Gabriel Ultra struts and Prius Offroad install

Read about KYB front strut assembly having some potential issues with the spring bulging and rubbing the fender. I opted to buy the Gabriel Ultra struts (G57738 and G57739). Additionally, I have bought the lift kit from Prius Offroad. I did not find any posts about Gabriel Ultra struts so I figure I would make one.

Last weekend, I installed the Gabriel Ultra front struts, new stabilizer bars (MOOG) and the front spacers. I consider myself a competent DIYer (I do my own maintenance and work on my motorcycle and Prius). Installing the spacer changed the angle of the wheel hub relative to the axle, which made it a PIA to install on the driver side but a mega PIA on the passenger side. You will need a pry bar, a mallet, and curse words (I did it alone but it was a struggle). Without the spacers, strut and shock replacement is pretty straightforward (if your bolts aren't rusted out).

Initial impressions:

• Prius Offroad made a beautiful, high quality spacer. I notice the functional clearance immediately (see picture).
• Gabriel Ultras seem like a suitable OEM replacement (competitive in price compared to KYBs).
• Ride is smoother over large bumps (particularly compression damping), but not game changer for me. Did not notice much on the rebound damping. I think my old struts still had a thousand miles left (OEM with 133k miles).

Will get to installing the rear shocks (KYB Excel-G) and the rear springs from Prius Offroad when I have time again... I think my ride will improve once the rear gets swapped as well.

This is the KYB fitment issue from Prius Offroad's FAQ section


I forgot to do direct comparison of the Gabriel struts like above to see if there were clearance issues. So far, I don't hear anything rubbing from my drives but I also have not bottomed out my struts yet... Will update on this eventually when I get to changing the brakes pads.

Some pictures:


This is block is something that my car lightly scrapes. Note that because I have the lift kit installed in the front but not the rear, my car is tilting slightly up now. This makes the clearance pretty high in the front. I expect this gap will be a little smaller once I install the rear kit.