Shock and strut replacement might be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing. Before attempting to disassemble your car, please read these guidelines to ensure the project’s efficiency and safety.
In This Article...
Spring Compressor
Many automobiles have integrated springs inside the shocks and struts, which, if removed improperly, could cause you harm or damage your car. In these situations, you’ll need a spring compressor to safely disassemble everything.
Your neighborhood auto parts store may rent out spring compressors, but it’s crucial to know how to operate them. You must exercise caution because this step is crucial to changing shocks and struts. If you’re unsure about removing the springs, you might want to think about taking your car to a repair.
Raise the Vehicle
When all of your components and tools are prepared, you should use a car jack to raise your vehicle one side at a time. To maintain stability once it is upright, put a jackstand behind the front wheel. Otherwise, a lift is available.
Prior to trying to loosen anything or climbing beneath the vehicle, just make sure it is secured.
Remove Old Shocks and Struts
First, you’ll need to remove the wheels. Next, using your spring compressor, search for the three bolts holding the shock or strut in place at the bottom. These bolts should be loosened, but not yet totally taken out.
Another bolt inside the engine compartment secures the top of the shock or strut. To loosen it, use an impact wrench with a socket extension. Your shock or strut should come free once you’ve managed to get this loose and finished removing the other bolts.
Installing New Shocks and Struts
You can just swap in the new shocks and struts after removing the old ones. Make certain that all of the bolts are tightly tightened. To perform this, you most likely need a torque wrench.
What is the price of replacing the struts on a 1999 Toyota Camry?
Replacement shocks or struts for the Toyota Camry suspension typically cost between $575 and $638. While parts are priced at $333, labor expenses are predicted to range from $242 to $305.
How much does a Toyota Camry’s rear strut replacement cost?
Because your suspension system is made up of a number of intricate components, repairs can be quite pricey. Your Toyota Camry’s struts will typically cost between $600 and $700 to replace.
The overall price can be divided into the following groups:
- Parts: In addition to replacing the struts themselves, you’ll probably need to repair the strut bellow, strut bumper, spring insulator, and strut mount. Depending on your issue, the price could easily reach a few hundred dollars.
- Labor costs: Depending on the shop you choose, labor charges might range from $200 to $250 per hour. This task might easily take an hour or longer because you need to lift the car, remove the tire, and replace the struts on all four wheels.
Although changing your struts may not be a simple do-it-yourself project, you can always reduce the cost by working with Jerry to save money on car bills like car insurance.
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Do you require an alignment after strut replacement?
Here are the responses to the query in brief
After changing shocks and struts, do you require an alignment? Yes, if the automaker advises an alignment following a replacement. Yes, if you made any modifications to your suspension that did not adhere to the manufacturer’s instructions.
How much time is required to replace the rear struts?
Is the stop of your vehicle taking longer than usual? Is it strangely bumpier? The symptoms definitely indicate that your struts have failed, thus I believe it is time to replace them. Fortunately, you can either do it yourself or hire a professional to replace them.
Most professional mechanics agree that changing struts typically takes one to two hours. As long as you have prior mechanical experience and perform the procedure correctly, the expected time is the same even if you choose to replace them on your own.
The ability to manage and control the vehicle may be compromised if struts are not replaced in a timely manner.
Is it challenging to swap out struts?
Installing the new strut is the opposite of removing it, but getting it in place and keeping it there while you start the nuts is exceedingly difficult and occasionally impossible. So ask a friend to assist you with the installation. After positioning it, tighten the strut mount bolts to specifications. Then, insert a bolt by pressing the steering knuckle into the strut flange and aligning one hole with a pin punch. After that, take out the punch and put the other bolt in. Tighten the nuts just a little bit.
Put your angle gauge back on and adjust the knuckle as necessary to get it as close to the original camber angle as you can. Recheck the camber angle after tightening the bolts to specification. If required, modify.
Reinstall the wheel speed sensor wiring harness, stabilizer bar end link, and any other parts you previously removed.
How long do Toyota struts last?
What do shocks and struts in cars do? What is the lifespan of shocks and struts? Most drivers probably don’t give their car’s shocks and struts much thought because they don’t need to be replaced frequently like oil or other parts do. Although shocks and struts have quite distinct purposes, they both support the weight of the vehicle and contribute to overall stability. Although they serve the same purpose, the parts cannot be joined to build a vehicle or used interchangeably. This implies that a car will typically have either one or the other. Some automobiles will feature shock absorbers in the back and struts up front.
Ask a Mechanic How Long Do Shocks and Struts Last
What is the lifespan of shocks and struts then? Under optimal driving conditions, shocks and struts can typically last 510 years or 50,000100,000 miles. The lifespan of these parts can be impacted by a variety of variables, including the manufacturer, poor roads, big loads, towing, severe braking, and aggressive driving. It is preferable to start routinely checking these components after 40,000 miles or when the car starts to bounce, sag, have longer stopping distances, or exhibit other suspension issues.
If you suspect your shocks or struts may be damaged, you should have your car checked out right away. Both shocks and struts have the potential to produce dangerous circumstances like bouncing or shoddy braking that can result in accidents. Front struts, as opposed to shocks, are an essential component of the steering system and their failure could seriously impair steering. The car will probably not be drivable if these components entirely fail.
