Just like tires shocks start wearing as soon as you start using them. There are lots of factors that contribute to their wear, and people have lots of different expectations on how they should perform. There is no cut and dry answer other than they typically wear slowly so you really do not suddenly need shocks.


By lowering your car you are going to be limiting the amount of suspension your car has. Aftermarket shocks (dampers) will probably do a better job of controlling the amount of (reduced) suspension travel you have available.


If I were lowering my car I would certainly do it, but if you were keeping you car stock I would think you would be ok with the OE shocks for a while.


Your shocks are certainly through at least 1/3 of their useful life (IMHO) on a car with stock suspension. (there are provably people on here who would change them at 50K and others that would not change them to 200K)

 

(there are provably people on here who would change them at 50K and others that would not change them to 200K)

This ...

I'm also on the Focus Fanatics forum and there are members on there that change the shocks (aftermarket) every 50K-70K miles.

I have close to 150K on the OEM shocks on my car, and they don't leak and it still runs and handles okay. Would it ride better with new struts? Of course it would. However, I probably won't replace them for a while longer still.

I can do it myself and it would probably cost me around $200 for quick-struts on the Focus.

 

I have 175K on my 3/4 ton truck and it is ready for shocks. My 13 Corolla was at 60K before I traded it, but I was hoping to get 100K before changing them.


I live 10 miles from the interstate, the state two lane is smooth, but the three miles on county roads over too the state road is really bad. No exaggeration we have pot hole right now that are 10" deep.....lots of them.


A lowered car is not in the cars for me.


Since they wear so slowly people never realize how bad their shocks get until they change them..........Then they see a giant difference immediately.

 

Can't argue ...

My car SEEMS to ride okay, but I do try to avoid potholes and speed bumps with it.

One thing I noticed when test driving new cars is that I would not be able to avoid a pothole and then barely notice it compared to my 2002 ...

 

aye good insight. Well if it improves the handling of the car or how it feels I think it's worth it to get them new while I'm at it. I have to make an effort to avoid potholes and irregularities on the road too. :facepalm: I usually drive over them

 

I personally wouldn't change them at 30k miles unless they were leaking or damaged. The OEM struts are also KYB so you will just be replacing them with a comparable strut. If you were going to upgrade them to a much better performing strut than that is a different story. :wink:

 

The stock shocks start degrading quite rapidly around 70,000 miles. They start loosing a lot of high speed damping although low speed damping at this point and beyond seems less affected. The stock shocks are way more expensive than even a set of Bilsteins so the best low dollar replacement would be to obtain a set of low mileage shocks from a wrecked car with very low miles or just upgrade to some Bilsteins which are way superior to the stock shocks.