I personally prefer complete aftermarket assemblies. KYB Strut Plus for those like a firmer handling (maybe 15% stiffer than stock at first), or I prefer the more compliant Monroe QuickStruts (not their Roadmatics line). Do all four corners and get one alignment.

If you don't mind using Monroe, then get the QuickStruts. You'll get lifetime warranty even for normal wear. No need to mess with dangerous coil spring compressors. The thing with rockauto is you pay return shipping (at discounted rate from their website) for just about everything, including warranty returns.

However, if you want to replace individual genuine parts, then yes:

The portion of the coil spring in the picture looks ok. You can inspect for peeled off PVC protective coating and rust and decide from there. Looking at this diagram,

Front Suspension for 2004 Toyota Camry | Ourisman Toyota Parts

toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.com

#7 strut mount. This and the bearing are usually replaced with the strut on an aged vehicle.
#8 if they didn't get smashed with ball bearings falling out, I just repack them with new grease. If you prefer not to risk unable to do that, then replace it with the mount.
#10 lower spring insulator, may or may not have a hole worn into it, so inspect first if you like. I would just replace it.
#11 You can move the bump stop lower to see if that can be reused, in most cases but not all (unless the strut failed so bad for so long that it mashed the bump stop), you can reuse.
#12 dust bellow w/ upper spring insulator, definitely needs to be replaced.
#13 The metal upper spring seat, if not rusted out, can be reused.

Also inspect #14 lower ball joint boot and #15 control arm bushings.

Therefore, essentially every rubber part gets replaced with the exception of the bump stop. Of course you can replace that too. That said, I'd still consider complete assemblies.

 

@JohnGD thanks for the detailed info!

I personally prefer complete aftermarket assemblies. KYB Strut Plus for those like a firmer handling (maybe 15% stiffer than stock at first), or I prefer the more compliant Monroe QuickStruts (not their Roadmatics line). Do all four corners and get one alignment.

If you don't mind using Monroe, then get the QuickStruts. You'll get lifetime warranty even for normal wear. No need to mess with dangerous coil spring compressors. The thing with rockauto is you pay return shipping (at discounted rate from their website) for just about everything, including warranty returns.

Re: quick struts, I know they save some work, but don't want to pay more for aftermarket quick strut assembly and throw away what appear to be good condition OEM parts (only ~105k miles). And I don't want ride height to change at all, which is determined by the springs; and looking at the reviews of the Monroe quick strut, it appears some are complaining about a higher ride height compared to OEM. I'm fairly handy and the spring compressors look easy enough to use, so I'm not worried about injury.

Thanks for pic and breakdown of strut components, this is very helpful.

#11 You can move the bump stop lower to see if that can be reused, in most cases but not all (unless the strut failed so bad for so long that it mashed the bump stop), you can reuse.

I think the bump stops are ok, both from partial visual inspection, but also the car rides fine, and the usual test of pushing down on front corner doesn't show any bouncing, so bump stop probably not abused at all. If last year's vehicle inspection hadn't pointed out leaking shock, I wouldn't have noticed any issue with struts.

#12 dust bellow w/ upper spring insulator, definitely needs to be replaced.

The aftermarket dust boots look quite different from OEM.

OEM:

typical aftermarket (pictured with bump stop):

Think the aftermarket would work (shows compatible on RockAuto and Amazon), or should I get the OEM boot/insulator?

Do you have any experience with the Monroe OE Spectrum struts? Decent quality and similar ride to OEM?

Thanks again.

 

OK, I think I see what's up with the boots. When people buy aftermarket boots, they have to keep the upper portion of the OEM boot, so they cut off the lower portion (the part that is most likely shredded).

This seems suboptimal as any water/dirt that splashes up in the gap between the cut off OEM boot and the bump stop can get onto the shock's shaft and work its way down the shaft and potentially into the shock.

 

I would also have to caution against the Quick Strut route.

I recently replaced the front struts on my '03 Camry with KYB Quick Struts.
Ever since doing that, my front driver side strut makes a deep twanging sound (Like plucking the lowest string on a bass guitar) when I go over the expansion joints on the highway tarmac. I made sure all the bolts were torqued appropriately. I suspect it was not assembled appropriately, or the fit-up of the aftermarket parts isn't the same level as OEM.

I still have the original struts, so I may cabalize the springs and mounts from those, and keep the KYB damper.

Just some food for thought.

 

That's what I did. Didin't like the sound it made with the Quick Struts.
Used my old springs and mounts and, voila!

 

I agree that the genuine style dust bellow with INTEGRATED upper coil spring insulator is better. I'd always get the genuine one for that reason, better protection from water and dirt than the aftermarket style.

When you have blown struts I think anything now is going to be firmer.

Closeout for front right (Monroe OES) is $25+shipping and front left is $39+shipping. These are great prices, but beware only 30 days warranty.

