Ride Quality Deteriorating

[doctorjdg]

My '05 Prius has 58,000 miles. At about 55,000, I noticed that the ride seemed to be getting rougher. It feels like I've got about 10 lbs. too much air in the tires (I only run 35 psi). I feel every little imperfection in the road and the bumps come with a bang. Also, squeeks and rattle are becoming annoying. I took it to the dealer to have the suspension checked out and got the usual "cannot duplicate problem at this time". I love the car, but I travel a lot with my job and it's beating me up.

[richard schumacher]

Time for new shocks, I'd guess? Maybe the dealer tech's butt was numb from too many test drives that day :_>

It would be tedious and expensive to do much else about the growing squeaks and rattles (tear apart the dash and replace all the fasteners).

[Patrick Wong]

At your odometer reading it is certainly possible that the front struts and rear shocks need to be replaced. The dealer tech may have looked at the struts and shocks, and if they don't have a tremendous oil leak then s/he might say they are OK. However it is possible for a strut/shock to fail although there is little or no visible oil leak.

Unfortunately the only way to tell for sure is to remove the strut/shock from the car, then remove the coil spring and compress the strut/shock manually; and at that point you'd might as well install a new part since the labor involved in removing/replacing is relatively high compared to the parts cost.

[edthefox5]

If your still running the stock tires be aware they are the worlds worst tire. My 07 since new has been running 44 psi up front and getting great mileage
but really started to rumble on concrete roads enough i couldn't stand it so brought them down to 38 psi. Wandering and poor handling and bad mpg came back but they really got alot more quiet. Next purchase is new tires. These really suck. At 15K I'm also starting to hear little clunks up front which are the stock struts. There probably next. I looked at Tokico and they do not offer struts but KYB has struts for our cars at $75 each. Probably 100% better handling than stock struts.

[Shawn Clark]

Shocks/struts. At 50k they are most likely shot--at least that has been the case on the vehicles I've owned. I used Tokico on my Nissan and Honda for improved performance, but have not found them available for the Prius.

Shocks and struts are wear items, they aren't meant to last the life of a car.

[HTMLSpinnr]

I'm at 108k miles, the right rear shock is starting to leak. Ride is softer, not firmer if anything (easy to bottom out on my rolled curb), and I've had some rear tire wear issues relating to worn struts. Time to get them changed. I'd argue that unless you drive on bumpy roads, you may expect more than 50k miles though.

For those who have had them replaced - aftermarket or stock? I have experience w/ KYB's on my old '93 Probe, but I'm not looking for performance handling as this car will go to my wife for a bit when the 2010 arrives. OEM may be pricey, however this may be a dealer job unless 3rd party shops now know how to reset the VSC centerline when they do the requisite alignment after the strut replacement.

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Rick,

I only know of two alternatives: Toyota-branded <made by KYB> and KYB aftermarket. Its unclear whether there's any performance difference between the two.

[edthefox5]

Hi Patrick,
I'm hoping the aftermarkets are better. I'm hearing minor but classic strut clunking up front at 16K. Tiny little struts they be.
And the tiniest/thinnest lower control arm I have ever seen on a car too! Downright scary! This car was not meant to roll into turns at 75 mph for sure!

[edthefox5]

Originally Posted by doctorjdg

My '05 Prius has 58,000 miles. At about 55,000, I noticed that the ride seemed to be getting rougher. It feels like I've got about 10 lbs. too much air in the tires (I only run 35 psi). I feel every little imperfection in the road and the bumps come with a bang. Also, squeeks and rattle are becoming annoying. I took it to the dealer to have the suspension checked out and got the usual "cannot duplicate problem at this time". I love the car, but I travel a lot with my job and it's beating me up.

I forgot...have you tried the classic put all your weight on front fender and bounce corner up & down real quick and forcefully. How noisey is that? A bouncer and a sqeeker or a firm come right back up and stay put?

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

Hi Rick,

I only know of two alternatives: Toyota-branded <made by KYB> and KYB aftermarket. Its unclear whether there's any performance difference between the two.

That's what I figured. I believe KYB made my factory struts on the other vehicles but don't remember the details of why I believe that to be so. The Tokico's were much better, especially when I went to stiffer progressive rate springs on one. Even so, they wore out after about 50k (blown oil seals.)