Do you mean a quick-strut (everything assembled, ready to install)?

I'm pretty sure OEM is available only in separate components, which you assemble prior to installation.

There are only a few quick-struts available. I like them, but many do not. Quick-struts are engineered for the ride that a given strut maker thinks most people want. Those who race, go to track days, or want sportier handling have to assemble their own. And those who want squishy soft rides won't like quick-struts either, but nobody in that last classification will ever admit their preference publicly...

 

Yes "quick strut" I guess is the correct wording (edited my title thanks). Watched that guy scotty kilmer talk about how bad they were....but he didnt really say what brand etc. But he made it sound like most of them are junk. Hard to believe kyb would be crappy (theyre the oem supplier i think?). Or moog or whatver.

 

Watched that guy scotty kilmer talk about how bad they were....but he didnt really say what brand etc. But he made it sound like most of them are junk.

No mechanic worth his salt would pass up 1-2-3 (for struts, all 4 corners) more hours of billable time in assembling components for a strut job.

My shop likes them because the shop is very good and always slammed with work to do and want my ancient Avalon in and out as quickly as possible, so they can harvest big chunks of change from their Mercedes/VW/Chrysler/Nissan customers.

I like them because I've assembled struts from components and would NEVER do it again as a shade-tree mechanic. The potential energy in the final assembly is HUGE... they must be treated as live bombs.

We have Monroes on the 03 Avalon rear. They seem fine. They stiffened the ride considerably, but the original struts were toast, so it's not a good comparison.

 

Quick Strut is Monroe brand name for their complete strut. KYB has equivalent, forgot the name.
KYB is OEM strut supplier for Toyota.
You can buy them for fraction of dealer cost online.
KYB is very bumpy.
I had excellent success with Monroe Quick Strut. Advantage is you have everything new and it takes 20 min to drop it in. You likely to end with camber bolt use, as T does not provide any camber adjustment. They are very easy to DIY install but alignment must be done by a shop. Unless you have alignment lift.
Ah, there you are. Strut Plus. KYB.

 

Get some Koni Oranges or Yellows and enjoy the ride much more in the XRS


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Ahhhh...interesting. Yeah I have no business messing with assembling them. Barely a shadetree mechanic. Pretty sure j can handle the pre assembled though. Watched a few vids.

 

UkrKoz....what about the camber exactly? I'll need an alignment is that what you're saying? Thanks. Really just want a oem feel to the suspension.

 

So here's the deal with camber.
Strut is secured to the hub knuckle with two very stout bolts. The way McPherson suspension geometry is, as that's what you have, those 2 bolts grately influence entire strut assey lean inward or outward. That is camber. Camber, it its turn greatly influences how vehicle steers down the road.
On some makes, those bolts have eccentric heads, allowing camber adjustment. Toyota chose to provide none of such convenience. You can't adjust camber.

Hence, condition of those bolts mating surface and strut brackets for those bolts directly influences camber. As you understand, over time, bolt mating surface wears out. Looks like a groove in it. What tosses camber out of alignment. Possibly, knuckle through holes for those bolts enlarge some also.
Whatever the cause, on high mileage car, camber ends up being out of spec. The only way to fix this is to use camber bolts on top connections.

Camber bolts are $30 or so kit of 2 parts stores. They allow to adjust camber to spec, but that can be done only on alignment lift. unless, you are very good with crawling under the car and adjusting it in such tight space. As vehicle wheels must be loaded for that alignment. Also, you will have to some sort of spirit level to show you the spec. That is easy, that's $20 piece from Home Depot. Spec is usually 0 degrees. Pretty much, vertical.
les Schwab, for example, wanted $180 just to have them installed. $30 vs $180. Same darn bolts. Firestone (gods, I did say the word...) had no clue how to adjust them.... I stood there and watched. Finally, took my car out of there bay and refunded what they charged me. Pitiful.
Also, keep in mind, you will need A LOT of torque for those bolts, camber or not. 96 Lb/ft I believe, if not more. So having a cheat pipe or breaker bar is required. As they carry your vehicle weight on them. Easy for me to do, I have ridiculously powerful air gun. But tackling this as DIy, you have ot be prepared.

 

Removing and transferring spring takes all of 1-minute per strut with free rental tool from Autozone.

Monroe & Gabriel are pretty low-end, worse quality than stock. Many pro mechanics report they start leaking even before car has been lowered off lift.

KYB comes in stock/OEM damping along with "enhanced perfomance" version with stiffer damping.

