I have a brand new ProKit and rear camber/toe bolt kit that has been sitting in my garage collection dust for the last year. I was going to install them myself but now with a new baby I just don't have the time so I am going to get them installed.

I am now sitting at 53,000 miles and I wonder if while I get the springs installed that I should also get new struts. I don't really notice much degradation in the strut but I would think if people has started to replace them around 50-60k miles that I would be better served getting the struts replaced while getting the new springs to reduce labor cost.

Anyone have any experience on how long the struts have lasted?

 

Really depends on the roads in your area and the way yo drive with complete stock suspension and 'normal' driving on average roads you should be fine for a good while but no one can say for sure without checking your struts.

I know one member here who posted a 100k update on the 2nd gen G and was still rocking his OEM original struts.

 

I have my stock suspension set-up on my 03 g coupe with 98k miles and its getting bouncy. I just started driving my G so idk how it really is compared to a fairly newer G with less miles. Its not really all that bad really but i do feel it a bit. Definitely gonna wait a few months and rock some coilovers soon though

 

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I drive rather aggressively. Installed Tein S-techs at around 30k miles, had at least one blown strut when I reached 45K. While other members with the same setup have been good for years.

 

As an intermediate step, you might consider new mounting pads even if you don't replace the struts. Once they get compressed and harden over the years, they really can contribute a lot to the degradation of ride quality (overall harshness, clunks, rattles, etc.). Just a thought.

 

Unless your struts/shock blow, ride quality can be acceptable even beyond 100k miles. The damping may not be like it was when new but many people simply don't notice it affecting ride that much and chances are the car has creaks and rattles galore anyways. That said, if it were me and I was planning to keep the car a while, I would definitely replace the struts/shocks with new aftermarket shocks.

 

how do you check if your stock struts/shocks are good? i have 121k in my car and it seems "fine"

 

You would feel a swaying motion at highway speeds when changing lanes. The handling characteristics would be far worse as well. You would know if you had a blown strut.

 

As was asked in another thread, if the replacement struts are stiffer, they would probably be a better fit for the prokit anyway.

Over the long run, won't the strut degrade faster with aftermarket springs?

The roads in Western PA are crap and I drive alot of highway miles at higher speed, which I read will lead to more premature failure of struts.

 

My stock struts wore out almost immediately after installing the Eibachs. Though I did have 83,000 miles by then.

 

I installed Eibach PK springs at 62K miles and now have 71K miles on the car and no problems so far. They have taken a beating from the **** roads over here. But someone else I know has S-techs and his struts blew out a few months later so it all depends on your car. Get them checked out.

 

I have 92.5k on everything stock. The suspension is getting loose. You can tell just by pushing down on the fenders. It now rocks where when it was new it was super stiff.

 

I installed the prokit with 53k on the OEM struts and the front left was blown/rattling by 56k. Since you're already at 53k I'd just get struts right away to be safe.

 

Most dampers are done after 50k. They may not make noise, but generally they aren't performing as they were intended to.

Just replace them with some GR-2s. Affordable and effective.