Buying Pro Kit - need new struts
 

Hey guys, i'm gonna bite the bullet and finally give my car a nice little drop this spring.

I'm at 60k, so i'm not gonna risk installing the eibach pro kit springs on my current struts.

I was looking at the toyota OEM parts and found this:

http://i.imgur.com/5z9s0Pa.jpg?1

Is part #1 (the strut/shock) the only the part I need to buy for my mechanic in order to install the springs?

If i'm thinking correctly, buying new shocks and struts should increase the lifespan of my springs right? i'm hoping to get at least 1 year out of them

yeah #1 is just the strut itself. Honestly buy slightly used ones off another member here. You can get them dirt cheap and in great condition

In for answers also. About to install springs on 54k miles. If anyone is selling low miles struts:shocks, lmk!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101600

comes with swift springs too, those are really good springs lol. you can thank me later

Already got the springs I've wanted :( but damn that's a great price. OP if you don't have Pro Kit yet, jump on that deal!

I'm from Canada... would probably cost a fortune to ship :(
Plus i like the reassurance starting from brand new struts..

Have you thought about just getting Konis or Bilsteins? It's like 100 dollars more than buying a new set of OEM struts.

Not sure if his are still available, but his are in mint condition! Only 8000Km and price is good. Good guy too!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94665

Isn't the suggested change interval for the OE struts something like every 40k or 60k miles?

i would prefer OEM, personally

thanks pal! didn't dig that deep into the classifieds. will check to see if theyre still available

this is exactly why the time is now to buy the pro kit :thumbup: my struts will be needing replacement soon anyway

I figure why not give it a shot... I read the pro-kit thread and people are extremely pleased with the drop and the ride quality

Make sense to buy all new struts, alignment in one stop. Do it right and do it once

Source on OE struts needing replacement at 60k? That sounds absurd to me, most OEs claim they're for life and even under hard use easily hit 150k miles and decades of use if made well and not leaking.

There's zero alignment capability of stock struts, pretty sure you could swap in 5 different sets and never get an alignment more than a tenth or two out of spec. Spring height difference could make a change to toe worthwhile but there's nothing else you can do to compensate unless you add spring spacers.

Needing replacement is a matter of perspective. The internal seals in a strut can and will degrade given enough miles. This can occur without the strut leaking from the body, and it's fairly gradual. 60K is a number that's thrown out there, but you can certainly stretch it longer than that.

Most people only notice that their struts are bad when they're completely blown, since it's a gradual change. That said, I've seen OEM struts completely fail as early as 50K, but that was in a car that lived on fairly rough roads. Depending on your expectations for damping, it's not a bad idea to replace them before they completely fail. I've seen 60K mentioned a lot, but I generally think of anything described by manufacturers as being a "lifetime" interval item needing to be inspected or serviced between 50K and 75K. If you don't care that your dampers aren't performing like new, you can ride it until they're completely blown.

For reference:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rzDKFy3YII"]SACHS Shocks Your Car - the When and Why to Replacing Shocks - YouTube[/ame]

http://www.kyb.com/knowledge-center/...eplace-shocks/

Both Sachs and KYB recommend 50K as an interval for OEM shock replacement. Obviously, they're in the business of selling new shocks, but replacing the OEM dampers at 60-75K is not as early as you'd think it is.