How can you tell if your struts need replacement?
Although several factors (hello, potholes) affect the lifespan of your shocks or struts, Reina claims that if you experience any of these seven signs, it’s time for replacements.
- erratic behavior at motorway speeds. On the highway, your car never feels entirely solid and is always going up and down. Despite how little the movement may be, you may feel it.
- Vehicle “In turns, it leans to one side. Your car leans or slides when you exit a ramp or make a sharp turn “It seems unstable and tips to the outside of the turn.
- During forceful braking, the front end drops more than is normal. You might not realize this until you have to use the brakes quickly.
- When accelerating, stoop from the rear. You’ll observe that the front of your car is rising while the back “during rapid acceleration, squats.
- severe bouncing of the tires. You can feel a tire (or tires) reacting or moving after hitting a bump “bouncing briefly. There can also be a clunking sound.
- uncommon tire wear The tread wears unevenly instead of wavy because the tire isn’t being held tightly to the road.
- leakage of fluid from shocks or struts’ outside surfaces. This indicates that the internal fluids necessary for proper operation are escaping because the seals have cracked.
Difference Between Shocks and Struts
You’ll frequently hear individuals use the terms “shocks” and “struts” interchangeably. Shocks and struts, however, are two separate components with different purposes. Both of these components aim to improve the ride and handling of your car, but they do so in different ways. While struts are a significant structural element of the chassis and suspension system, shocks are discrete parts of the suspension system.
What Shocks Do
Contrary to popular belief, standard shock absorbers cannot withstand the weight of a car. Instead, the shock absorber’s main function is to regulate spring and suspension motion. To achieve this, the suspension movement’s kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy, or heat energy, which is then dispersed through the hydraulic fluid.
The number and size of the tiny holes or orifices in the piston, the suspension’s speed, and the amount of resistance a shock absorber creates are all related. All current shock absorbers are velocity-sensitive hydraulic damping systems, which means the more resistance they offer, the faster the suspension moves. This property allows shock absorbers to adapt to changing driving circumstances and lower the frequency of:
- Bounce
- Roll and sway are caused by worn shocks that are unable to regulate the pace of weight transfer.
- brake dive and squat acceleration
Fluid displacement is the basis for how shock absorbers operate throughout both the compression and extension cycles. The extension cycle of a typical automobile or light truck will be more resistant than the compression cycle. The motion of a vehicle’s unsprung weight is controlled by the compression cycle, whereas the heavier sprung weight is controlled by the extension cycle.
Shock Components
In essence, shock absorbers are oil pumps. The piston rod’s end is joined to a piston, which pushes hydraulic fluid within the pressure tube. The hydraulic fluid is driven through the orifices inside the piston when the suspension rises and falls. These orifices, however, only allow a tiny amount of fluid to pass through the piston. As a result, the piston moves more slowly, slowing spring and suspension motion.
What Struts Do
The strut is a typical form of damper found on many modern independent suspension, front-wheel-drive, and occasionally rear-wheel-drive cars.
A suspension’s main structural component is the strut. In traditional suspensions, it replaces the upper control arm and upper ball joint. A strut’s shape makes it lighter and smaller than the shock absorbers used in traditional suspension systems.
Struts serve two main purposes. First, struts operate similarly to shock absorbers in terms of dampening. A strut functions inside much like a shock absorber. The movement of the springs and suspension is controlled by a piston that is fastened to the end of the piston rod and pushes back against hydraulic fluid. The valving produces resistance to the forces produced by the suspension’s up and down motion, much like shock absorbers do. A strut is velocity sensitive, which means that it has valves so that the degree of resistance can change based on how quickly the suspension moves, just like shock absorbers do.
Struts have another use as well. Struts, as opposed to shock absorbers, support the spring, retain the tire in alignment, and provide structural support for the vehicle suspension. They also support a large portion of the side loads put on the suspension of the car. Struts consequently have an impact on ride quality and handling as well as vehicle control, braking, steering, wheel alignment, and wear on other suspension components.
Strut Components
Struts typically consist of a strut housing to provide the assembly with strong structural support and a dampening device inside the housing to regulate spring and suspension movement. On the majority of struts, the lower portion of the body is attached to the steering knuckle, which is then joined by a lower ball joint to a lower control arm.
All the parts required for strut replacement are contained in a single, completely constructed unit known as a complete strut assembly. To sustain the weight of the vehicle, it comprises a coil spring, a dampening unit, and a strut housing.
Does My Vehicle Have Shocks or Struts?
Your car has either a shock or strut on each wheel. Your car, however, might have struts in the back and shocks up front or another combination. The most important lesson is that each wheel has a ride control component of some kind.
Are there struts or shocks on a 2000 Camry?
They help your car handle by preventing it from bottoming out on rough roads.
A car’s suspension is supported by struts, and shocks prevent excessive bouncing.
Together, these components help to reduce vibration and lift the car off the ground.
However, there is no defined plan for when to replace the shocks and struts in your Camry.
One of your greatest options is to have the shocks and struts on your 2000 Toyota Camry suspension replaced.
Online appointment booking is available at your neighborhood Firestone Complete Auto Care.