 

First, struts. What is the difference if I go to my own mechanic and he puts on quick struts vs non quick struts. The only difference I can see is my own mechanic would want to use quick struts because they are faster and he goes not have to deal with spring.
Brand: I heard kyb is the best and one to get but I do not know.
Other people’s thought and info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Complete strut assemblies ("quick struts" or "strut plus" or whatever other term a particular manufacturer uses) are easier and faster to install, hence the labor is cheaper. If you don't use complete strut assemblies, then you can custom choose which separate components to use, and you will pay your mechanic for the additional time to assemble the strut assemblies and install them in your car. Those complete strut assemblies often have inferior mounts or springs and sometimes the strut itself is inferior. You'll get lots of different opinions on brands. I've used Monroe and Moog complete assemblies. They worked OK, but I wasn't terribly impressed. KYB makes excellent struts, but their mounts/springs are the same mediocre quality as any other. The ideal situation would be to use KYB struts with Toyota OE mounts and springs. Kind of expensive that way, which is also why complete strut assemblies are popular. If you must have a complete assembly, I'd personally go with KYB "Strut Plus". If you've got the money, use a KYB strut with Toyota OE mounts/springs. Monroe/Moog/Gabriel are OK, though...…….just don't go with the VERY inexpensive off-brand or lesser known cheap brands. You get what you pay for.

 

Thank you for excellent post, JA.


I'd like to add my clarification to it


"strut" is complex component that consists of shock absorber, lower dampener, cover, lower mounting plate insulator, spring, upper mounting plate insulator, upper dampener and bearing plate.

I avoid using term "strut" in reference to the shock absorber component only as, to me, strut is all of the above. Though, in general terminology, strut and shock are used interchangeably.

What Anthony says is - you could combine shock absorber from KYB or Tocico (both are OEM suppliers) with other manufacturer components.

Personally, as disassembling and reassembling strut spring is MAJOR risk without proper tool and, it is VERY easy to misalign insulator/spring, resulting in nasty clunk in turns and do over.

Bones been broken, eyes poked, fingers broken, heads damaged, when spring compressor fails. And quality spring compressors are expensive and cheap ones.... well, you got the point.

That's from a guy who replaced his shocks and struts since 1994.

SO I absolutely would go with assembled part - if it's available.

 

What is actually better the complete strut/quick strut or the non complete strut. Also does kyb make a good complete strut or stay with the kyb non complete. Also in terms of complete struts what brand is the best out there. Thanks.

 

So who makes the best complete strut/quick strut. Is the kyb struts plus quick strut any good. I know kyb struts are the best is you do not buy the complete assembly. But are there complete struts any good. Thanks.

 

That is a matter of opinion. They have high end performance suspension parts that you can get, but those are very expensive. For the "normal/regular" line of suspension parts, I'd say all the major, well-known brands of complete strut assemblies are "good enough" to one degree or another. I'd personally go with KYB first. Some don't like Monroe/Gabriel/Moog, and others have no problems with those. I believe what @DannoXYZ said about Monroe/Gabriel, though, even though I've used Monroe assemblies once. They didn't leak, but I thought they were just......OK; nothing special and awfully soft. That's just a preference thing though, as some people think KYB is too stiff of a ride, but I didn't think so at all.

 

So can anyone suggest what most folks do when installing complete strut assemblies reguarding camber. Do you just use the old bolts and then take for an alignment and they install the camber bolts if needed? Or...order the bolts and install them (in any particular orientation?) then take for an alignment?
Everything I find on matrix fb groups or even google typically has to do with a "lowering" situation not faculty ride height.
Frankly after watching a few videos, just replacing the strut with a rented spring compressor does not seem all that complicated or even dangerous with a little common sense applied. Orienting the mount and such might be the trickiest part (of def get new oem mounts and such Vaud rim more concerned about the quality of those and the complete assembled struts seem to be lacking ok that department of anything) .

 

Camber shouldn't need any adjustments unless you do excessive lowering. Using factory ride height, you just bolt everything back together and camber will be factory-spec.

In event you do need to adjust, camber plates are easier than bolts because it's faster and easier to adjust without needing to remove wheels.

 

Rockauto has KYB Quick struts... they also have shocks and struts separately which always confuse me, they have 2 numbers per strut so I never know what the difference is, lol. :|

 

Eh? Which 2 part# do you see?

2004 TOYOTA MATRIX 1.8L L4 Shock / Strut & Coil Spring Assembly | Shop Now at RockAuto

Suspension Parts and More for Your 2004 TOYOTA MATRIX at Reliably Low Prices. Fast Online Catalog. DIY-Easy. Your Choice of Quality. Full Manufacturer Warranty.

www.rockauto.com

KYB SR4118 Strut-Plus, front left
KYB SR4117 Strut-Plus, front right

On strut-only listings, they typically have one part# for OEM ride-quality and second part# for performance stiffer damping (not always available for all models). A lot of people order performance dampers and then complain about stiffer ride.

 

I replaced my front struts with Monroe quick struts a few years ago. They are noisier than the stock struts and make the front of the car sit higher. Wish I would have gotten the KYB's instead.

 

I a person just buys kyb struts plus how is the quality reliably and drive and handling. Thanks.