Hey all, just picked up my 97 xls, gotta say this is a sweet car. Smooth and powerful!
So it's needs struts, and I'm going to get kyb's from rockauto.com. As far as strut mounts, what's the best affordable one? I know moog rocks, but 89 bucks a pop is a bit steep. Are mevotech's any good? I hear kyb mounts suck, I'll avoid those.
My options for mounts on rockauto are:
Gabriel
Monroe
Mevoteck
TRW
Raybestos
I would still get MOOG strut mounts on all corners, it won't be fun to do this job twice.
I have KYB-GR2/Excel-G on all corners. I have kyb strut mounts in the front, I think they might be causing my clunking noises, so yeah like you said they are crap. The MOOG rear strut mounts are fine, no problems with them.
The rubber parts(coil insulators, bumpers, front bellows) got those from the dealer.
Actually on Amazon I found MOOG strut mounts and KYB Excel-G strut cheaper, plus free shipping.
gabriel makes a "safety strut" - comes assembled and all parts new, including the coil springs. soooo simple and cheaper, too - especially when doing the individual parts. i went that way and i have no regrets. the car is sprung firmly - vast difference from the mush toyota put on it... but then again, those original parts had 160k miles on them.
I hear kyb mounts suck, I'll avoid those.
Any suggestions?
KYB mounts are pure crap. Rockauto took mine back. They came from different countries, looked different, horrible fit & finish. Came with "no-name" bearings which had separated in the box with balls everywhere.
My suggestion would be OEM factory mounts. I am very glad I went that direction on both my Avalon and Lexus RX300.
Artbuc, what brand are the oem strut mounts? I thought KYB was oem, which makes great struts but sub par mounts.
Pmesfun, thank you for the links, they are cheaper and they have free shipping! I'll definitely buy from them if I go that route.
SO: General consensus says monroe quick struts=crap, and gabriel quick struts=not proven yet. Would you guys take the chance or stay with individual components and pay the extra $$?
Artbuc, what brand are the oem strut mounts? I thought KYB was oem, which makes great struts but sub par mounts.
Pmesfun, thank you for the links, they are cheaper and they have free shipping! I'll definitely buy from them if I go that route.
SO: General consensus says monroe quick struts=crap, and gabriel quick struts=not proven yet. Would you guys take the chance or stay with individual components and pay the extra $$?
Don't know. Could not find any marking on them other than Toyota. KYB did make the OEM struts for my 99 Avalon and 99 Lexus and the KYB aftermarket were identitical to OEM. Unlike struts, KYB (I believe) does not make their mounts. They buy from various 3rd party vendors and put their brand on them. Personally I think KYB is making a big mistake doing this because it is hurting their quality reputation in a big way.
So has anybody else used gabriel quick struts? I wanna think it would be a good idea, but I haven't heard many good things about full strut assembly replacements.
was unable to buy monroe quick struts - apparently discontinued for our avalons. however, have used them on two other cars (honda and mazda) with excellent results. autozone will refund your $ if you're not satisfied. replacing the assembly is not hard. thing to do is try it. keep your old ones...
people read a little, then assume it's gospel. my front end noise was from a loose windshield washer tank and a loose lid on the air cleaner box - NOT the struts. might be a loose inner fender... but if you don't look for it and ASSUME it's the struts, 'cause that's what everybody on here says, then when you change them and it still makes that !@#$%^&*!! noise, well, the struts were garbage...
when the rubber neck on the intake gets old and stiff it's like, REALLY hard to put the lid onto the air cleaner properly. might check that out, first thing. you gotta put the lid on THEN install the hose. you gotta fight the damn thing. i bought a rubber piece form a junk yard then painted it with brake fluid, inside and out, about 5 times in 5 days. now it's something like it should be. STILL hard to put the lid on the air cleaner with the hose attached. and it will whack like crazy if it's not all the way back in those two clips on the inside, away from the metal clamps.
people read a little, then assume it's gospel. my front end noise was from a loose windshield washer tank and a loose lid on the air cleaner box - NOT the struts. might be a loose inner fender... but if you don't look for it and ASSUME it's the struts, 'cause that's what everybody on here says, then when you change them and it still makes that !@#$%^&*!! noise, well, the struts were garbage...
Strut mount failure on high mileage Toyotas is a very common problem. So, when people come here asking about noises coming from their front end when they go over a bump, invariably someone suggests strut mounts. Hopefully no one is dumb enough to have their strut mounts replaced just because someone here suggested that could be a problem. Hopefully, the person asking for help would check their strut mounts (or ask a reputable mechanic to do it if they didn't know how to) before replacing them. Having said that, if you have 120k plus miles on your car and need new struts, you would be pretty foolish not to replace the mounts unless you were planning on getting rid of the car really soon.
Another thing it could be is the control arm bushings. The passenger side circular control arm bushing on my car has actually partially separated from the metal sleeve. The drivers side is starting to separate. So look at those too.
Both you guys make good points, I am definitely not replacing them for turds and giggles. Monroe has a section on their website about testing worn strut mounts..my avalon matched every one of the tests. (Cracks, side to side play when grabbing the springs, Up and down movement as well, squeaky when moved)
Bob2, I actually have just chopped my airbox up so I know that isn't the issue. I kept the top intact so it looks stock, but I cut basically the whole bottom out to increase airflow. Man, it makes a difference too. No, it doesn't go faster now, but it does pull harder up top and has better throttle response. I'm hoping the mpg's go up as well. Kinda off topic, but I just did it yesterday.lol
yeah - it sure does make a difference. as i found when i finally sealed the stock box up - lol!
currently i've bought a box lid at a junkyard. i cut the pipe off of it so i can have a proper holder for the MAF sensor. soon i will receive a 2.75 inch clamp-on air cleaner. then i'll just retire my stock air filter...
now if i could only coax someone to talk about what they've done with the exhaust. this engine has a LOT of power and it is withheld by stuffing the intake and the exhaust. ah, but it's more fun to figure it out, ay?
let us know about the MPGs? I'm getting about 27. man... i love this car. soon i gotta do something about the way it looks. that's about the only thing i can't do, myself
Will do, are you gettting 27 on the highway or 27 overall?
I feel ya on the body, but it is what it is. I figure if I try to change the looks it's just gonna look like a road racer. (unless I do subtle clean looking mods)
As far as the exhaust, you could always try to cut the resonator out and replace it with a pipe section. It's the canister in the middle of the car, and they can be really restrictive. You'll still have the catalytic converter and the big muffler at the back will keep the sound down. Really tho, the best way to make power is to replace the exhaust from the headers back with bigger diameter piping.
Hopefully no one is dumb enough to have their strut mounts replaced just because someone here suggested that could be a problem.
i would not describe following advice found in a place where those "in the know" hang out as dumb - especially if your own automotive savvy is not that grand. we assume others are like ourselves... but in many cases they are not.
in my case my coils were shot. the tires were way down in the wheel wells. so i did the whole thing. and yes, i did expect the noises to go away, 'cause i read that here.
in my case my coils were shot. the tires were way down in the wheel wells. so i did the whole thing. and yes, i did expect the noises to go away, 'cause i read that here.
Exactly, at least you have expected results to compare to. You gotta start somewhere...
I appreciate the advice so far. I'm just trying to get my avy back up to par to when it was new. I've now tested the struts, the control arm linkage, and the sway bars. I'm replacing the control arm bushings and the struts and mounts. Now I have a starting to point to compare to.
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1999 Toyota Avalon
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