Strut life expectancy, on-road only

[Bob Landry]

'99 Outback Wagon, never used off-road, 101K miles, don't know if
struts had been replaced before we bought it at 55K.

Ride seems fine, no bouncy-bouncy, but....? First ever car with struts
instead of shocks, so no prior experience.

Thoughts?


Bob
Just another nice basic flake.
(and old fart in training)

 

[Todd H.]

'99 Outback Wagon, never used off-road, 101K miles, don't know if
struts had been replaced before we bought it at 55K.

Ride seems fine, no bouncy-bouncy, but....? First ever car with struts
instead of shocks, so no prior experience.

Thoughts?

I have an 01 with 115k on it and I can feel that the struts are not
all that happy. you don't get bouncy bouncy you just feel like your
teeth are going to fall out when you hit that pothole.

I think mine are due.

I'm curious of other's responses though.

 

[Stewart DIBBS]

At 55K its unlikely that the struts were replaced, but its possible. At
101K, the struts are tired, period.

If it feels that the car hits bumps unacceptable hard, its time to replace
the struts. Replace the strut top insulator bearings as well. These also
get tired and hard. You might also want to replace the suspension bushes
too. These retain the original insulation effect for around 3 years or so,
then get either hard (= noisy) or really soft (less control, more noise).

SD

 

[bigjimpack]

My 04 blew one at 40 some k . Definitely very weak. Subaru could
have specced a better strut for a vehicle designed for rough surfaces

 

[Todd H.]

At 55K its unlikely that the struts were replaced, but its possible. At
101K, the struts are tired, period.

If it feels that the car hits bumps unacceptable hard, its time to replace
the struts. Replace the strut top insulator bearings as well. These also
get tired and hard. You might also want to replace the suspension bushes
too. These retain the original insulation effect for around 3 years or so,
then get either hard (= noisy) or really soft (less control, more noise).

Thanks much Stewart. Just rented a new car and boy... yeah, my struts
do really feel tired! Well described.

 

[Bob Landry]

On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:59:40 -0500, Stewart DIBBS wrote:

+AD4 +ACI-Todd H.+ACI +ADw-subaru+AEA-toddh.net+AD4 wrote in message
+AD4 +AD4APg Bob Landry +ADw-psyktek.leavemealone+AEA-earthlink.net+AD4 writes:
+AD4APg
+AD4APgA+ '99 Outback Wagon, never used off-road, 101K miles, don't know if
+AD4APgA+ struts had been replaced before we bought it at 55K.
+AD4
+AD4 At 55K its unlikely that the struts were replaced, but its possible. At
+AD4 101K, the struts are tired, period.
+AD4
+AD4 If it feels that the car hits bumps unacceptable hard, its time to
+AD4 replace the struts. Replace the strut top insulator bearings as well.
+AD4 These also get tired and hard. You might also want to replace the
+AD4 suspension bushes too. These retain the original insulation effect for
+AD4 around 3 years or so, then get either hard (+AD0 noisy) or really soft
+AD4 (less control, more noise).
+AD4
+AD4 SD

Advice much appreciated, especially about the other suggested parts.
Guess I better start saving my pennies. Checked some parts sites, and it
looks like over +ACQ-300 just for the four struts, plus labor.
Guess that's not too bad for a nearly 10 year old car.

 

[tropical]

I was just wondering about my struts when I hit a small hole it feels pretty
rough like a hard bounce @ 106,000 plus
Has any one diy the struts on a 2000 Outback ? is it a doable project ?

TS

My 04 blew one at 40 some k . Definitely very weak. Subaru could
have specced a better strut for a vehicle designed for rough surfaces

 

[Dominic Richens]

'99 Outback Wagon, never used off-road, 101K miles, don't know if
struts had been replaced before we bought it at 55K.

Ride seems fine, no bouncy-bouncy, but....? First ever car with struts
instead of shocks, so no prior experience.

Thoughts?

13 years and 300,000km and still on the original suspension parts - yes, the
struts could be changed and the ride would be nicer but no handling issues.