Again, with my ride preference, I would get the Monroe QuickStrut. If you want the original factory springs and are handy with compressors, just swap them over to the QuickStruts. For $85 all new (aftermarket) parts with LIFETIME warranty even for normal wear.

And when time comes to warranty the Monroe QS, just put the Monroe spring back on and into the return box. No need to buy any component for the rest of the ownership and you still ride the factory coil springs. Unless you don't like the Monroe ride of course. LOL!

Regarding the ride, I think Monroe is softer than KYB but rides comfortable for me (QuickStrut/OES, not the cheap Roadmatics BTW). Much less harshness (or no harshness depending on opinion) on rough roads like some would complain about KYB. It really depends on the ride preference you like. Clearly some members would even go with lowering springs and sport struts because KYB isn't even firm enough. So YMMV.

Of course if don't mind spending for the genuine parts, those will give you the original new feel back, to the specification anyway.

Here's a HL owner review, who thinks Monroe is firm?? So each person is different. Again, compared to old, blown struts, anything will likely feel firm.

Highlander suspension rebuild review

Hey gang, I rebuilt the entire suspension on my 04 HL V-6 back in June of 2020, so a little over six months on the new suspension since then. My thoughts... First, all the suspension bits were original at 400K-kms (250K-miles) and lasted amazingly well considering that my HL has done a lot of...

www.toyotanation.com

 

Quick struts are garbage. I just replaced our 2007's entire suspension with all OEM components. The originals lasted 253k miles. So to me that was worth it to go and stay with OEM. Monroe is horrible. I had a set on my Ranger and they not only rode like crap but were already leaking in less than a year... I should have bought Bilsteins first but I went cheap...lesson learned. On the Solara I didn't want to entertain that at all.

If you are fine with a spring compressor then it's easy to take the shocks apart and change the items that are bad. At 100k miles on your shock though it might as well need replaced...

I just swapped out the entire suspension for new on my CT200h. And that only had 70k miles on the shocks.. The rebound on the shock shaft was super slow compared to the new oem shock I put on. It would take 30-40 seconds for the shaft to fully rebound when depressed, compared to the 5 seconds or so that the new one rebounded. So don't think that 100k miles the shocks are perfectly fine.

If you are replacing the shock, replace the bump stop (which is maybe $20 each), and replace the top hats along with the boot. I know some people resuse them but I always replace them. Why would I not? Depending on if it has a removable bearing you could just replace that... but if the bearing is integrated into the top hat (like my CT, but it is not on the Solara) then you should replace that as well. Nothing worse than replacing a part then having to tear back into it because you now have a knocking/creaking noise because a wearable part should have been replaced.

-Nigel

 

I agree that the genuine style dust bellow with INTEGRATED upper coil spring insulator is better. I'd always get the genuine one for that reason, better protection from water and dirt than the aftermarket style.

When you have blown struts I think anything now is going to be firmer.

Closeout for front right (Monroe OES) is $25+shipping and front left is $39+shipping. These are great prices, but beware only 30 days warranty.

Again, with my ride preference, I would get the Monroe QuickStrut. If you want the original factory springs and are handy with compressors, just swap them over to the QuickStruts. For $85 all new (aftermarket) parts with LIFETIME warranty even for normal wear.

And when time comes to warranty the Monroe QS, just put the Monroe spring back on and into the return box. No need to buy any component for the rest of the ownership and you still ride the factory coil springs. Unless you don't like the Monroe ride of course. LOL!

You sold me. Once I add the cost of a pair of OEM integrated insulator/boots and shipping from an online Toyota dealer, my total is only $40 cheaper than the Monroe OES quick struts. And as you point out, if I don't like the ride height of the quick strut, I can swap in the OEM springs. And the warranty difference, which I was unaware of. And I avoid potential for an unpleasant mid-job surprise that some of the OEM parts that I was hoping to reuse are in poor condition.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

OEM coil spring is almost 20 years 2004-2024, it might be not noticeable to naked eyes but the coil spring might be sagging and not at proper height as "New".
I would suggest like others members "complete strut assembly" brand name than the no name and questionable quality from ebay or amazon.

 

Just did all this last weekend on my 2004 LE 3.0 and my OEM units looked similar to yours (98k miles here). I went with Monroe Quick-Struts on all four. Pretty simple job, ride quality is much smoother now, but the car does sit higher. Never buy the Monroe Roadmatic products. I experimented with those on a Corolla and will never do that again. +1 onJohnGD's posts.

 

I went with Monroe Quick-Struts on all four. Pretty simple job, ride quality is much smoother now, but the car does sit higher.

Hmmm. I'm looking at replacing just the front struts with Monroe Quick Struts since the rear struts look ok. The car does sit lower at the front. Maybe it will level out with Monroes on the front. Just hope it won't be higher up front with the Monroes at the front and OEM struts at the rear.

I suppose swapping the OEM springs into the Monroe struts might be a solution if needed.

