Toyota Original Struts - how long do they last/how many KMs on yours?

[Jimz_GSV50R]

Hi All

I was planning on buying some new KYB struts for my Aurion 2014. Car has 148,000kms on it. 

The ride is ok, it does feel a little bit bouncy over the road surfaces compared to my VE2 Commodore. However reading other forum topics on this it seems to be a similar complaint from others even witih low km Aurions. I dont know if this slightly bouncier ride is just due to the firmer suspension compared to the soft /floaty Commodore.

My question is how many KMs is reasonable to expect the struts to last. Mine are currently not leaking so am I potentially going to be throwing money away upgrading them to KYB? Knowing that the OEM struts could even be of higher quality.

How many kms do you have on your struts? Should I just wait until they start leaking?

[campbeam]

In Oct.2015, my 2006 Aurion had 166.500kms on the odometer. In late December 2020 with 225,675 kms on the odometer, I fitted new Sachs struts and King springs both front and rear. OEM struts did definitely need replacing. I did not notice any leaking. However not much resistance to push down the centre rod and quite some time before that centre rod on the front struts started to rise up.

You could consider going to a suspension shop i.e. Pedders for a suspension check to confirm how worn is the suspension.

https://www.pedders.com.au/products/book-a-brakes-steering-suspension-check/?kw=pedders suspension check&cpn=16037919304&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu7LI2fu2-gIVDRsrCh0LGgCfEAAYASAAEgIorvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Jimz_GSV50R]

Thanks Ash. Sounds like you had a great run with the OEM struts. I watched the Car Care Nut video below and he recommends leaving the OEM struts until you have issues with them. I actually bought some KYB struts very cheaply for around $500 for front and rear from eBay during a sale, however now I am thinking I will return them and just wait it out - he recommends if it aint broke, dont fix it!

Did you notice a big difference with the new suspension?

 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Jimz_GSV50R

[campbeam]

8 hours ago, Jimz_GSV50R said:

Thanks Ash. Sounds like you had a great run with the OEM struts. I watched the Car Care Nut video below and he recommends leaving the OEM struts until you have issues with them. I actually bought some KYB struts very cheaply for around $500 for front and rear from eBay during a sale, however now I am thinking I will return them and just wait it out - he recommends if it aint broke, dont fix it!

Did you notice a big difference with the new suspension?

 

 

I did not notice that sale otherwise I would have seriously getting a set of those KYB EXCEL-G struts. Current price on eBay is approx. $656 for GSV50R and $670 for GSV40R. That is a $100 difference compared to pre-COVID times.

I will suggest that you re-consider and keep them for the "Just in Case". Worst case scenario is that you do a holiday trip over rough surfaces and the struts then need to be replaced.

I have the earlier 40 series and everything was "tweaked" or revised/upgraded for the later 50 series.

The main difference with the new suspension was better ride. At first I was not noticing much difference when doing 40kph over a speed bump, then I finally noticed that the recoil bounce was slightly less. I have noticed an improvement in the handling but I also upgraded the rear sway bar. I expect that the KING springs are slightly stiffer than OEM.

 

[Tony Prodigy]

10 hours ago, Jimz_GSV50R said:

I actually bought some KYB struts very cheaply for around $500 for front and rear from eBay during a sale, however now I am thinking I will return them and just wait it out

Just hang onto them Jaimi. You will eventually need them and when you do they will be much more expensive. Just a thought.

[Jimz_GSV50R]

Thanks guys it was during a 22% off sale the other week on some of the car parts sellers. Might just hold on to them then.. not sure at the moment. It will cost me $30 to ship them back so that is something else to factor in. Will have to decide by tomorrow.