Front Struts for Avalon 1997 XL

[smata67]

They have 100K on them and one might be leaking (could also just be dirty from initial installation). So I'm most likely going to replace. I have done struts before in my driveway, Plymouth Voyager, so I do have some experience with this work.

Will probably go Monroe SensaTrac. Are there any additional parts I should be looking at replacing? I remember there were some mount issues with these. At 30K or so, I had an in-warranty repair for clunking on the passenger side. Description on the ticket said something about poorly machined mounts.

[toyomoho]

Each shock assembly would have an upper mount with bearing, an upper rubber insulator/bellows and a lower rubber insulator. The insulator is a rubber gasket to prevent the spring from rubbing directly on the upper mount or lower strut spring seat.

The rubber material in the upper mounts can break down resulting in banging of the strut rod/steel bushing inside the mount against the mount body. You may be able to inspect the mount from the engine compartment side for damage.

Toyota states it is OK to have some very slight oil film on the strut body area below where the strut rod enters. This could attract dirt.

You may be able to inspect the insulators and bellows for damage. A worn bearing can make a popping noise when turning the steering wheel.

[cexsiman]

to the best of my knowledge, monroe does not make a strut that is compatible with our vehicle. i am going to have to replace my suspension as well. i am almost at 100k and its just definitely time. i dont have any air tools, and know that its not that difficult to replace them on my own, but do not want to tackle it without a few pointers. i have really only been able to easily find tokico blues from most places, and a few others around, but mostly just the blues. and i have heard that having/not having ABS can affect what struts you need, but i dont see that being the case. best of luck with it.