 

People who complain about "rides higher" or "ride is firmer/stiffer" after using an all in one complete strut assembly don't realize certain basic automotive and physics facts.

1) Over time and hundreds of thousands of compression/rebound cycles, not only has the OEM coil spring begun to lose its tensile strength and thus has sagged anywhere from ½" to an inch in height from off the assembly line new, but so has the EDPM rubber lower spring seat the coil sits in has collapsed some, too.

2) The old cartridge itself has also slowly worn over time so that internal/external seals may be leaking fluid, the internal nitrogen gas charge may have leaked partially/fully off and internal damping valves may also be sticking/leaking. The result of this slow degradation and softening/bouncing of the ride isn't noticeable to the driver over the years (unless a catastrophic failure occurs) until you hear that tell-tale "clunking" of the bad strut going over a pavement irregularity.

So, after installing new complete strut units, of course you're going to notice the sudden difference in the "as new" height and ride quality over your sagging, mushy old struts you've been riding around on for the past decade/100K miles. Also, after putting on new complete struts, or using new lower coil seats, the ride height will also be slightly higher for a few months/thousand miles until the coil "beds into" the rubber.

Monroe's Quick Strut is sprung and valved for a "softer" ride, but sacrifices handling for the softer ride. KYB happens to also be the OEM manufacturer for several car makers. KYB's Strut Plus is sprung and valved to OEM specs, unless you go with a "performance" cartridge for certain applications.

Not using a new upper mount on front struts (whether as a complete strut assembly or an individual part) when replacing the front struts is just plain stupidity, IMHO. The bearing in the upper mount not only carries the weight of the front end, but also maintains the geometry (caster and camber) when steering - and in either case the last thing you need is a failure in that assembly, especially at high speed!

Why would somebody go through all the labor and hassle of disassembling the strut to reuse decade(s) old and high mileage weakened/sagging springs? Why spend the time and money shopping around for individual parts from various manufacturers trying to save a buck or two when you can buy a complete, assembled, manufacturer-matched assembly that swaps out quickly and easily with the old one?

 

I put KYB loaded in my then 20 year old Echo at 170 K miles and GR2 shocks in the rear (beam axle). Car rides great at 204k miles but the rear beam axle mounting bushings are creaking and need replacement for the next state inspection. The old shocks were still in surprisingly good condition but one rear shock was leaking. Loaded struts save a lot of labor and I got all 4 on sale at Rock Auto for around $225 total. Did the work in my driveway.
I would never dream of using old bump stops, when the fall apart it will ruin you new shocks, wiping out the seals due to excess suspension travel.
Never do that.

 

I put monroe quick struts on all 4, have 50k on them now, it was the best thing I did for that car...05 HL FWD

 

I love KYB loaded or not ( I wrenched for a living for a long time), my Avalon that I bought used from a Toyota dealer had brand new Toyota front struts and mounts, and they do look just like KYB...then I did rear KYB Qwick struts thinking it would fix the rear sag with more than half a tank of gas and a 25lb toolbox for service calls ( it is exactly the OE ride height in other words after a month on the car same ride height. Said all that to say the front struts over a bridge joint "twang" or rather it sounds like a tire going twang. I love the ride vs handling, it's perfect. Same with my 25 yo Outback with 4 KYB. At the time I did those I was still wrenching and did 4 strut only with KYB mounts. Subaru springs never sag......Oh, 2 rubber booster blocks in each rear on the Avalon. If you are going to do just struts, be very careful using a parts store loaner spring compressor. For safety you need to wrap a chain through the spring and around the strut and around something solid, replacing coil springs is the most dangerous repair you can do working on cars. Even with a Brannick bolted to the wall I was glad more than once I always did the safety chain. And do not be leaning over it while you are replacing the spring.

 

For safety you need to wrap a chain through the spring and around the strut and around something solid

Great idea. I did something similar with wire rope when I replaced extension springs on my garage door.

 

Reusing the top mounts, springs, and piece between the bump stop and top mount (often called a strut bearing or strut mount) if they're in good condition is typically fine. The Monroe OE Spectrum shocks are a decent choice for maintaining original ride quality. Having the sway bar links on hand is a good Garage precaution. Best of luck with your repair job!

 

PS. We stopped selling Monroe long ago, they were leaking in less than a year. Granted the roads are in terrible shape there. If the roads are in good shape where you are, save some money.

 

Honestly makes me wonder why people recommend Monroe. They really are garbage. They are nothing like OE ride quality at all... I've had them and just as noted above leaked in less than a year and the ride quality was awful. And that isn't saying much for a Ford Ranger....
Go with a quality brand, buy once, cry once. If you plan on keeping the car for a short term then selling it, sure do whatever will get you a sale but if you plan on keeping the car and having a quality ride Monroe is not the brand... How do you think they can be so cheap for a complete strut assembly... they are cheapening out somewhere along the line.

-Nigel