Here is the deal. My stock struts all around are clunking like crazy and so when I took it to the dealer, they told me that they are all defective and are warranty replacing them. I am lowered on TRDs which I know is probably the most minimal drop.

Is it possible that they blew after only about 15k miles on them driving around with a TRD drop? How much more durable really are the TRD struts? I'm just worried that they blew b/c of the drop, and I know alot of threads have been put up about how long stock struts last when on a drop, but if anybody can give me some info, that'd be appreciated.

 

I know where you are coming from. I too have a TRD drop and all my struts starting making noise as well. I only have 9K on my car. Fronts where squeeking and rears clunking. Took it to toyota and since it was TRD springs that caused it they replace under warrenty. Gotta love that. All better now.

No explination and I agree that this is the least aggressive drop and this happened. Even with this, I would just chauck it up as bad luck. I have no desire to put in the TRD struts, I can't imagine my ride anymore stiff then it is right now.
Hope this helps

 

Yea that helps JQ. Its nice to know that somebody else is in the same boat. I personally wouldn't mind the ride being stiffer - i came from driving my dads z3 lol. I'm just worried that this is going to happen again. I mean, it happened to me and it happened to you, so it can't be a fluke. Jjust by putting on new ones, why would that solve the problem? 15k later or so, won't they be blown again??? At that point, i'm not under warranty anymore...

Does anybody know if the TRDs would solve this problem? How much stronger are they? Would/Could a TRD drop blow those???

 

Not likely after that few miles.

 

well thats what I thought, but here are 2 instances of it being the case...i wonder if there is something that i'm overlooking...

 

bump

 

BUMP

 

Last bump:

I am trying to find out if these new stock struts will blow again quickly on my TRD drop, and if the TRD struts are really that much stronger that they are worth getting.

 

you should try checking the torque specs on the tophat of the strut at the strut towers, and underneath the car, the bottom ones are supposed to torqued way, way up, like 140+ft/lbs - if someone has a shop manual that can get the torque specs, that would be great

but with the tops, since a normal person can only torque between 30-50ft/lbs, hand-tight with a standard sized ratchet/open ended wrench up top should be good, the bottom mounts need a high torque wrench

loose bolts in the suspension are the first reason for clunking, banging, squeaks and grinding noises you may hear when the suspension is under load

 

So since the dealer is installing the new struts under warranty, i'm sure that they will tighten everything as it should be. And what you're saying is that as long as everything is tight, it should be fine and I probably won't blow these next set just as fast?

 

what I'm saying is I don't think they were blown in the first place, and the dealership is just replacing them because it's under warranty, and it would be cheaper to spend the 4hrs of shop labor to fix the problem than to spend the 8+hrs required to properly diagnose the problem than correct it. 15,000miles is not the service life of the TRD shocks, you should be able to multiply that by 4.

Much like there is a slight pinging in the engine, so they replace the entire engine rather than pull it out, tear it down, find the problem, fix it, put it back together.

Bottom line is what would make the most profit for them, and make you happy.

Oh, and BTW, the only thing they changed on the TRD struts (aside of painting them red) was raise the nitrogen content to make them stiffer to handle the 10% extra spring stiffness. Running TRD's on stock shocks would cause a negligible amount of additional wear.

 

I hear what you're saying and you're probably right. So it wouldn't pay to spend the additional money to put in TRD struts in which case. I don't think $500 pre-labor is worth a little more nitrogen content.

So for them just to replace the struts with new ones means that I am going to be back 15K miles later with the same issue huh? Unless of course, when they replace them, they luckily put the torque wrench on the right bolt to fix the problem.

So I guess I should just have them replace the struts since it is covered under warranty, but I guess I won't know if the problem is fixed until another 15K miles later when and if the next pair start doing the same thing. Quite a predicament...

 

They're actually made but totally different companies.


Strut life depends on how you drive. You can destroy a set of struts in 10K miles with no drop if you drive hard enough. Otocan is right about checking the torque specs on everything though. Clunking is not what you usually hear when a strut is bad. They will make a popping sound when going over speed bumps and what not.

 

So then chances are that the struts are not actually what the problem is. I guess that all I can hope for is that the dealer fixes whatever the problem is while they're in there doing the struts. Maybe i'll tell the service manager that I also want the guys to make sure that the whole suspension is tight...I dunno. Since I don't know what the problem is, it's hard to say, but if the problem is still there after the struts are replaced (which sounds like will be the case), i'll give it back to them and tell them to fix it! lol

I'm going in Saturday, i'll keep you all posted, any other opinoins?..keep em comin!

 

Now that sounds like a plan. lol

 

I have TRD springs and struts. When I installed them, I looked at both side by side. The TRD struts have shorter rods allowing more travel. They ride the same as stock but allow much better cornering.