What kind of milage is everyone getting out of their stock struts and shocks? I'm around 55K on mine now and I'm thinking they are starting to show some age. I bought it about a year ago w/ around 41K already on it, so I don't really have a true feel for how they rode when they were new. I do think that the ride quality has gone down hill a little since last year though.

The main reason for asking is that I'm trying to coordinate my funds as I'm currently buying some new rims/tires to throw on and they are going to be much heavier than the stockers, so I'm kinda figuring that I will need some new beefier struts and shocks to control the weight. I would like to go with the bilsteins, but adding a 6" lift kit is in the near future, so I don't really want to shell out a lot of money if I'm going to turn around and replace them with a lift. I was planning on going with a kit like the procomp stage 2 that comes with the longer struts, thinking that those might ride a little better with a heavier rim/tire combo, but I might be a ble to get by with a kit that includes the front spacer and just keep on using bilsteins if I get those.

 

The struts on my 2005 STX went out at around 81K. It was obvious to see, as the oil from the strut was leaking out and coated the outer strut housing. As to when they fail, it depends on road conditions I'll guess. The roads in the Dallas Texas area are horrible. The concrete roads have seperated in some areas, and it feels at times like I'm 4 wheeling with all the ruts and holes.
My rear shocks are still the stock ones, and doing the "bounce test" on the bed of the truck, they appear to still be good at 84K.
Expect to pay around $600.00 for front strut replacement if you don't do it yourself.

Don't forget a front alignment will be needed after their replacement.

One more thing; folks have been reporting automatic transmission failures after a large lift and rim/tire increrase. With mileage on your stock transmission, be aware that larger tires/rims can add to transmission wear. Some say it has happened, while others have not had a problem. You may also want to consider changing the gearing in your rear end.

 

Im at 85k on my 05 and both are doing just fine no problem with shocks or struts. If you are planning a lift I wouldnt bother with eplacing them unless you are having some serious issues, if they are just wearing out it really wont be a problem unless you dont plan on getting the lift for a year or something. If you really want to replace them you can buy a decent set and sell them used later to get back some of the money, or buy used ones, you can find them on ebay, craigslist etc, sometimes good ones, fairly cheap with very few miles.

 

If I remember correctly, the shocks are just for dampening the travel of the springs, so the vehicle does not "bounce" like bucko mentioned with using the bounce test. I do not think it has anything to do with the weight of the tires/rims. The torque or power used to turn the rims is what will be affected so re gearing is the path to follow. Makes it a little easier on the tranny, even though things will have to turn faster with the new gear ratio.

And the ride may have changed depending how old, how many miles you have on your tires. You will have to change the shocks/struts when you lift, so stick it out a year, spend your $$$ on re gearing, it won't be cheap!

 

i am at 87k miles with stock shocks and mine are still good. i may only be replacing mine to get the 2inch adjustable bilsteins

 

Will stock 09-10 shocks and struts work?

 

Yeah I had a shop replace the struts in my old truck because one of them was completely shot (all the fluid leaked out). The reason I was leaning towards the preventative maintenance side is because on my old truck I didn't catch the worn out strut in time and I ended up ruining my tires because the bad one caused some pretty uneven wear, so I also had to spend money on tires well before I should have. The new rim/tire setup that I will be going with isn't all that drastic of a change from stock. I'm only going with a 33x12.50, but I'm getting the Toyo Open Country M/T's, so they are about 75 lbs. each plus about 40 lbs. each for my new rims. I'm not exactly sure what the weight of the stock setup is, but I would imagine that it is much less than 115 lbs.

I know the struts/shocks are meant to lessen the bounce, but if you have a heavier rim/tire combo, it has to put more stress on the suspension when you are hitting bumps and the tires are bouncing up and down. On my old truck when one of the struts went out, I could feel the tire bouncing when I would hit bumps. I was just figuring with more weight with the new setup, it would expose the older suspension setup that is currently on my truck.

In the end, my goal is not to have worn out struts/shocks cause premature wear on my new tires. They are exactly cheap and I would rather not have to replace them shortly after putting them on. Since I feel pretty comfortable in changing the struts/shocks myself, it would be cheaper for me to replace that stuff rather than buying a new set of tires. The lift that I was talking about probably won't be for another couple years, so I'm thinking with the mileage that is already on my stock suspension, I will have to replace those items at some point before my new tires wear out. Also, I know bigger tires/rims cause extra strain on the tranny, but from all the posts around this forum on that subject, it seems that the consensus is that it isn't cost effective to regear until you go bigger than 35". More than likely, I'll be adding a Gryphon sometime before I lift, so that should help the tranny out some.

Anyway, thanks for all the info and if anyone else has info on the life of their parts, please post up. Thanks!