. And yes, the roads here are that bad. Ha ha ha whenever people come and visit they think it's just awful.

[islandboy57]

Okay.. I've started looking into this again. Has anybody used Monroe Quick Struts? Looks like they run $219/piece and if I can get it from Napa, I'll get 10% off for being a AAA member. I'm going to see if my cousin and replace them for me..

Few questions:
1) Should all four shocks/struts be replaced at once or just replace what needs to be done right now?
2) How's the install?

I started looking into this again because I'm afraid the lack of a properly functioning suspension can lead to other problems. A few weeks ago there was a fire hose running across the street, so there was a metal guide and both sides - sort of like a mini ramp for cars to go over the hose safely. My mom's car bottomed out! I wasn't going that fast either..

[leasaunce]

when they started making noises... thats usually the first sign.

- check for any leakages around the shocks

- bumpy + boat like ride...

[213solider]

mine mad these rattling sound when i hit a bump in the rear which was time to replace the struts. I replaced my 96 camry with TRD struts for the rear.

[Dragon877]

i realized it was time to change mines when i pressed down the rear and the car freakin popped up like a row boat lol it was literally rocking front and back

i got all 4 shocks and struts changed for 600, the mechanic found a bad shock mount so that was an extra 100 so i totalled 700 but labor included but im out in NYC so it might be cheaper at Hawaii