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Changing out struts, shocks, and springs

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by ryankokesh, May 26, 2015.

  1. ryankokesh

    ryankokesh Junior Member

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    What additional parts should I be replacing when I do this? Spring seats, bump stops, etc?
     
  2. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    Are you replacing for normal wear and tear maintenance? If so, I would just go with shocks and struts.

    Bump stops should be good for the life of the car unless you hit them often which should be rare if driven under "normal" conditions and not on lowering springs.

    Spring seats could be reused if upon visual inspection they were not cracked or torn.

    Springs. How many miles do you have on your car? I would not replace them if the ride height is within spec and they are not physically damaged (bent, cracked, etc.) Strut/shock replacement does not always warrant a spring replacement at the same time.
     
  3. ryankokesh

    ryankokesh Junior Member

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    Hit a curb and bent a strut, so I'm just doing all of them while I'm in there. Doing the springs too just in case there's damage I can't see, and it's a good excuse to lower it.

    So maybe I'll replace the bump stops and strut mounts, but leave the spring seats as long as they look ok?

    FWIW, car is a 2010 with 105k on it.
     
  4. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    I did that on my 2010. Bent my front passenger strut real good.

    Keep the bump stops and spring seats. Replace if they visually look like they need to be replaced. At 100k they should be fine if used under "normal" conditions.

    Be prepared to pay for a new wheel hub for the wheel that suffered the damage. An impact significant enough to bend the strut would have likely damaged the wheel bearings which are contained in the wheel hub.
     
  5. ryankokesh

    ryankokesh Junior Member

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    Fun... good to know. Was kinda wondering if that was in store.
     
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Especially since you hit something with a front wheel, you should replace the "front suspension support sub-assembly" which is the repair manual's long name for the top strut mount. Even if you had not hit anything, that is a wear part and should be replaced when the front struts are replaced.

    I would also suggest replacing the upper rubber insulators which provide the pleated covers for the strut rods.
     
    frodoz737 likes this.
  7. nedear88

    nedear88 My 1st Prius.

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    How you figure out the strut is bend? my 2011 is racking 118K+ miles still on the OEM set, I ordered the Koni FSD from Tire rack.com, I hope that new struts will help smooth out the rough/noisy/butt bounding ride quality.
    I am planing replacing all of the rubber parts that on the front struts, also...did you re-do the alignment after the strut replacement?
     
  8. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    I was able to diagnose that my strut was bent through visual inspection of the strut itself but also the camber of my wheel. The strut was really bent!

    I did have the alignment redone after the strut replacement. Even though the strut bolts that mount to the knuckle are not alignment bolts, its a good idea to have done if you are tweaking any of the suspension in general.

    I would put a few hundred miles on the new setup before getting the alignment done. This would allow the setup to do any "settling" that may need to occur.

    I recommend to all my friends to get the lifetime alignment at the Firestone service stations. Two visits and it pays for itself.
     
  9. solrunner

    solrunner Member

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    I'm very interested to know how the Koni FSDs perform on the Prius. I just have 12K miles on my 2013, but I would like to make it more smooth riding (not interested in lowering). Of course it is going to ride better once you replace the 118K shocks/struts, but I wonder if it would be even smoother than a new Prius.

    And to the thread creator, based on what I have read, it's not necessary to replace the springs. But I would replace the strut mounts up front and also check all the bushings. Maybe order a set so you have them while you're working. Good luck, I just replaced my rear shocks a couple weeks ago.
     
  10. nedear88

    nedear88 My 1st Prius.

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    I'd love to get my Koni FSD struts ASAP, I got a call today from Tire rack that my FSD struts won't be available until end of June, that is tentative date for promise shipment...o_O:eek:, the sales guys at Tire rack.com suggest I wait and he said the Koni FSD are superior/excellent strut that worth waiting for it, that is a month+ to wait.

    I have a buddy also has a 2013 Prius 2 his ride is way better on the 15" rims and tires and his only within 20k+ miles, I did lots of research before I decide go with the Koni FSD, I really wants Bilstein strut but they don't make it for the Prius, I have no interest on KYB brand, there aren't many good aftermarket struts available beside stock!

    solrunner you mention wants smoother ride on a Prius...try set the cold front tire pressure to 34.7 and 32.5 rear, you need to get a good tire pressure gauge in order to give you 0.1 psi increment, these setting will not cost you any MPG but may give you much much more comfy ride, that is how I set mine when I had the 15" rims and tires.

    Now that I upgrade to the 17"...no more smooth/comfy ride :oops:, also...kill mpg. I lost about 4-7 mpg. I suspect that package V came with 17" rims and tire has different damper, I will post update and install pictures once I got it.
     
  11. solrunner

    solrunner Member

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    Thanks, yeah I loved the ride even at 44/42 psi for the first 5,000 mi I had the car. I think my mistake was when I went over a long dirt road (camping trip) unanticipated. Should have lowered the PSI before traversing. Car rode way rougher after that. Already did alignment and balancing. That's why I replaced the rear shocks last week. Easy and cheap (mechanic friend helped me). I want to replace the fronts but that's much more involved, may have to just pay a shop to do it. I am guessing labor would be roughly $500. If I'm going to do that, might as well upgrade to the best struts available, which from all I've researched appears to be the Koni FSD. Doesn't make sense to pay $500 labor for them to install struts that cost $120!

    No other places have the Koni FSD for Prius in stock? That's surprising. If they are that in demand then we should have some reviews of these shocks on this forum you would think.
     
  12. nedear88

    nedear88 My 1st Prius.

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    I am wondering the same too...they are just new to the market for Prius, may be there's a flaw, or defect issue that is why they hold on the shipment.

    I went and get a dealer quote for all 4 struts replace, they are insanely expensive they quote 2 hours of work on 1 strut, that means 8 hours total?? That is bs...!

    I am going to have my brother work on it for me, although he is a Master Tech on Honda cars and he work for dealership. I'd rather pay him instead. The front struts require to disassemble the wiper motor assembly and the metal tray under it to access the top 3 mounting bolts on the strut, it was too hard since I know how when I put on the Cusco strut tower brace (it's sold now).

    My 2011 IV does not have the access opening like the 2012+ model for the rear strut top bolt, but I order the access covers from dealer and cut the side trim to expose the strut top bolt and fitted the cover, then I don't have to remove the whole 9 yards of the trim pieces. check out this video I found on YouTube.

     
  13. solrunner

    solrunner Member

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    Thanks, I've watched that vid a few times before I did the rears. FYI the rears are just called shocks. The fronts are called struts because they have round plates built in to hold the springs. In the rear the springs are not attached to the shocks. The rears are much easier to replace. Here's my post on the work I did: Rear Shock Replacement - Tips and Notes

    Should not be 2 hours each on the rear. A shop could probably do both rears in under an hour. Especially if you install the access panels to the rear shock mounts so they don't have to pull out all the interior. Took my friend and me about 1.5 hours plus a trip to the store to pick up some Loctite (basically glue). That's because we were just using jack stands. I'm sure it'd be even quicker in a shop with a real lift and air tools.