View Full Version : Really Stiff "frozen" like struts


Duartizzle
10-12-2007, 05:20 AM
Hello, I just received a set of used TRD struts with used TRD springs already assembled. I put them all on my car today. the fronts are very bouncy and stiff at the same time(i know doesn't make sense) but when i push down on the fronts they dont move at all, the rears go down fine. anyone know what could be the problem?

SicktC06
10-12-2007, 01:17 PM
any idea how old they actually are?

Duartizzle
10-12-2007, 01:19 PM
a little over a year

Duartizzle
10-12-2007, 10:26 PM
no one has any answers?

jiggadomino
10-12-2007, 10:38 PM
they are bouncy and stiff but when you push down it doesn budge?
maybe you arent pressing hard enough? the front springs are suppose to be stiffer to support all the weight in the front. If you have people sit in your car (driver and passenger side) and notice that the springs contract a lil, then its normal. hope that helps

Duartizzle
10-13-2007, 05:31 AM
im pushing down, i stood on the support brace in the engine bay it and it wasnt really budging. ive driven a lowered car before, i had hotchkis springs on the tc before, now i have the trd springs with the trd struts and this ride is just terrible. the front is so stiff that its bouncy because none of the roughness in the road is being absorbed by the struts.

jiggadomino
10-13-2007, 06:15 AM
you dont have a blown strut cause then your car would be riding low and very rough. if its your springs, check if you have true trd springs.

Duartizzle
10-13-2007, 09:10 AM
Could a bumpstop or lack there of or anything like that be causing this? i bought the set up from someone on her. they say that it was over a year ago that they bought the springs and struts from toyota and had them do the install. i pmed this fellow and they told me that when they had them on their car that the front felt a little bumpy and stiff, they thought this was how it was supposed to be. so im wondering if toyota screwed up the install on the springs.

jiggadomino
10-13-2007, 10:34 PM
First off, you need to determine if you are experiencing stiff bounciness, or blown strut bounciness. Bubbles may have formed in the hydraulic fluid of your strut.. These bubbles reduce the ability of shocks to provide resistance and prevent bounce.

Your best bet is to go to a toyota delearship and have them check it out.

Duartizzle
10-14-2007, 05:16 AM
Well here is what i did today, i took off the trd struts and compared them to the stock ones (my stocks have hotchkis springs on them) i was able to push down on my stock struts, and it moved with effort. however, i attempted to push down on teh trd struts with the trd springs and there was 0 movement at all. I remember that when i installed my hotchkis springs that if something wasn't lined up right that the strut would not compress, anyone know anything about this? so tomorrow im taking the spring off and re-doing the spring install myself

Zebman
10-14-2007, 05:43 PM
The shocks on my Tein coilovers, which have a spring rate almost 4x that of TRD, compress under the weight of my body. You are having a problem with your struts for sure.

Duartizzle
10-14-2007, 06:11 PM
yeah the guy that sold them to me is now claiming that they all worked fine on his car. he even admitted that the ride was a little stiff and bouncy on his ride. this is ridiculous. i told him all i want to do is send them back to him, take the shipping loss, get my money back and call it day.

2_tC
10-14-2007, 08:49 PM
On new TRD struts, the instructions say to cycle the struts (compress/uncompress) a few times before installing.
Maybe the previous owner never did this step.

sciontc_mich
10-14-2007, 10:21 PM
yeah i would say this guy messed them up! At first i thought these were brand new, but they're not. You can bet the guy did something to them, and just unloaded them to make some $$$

jiggadomino
10-15-2007, 01:02 AM
all im saying is that maybe trd covers this kind of malfunction shizzle

Duartizzle
10-15-2007, 05:36 AM
I already filed a complaint through paypal and am waiting for his response. TRD wont cover parts that are over a year old. the guy on here that i bought them from keeps using the excuse" well they were fine when i took them off my car" gimme a break. if they are still fine then you can have em back cause i dont want them

sciontc_mich
10-15-2007, 07:37 AM
I already filed a complaint through paypal and am waiting for his response. TRD wont cover parts that are over a year old. the guy on here that i bought them from keeps using the excuse" well they were fine when i took them off my car" gimme a break. if they are still fine then you can have em back cause i dont want them

guess we learned a lesson here, that we don't buy used shocks/struts. ouch, much more problems than they're worth. But glad it's been figured out that they're not normal at all. Yeah definitely sounds defective! It's a lot to figure out if the guy was lying when he sold them, why did he sell them is the big question. The other part is maybe they were defective all along, but who knows. Most important thing is you're getting rid of them, and getting something else!

Duartizzle
10-15-2007, 02:53 PM
Yeah he was getting rid of them because he was getting coilovers. my guess is that he had no idea about them being defective because when i asked him if had ever had he problem i was having he replied with "no not at all for me it was just a somewhat of a stiff ride and a little bouncy but that was about it" why would they be bouncy? everyone that i had talked to said that the TRD struts were just a little bit stiffer than stock, and dont the springs give a ride quality closest to stock? so that doesn't give any explanation to them be bouncy.