Blown strut, need opinions Options

[PegGTS]

So my front passenger strut is blown from hitting a pothole a while ago, and I want some opinions on what to do. I want to lower it a little so these are my options:

Replace the struts for now with Koni's or KYB's then save up a bit for lowering springs or

Ride on the blown strut for now and save up for coilovers

I've narrowed it down to those two options and can't decide on which way to go. Keep in mind that I do winter drive this car and it will see some rough winters so I'm looking for the best option with that in mind. I do like the height adjustment with the coilovers so I can raise it for the winter, however I can't afford them at the moment after replacing my clutch and don't know how long I could ride on the one blown strut without damaging anything.

Any thoughts?

[The_enD]

I vote coils, you have mentioned one of the reason, higth adjustment, high in winter, low in the summer. Not to mention you can play with the softness.
Could you find a used strut in a junkyard?

[PegGTS]

I vote coils, you have mentioned one of the reason, higth adjustment, high in winter, low in the summer. Not to mention you can play with the softness.
Could you find a used strut in a junkyard?

That's what I was leaning towards also, but I doubt I could find a used one in a junkyard here. I phoned pretty much every single junkyard in the city not too long ago and only one has a 6gc in it...so if I do go that route I'm not too sure what to do about the blown strut in the mean time

[jordisonjr]

I would be hesitant to put any of the affordable coilovers through one of our winters.
Josh (Black sti, LOL LOL plate) had BC's for one winter and they were completely seized after one winter, and had no adjustability afterwards.

[PegGTS]

I would be hesitant to put any of the affordable coilovers through one of our winters.
Josh (Black sti, LOL LOL plate) had BC's for one winter and they were completely seized after one winter, and had no adjustability afterwards.

BC's are supposed to be affordable? Lol

I take it you haven't had a chance to test your Teins in the winter?

[Box]

The Megan EZ Street series is the cheapest at $700 or less depending on the seller. What I would do if driving through the winter is slather the adjustment sleeve and collar with some grease after setting the height and come summer time remove it to reset it.

[cheela]

that's pretty much what i did. rode on my blown struts for a few years. slowly saved up for Megan EZ series. won't be driving it in winter anymore so I won't know how they will hold up in winter.

[PegGTS]

I've been reading up on it and by the sounds of it, coilovers aren't the best option for rough winters so I'm leaning towards springs/struts now...

I could get the coils and swap them out for the winter but then I don't see the point of them, might as well just go with springs. I also want something that will be a little bit more comfortable for daily driving, which I've been told would be springs. The only problem with the springs is I'm not sure how the car will handle being low in the winter. I'm going to have to put some thought into this

[toyota123]

Save the factory springs and put them on for winter. Problem solved

[PegGTS]

Save the factory springs and put them on for winter. Problem solved

That's what I'm thinking, get new struts for the winter then after the winter buy springs and just keep the stock ones for the winter. Doesn't make sense for me to get coilovers that I'm only going to get to use for 5 months out of the year.

[jordisonjr]

I would be hesitant to put any of the affordable coilovers through one of our winters.
Josh (Black sti, LOL LOL plate) had BC's for one winter and they were completely seized after one winter, and had no adjustability afterwards.

BC's are supposed to be affordable? Lol

I take it you haven't had a chance to test your Teins in the winter?

I should have stated affordable/entry level. Usually anything around 1500 or less are considered entry level, and probably won't hold up well in winter conditions, especially ours. Nope have drove the car in winter lowered so I wouldn't know, although I don't htik it would be too bad.

Save the factory springs and put them on for winter. Problem solved

That's what I'm thinking, get new struts for the winter then after the winter buy springs and just keep the stock ones for the winter. Doesn't make sense for me to get coilovers that I'm only going to get to use for 5 months out of the year.

This is going to be quite a bitch, IMO and far too much work than I'd want to do.
Think about it, you'll have to take off the the strut assembly, and take apart the entire thing just to get the new lowering/stock springs swapped, and then install it all again, and then you'll need to have the car realigned every spring and fall.
That'll get fairly pricey, and is a lot of work too.

You'd probably be better off doing a GR2 with a Tien or something else with a mild drop, that will get rid of your wheel gap in summer, but will still be manageable in winter, if you're set on driving it for winter.

That's just my opinion.

[PegGTS]

Aren't GR2's OEM replacements now? Can they handle lowering? And how much of a drop do the Tens give you?

[Box]

KYB's were up to an 1.5" drop, I remember the last time I looked I couldn't find it stated. Though I imagine if anywhere says it'd be warranty information. Tein springs were 1.5" in the front and .9" in the rear or so, I remember the gap from the fender to the tire was equal front to back though. I think there's still a picture or two under my profile.

[jordisonjr]

Aren't GR2's OEM replacements now? Can they handle lowering? And how much of a drop do the Tens give you?

That's right, but can be lowered up to 1.5" on gr2's so s-techs are okay. I'm sure others with a drop close to the tien height would be alright as well.
You could go with koni's although Im not sure if they're available for this application, or the price.

[PegGTS]

Aren't GR2's OEM replacements now? Can they handle lowering? And how much of a drop do the Tens give you?

That's right, but can be lowered up to 1.5" on gr2's so s-techs are okay. I'm sure others with a drop close to the tien height would be alright as well.
You could go with koni's although Im not sure if they're available for this application, or the price.

I'll probably just go with the KYBs then, where did you order yours from?

[jordisonjr]

eBay IIRC.
Rock Auto might have it too. If this is the first time replacing the struts, I'd recommend doing the top mounts too.
Mine clunked with blown struts, put new ones in and it still clunked. Clunking went away when I changed the top mounts, so essentially did the strut job twice.

[Jeebus]

Need an update on this!

My front right suspension is bunk and my tire is bottoming out and getting damaged.

Funny because I am in the exact same position as you after getting my clutch replaced last month, and am trying to figure out whether I get new springs, springs/strut, or affordable coil overs.

I first have to exactly find out what's wrong with my front right suspension though. I'm not too familiar with how struts work, whether I can rebuild them, if I can/should replace one spring (which I've found an online seller for single TRD front springs @ $65), etc...

[PegGTS]

5 months later and I still haven't decided I'm thinking of buying a winter beater for next year so now I'm not sure what to go with again. I've heard springs give a better ride for daily driving, and I'd like a comfortable ride. I don't want to feel every bump in the road so that's why I was leaning towards springs. Although for you I guess your options are a little more limited considering you have an ST205.

[Jeebus]

I was always under the impression that you had a GT-Four, just like me. I've been bamboozled.

Don't know what your budget is, but I've started searching around. Box says $700 for Megans (haven't looked into it),

BC's I've found for $1k all over the place, personally found this site for ST202 Super Struts:
http://www.importimageracing.com/suspensio...ota/celica.html

Found this from an older thread for TRD lowering springs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271652105083
The only thing about these springs (if they end up being the only part I need to replace, I'll do all 4), is that the part # on the ebay picture springs themselves say 48231-ST100, which I've looked up and found that it was made for Coronas and Carinas (ST19#, ST21#, AT19#, AT21# (2WD model exclusive)) according to this page, so I'm not sure whether they'll "work" on my car"
http://www.trdparts.jp/english/parts_spring.html

Toyodiy.com says my car uses 48131-2T110, which Amayama says I can buy for $52 each.

I'm all at a compatibility issue conundrum here!

Apologies for the thread jack, I'll post my own findings for my ST205 once I get the ball running on my search/repairs.

[Noahwhite2014]

5 months later and I still haven't decided I'm thinking of buying a winter beater for next year so now I'm not sure what to go with again. I've heard springs give a better ride for daily driving, and I'd like a comfortable ride. I don't want to feel every bump in the road so that's why I was leaning towards springs. Although for you I guess your options are a little more limited considering you have an ST205.

You're still driving on the blown struts? found out my rear struts are pretty bad. How dangerous is it (anyone know?)? Im not sure lol I'm hoping it can wait till my next paycheck which is Friday and then a week after that to get the struts in the mail Sadly ordering struts is a HUGE pain in the butt. Because I'm in Hawaii, i have to either get it shipped to a family member on the continent and then to me to avoid the restrictions that most major online stores are restricted to with shipping.

[Box]

The ST205 is the same as the rest provided it has the McPherson setup and not the SuperStrut system.

Also struts are structural parts of the suspension, so driving around with them blown isn't a good idea.

[PegGTS]

After plenty of research, I think I've decided on spring/struts. For what I'll be using them for I don't think I really need the adjustability of coilovers. Once my tax return comes in I'll probably order some struts and springs

This post has been edited by PegGTS: Mar 1, 2015 - 6:02 PM

[Box]

As long as an 1-1.5" drop is what you're after springs are good. Keep an eye out for everything being on sale, saving money is always fun.

[Box]

double post >.>

This post has been edited by Box: Mar 1, 2015 - 6:47 PM

[PegGTS]

I'm not looking to slam my car so 1.5" would probably be perfect for me

I've been looking at these and trying to decide if I should do it or not. From reading some reviews on other sites, I've heard lots of positive things about them. Not much info about them on a 6gc though. I remember reading about somebody on here who was running Stagg struts with Megan springs and they didn't have any complaints about them either. Decisions decisions decisions...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/STAGG-SHS-4-STRUTS-...92c&vxp=mtr

[Box]

Import fees and shipping fees kind of kill it.

[PegGTS]

Should be around $350-$400 after everything, that's pretty darn cheap

[Box]

It is a good deal for us over here as we get free shipping and obviously there's no import fees, so $299. I'd try and see if anyone in Canada has free shipping to try and get things for less. Also it'd probably be befitting to replace the strut mounts as well.

[PegGTS]

Yeah I was planning on replacing the strut mounts and getting some camber bolts just in case.

[Box]

Shouldn't need camber bolts, was able to have mine brought back into spec after it was lowered. Trying to remember but I had it somewhere in the 1-1.5º area.

[jordisonjr]

At that price you may as well just go with something that's Proven to work like Gr2's rather than be a guinea pig with Stagg struts. You shouldn't need camber bolts either. I didn't need them with Tien S-Techs and IIRC, they lower about the same as Megans.

[Box]

I've never used Vogtland, but as long as they've been around you'd think they'd be decent enough anyway. I know Tein springs are $150ish? or so over here, and you can get a set of KYB struts for around $200 if you look around. So $50 more than the Stagg/Vogtland combo, over here anyway. That difference should more or less transfer over. The Tein/GR-2 combo worked well for me once I had seats that weren't blown out.

[PegGTS]

I've never used Vogtland, but as long as they've been around you'd think they'd be decent enough anyway. I know Tein springs are $150ish? or so over here, and you can get a set of KYB struts for around $200 if you look around. So $50 more than the Stagg/Vogtland combo, over here anyway. That difference should more or less transfer over. The Tein/GR-2 combo worked well for me once I had seats that weren't blown out.

Actually found this GR-2/Vogtland combo for pretty cheap. Seems like a decent deal. I know JaQb_CK is lowered on Vogtland springs so I messaged him to see how he likes them. Waiting on a response from him, but I may end up going with these if they're as good as I've heard they are. I can't seem to find the GR-2's for any cheaper than $300 USD, which comes out to about $375 CAD after the awful exchange rate...

http://brandcarparts.com/index.php/shocks-...t-1-4-drop.html

[Box]

If RockAuto does shipping to Canada I'd give them a look.

[PegGTS]

They do, and I usually buy from there since they're usually the cheapest but it seems they might not be this time.

Although I just checked and they have a promotion right now for a $40 rebate when you buy 4 KYB struts...

What I like about the ones I just posted is that they seem to come with the whole strut assembly for the fronts as well as the inserts. The ones on RockAuto only have the inserts and I'd have to re-use my stock strut assemblies.

This post has been edited by PegGTS: Mar 3, 2015 - 10:38 PM

[PegGTS]

Another question now, are new strut boots necessary?

[Noahwhite2014]

Another question now, are new strut boots necessary?

I was advised that If going with high quality struts, the boots aren't needed, but are recommended to prevent any dirt and other things from getting in it.

A lot of friends where I live don't put boots on and their struts last just as long as everyone else's. And we have lots of Sand and dust and salty air around here. They said they don't like how the boots look

This post has been edited by Noahwhite2014: Mar 4, 2015 - 1:23 AM

[Box]

They don't look any different than what's on RockAuto, plus don't forget your 5% discount code. The strut boots should be fine as long as they're in one piece, just wash with some hot soapy water once you get them off.

[PegGTS]

I actually calculated it and it would be cheaper to go through RockAuto actually and get some Teins or something on eBay...what's this 5% discount code you speak of?

[Box]

Just Google "RockAuto discount code" and you should be able to find a link to where someone has posted their code you get from their e-mail newsletter fairly quickly. All you do is enter the code under the "how did you hear about us" section in the cart to get the discount.

[PegGTS]

I may have one sitting in my mess of e-mails somewhere then

[Box]

I do too, it's just easier to Google it.

[PegGTS]

Ordered a set of Teins on eBay but eBay lied to me. It said shipping was free on the commit to buy page, then as soon as I clicked commit, all of a sudden shipping was $90...asked to cancel the order right away so now I don't want to order another set just in case...

[Box]

Have to be very careful with things like that when going from the eBay commit page to PayPal, especially when like yourself and 9/10 you're buying from a seller in the U.S. that only does free shipping for the contiguous 48 states. Hopefully you can get refunded since you caught it right after the case, and can find a cheaper in country source.

[PegGTS]

Have to be very careful with things like that when going from the eBay commit page to PayPal, especially when like yourself and 9/10 you're buying from a seller in the U.S. that only does free shipping for the contiguous 48 states. Hopefully you can get refunded since you caught it right after the case, and can find a cheaper in country source.

I haven't paid for it yet so I hope they'll just cancel the order. Then I'll just go with one of the first sets I found with cheaper shipping. This one roped me in with the free shipping then crushed my hopes

[Box]

If you haven't sent money through PayPal you shouldn't even have "bought" it then. At least over here you don't commit to buying until you've sent money though PayPal, it even says on the last page before the PayPal sign in that, "another buyer may get this item before you can complete the payment transaction" or something to that effect. I'd go and look at your completed transactions page to see for sure, though I guess it's entirely possible that the other countries' sites use the older format.

[PegGTS]

For some reason you can commit to buy without paying lol. Anyways the order was cancelled and I was able to order a cheaper set.