When do good struts/shocks go bad?!?
 

Hope I didn't just squander away an afternoon!!!
Lately my 2005 volvo xc70 has been getting squirrely. 160,000 miles. Nothing is loose in the suspension.
I was thinking shocks and struts. I ordered front/rear shocks, and control arms (because they have all the front bushings.)
Way back when SEARS had driver's schools- they taught if you bounce a car and it continues to bounce- it's time for new shocks. Problem is that with all the cars I've ever owned (usually crapheap $1,200 p-cars)- even with bad shocks, they STILL don't really bounce a whole lot.

The volvo didn't really bounce too much either, but it has the shocks with the springs around them, so there is no easy way to test.

So I replaced the rear today. Total B@#$! as are all the jobs I stupidly attempt, and the rear original shocks had just as much damping as the new ones. I'm hoping the fronts are more worn, but I would think at 160,000 they would be on their last legs.

What do you guys think/ get mileage wise?

At 160,000 its time to replace them. I did the struts on my Suquinox at about 110,000 but they were leaking. The rears are original and will be replaced in the next month with around 132,000.

funny tire wear, knocking, wobbly driving, obvious leaks.

rjp

If you got 160k out of the original set you more than got your monies worth.

It was time.

Think of it this way, you did not trash a good set of tires in addition.

Sooo going to koni's?!

Ha! -nope just the p-car. The swferdish brick gets Sachs 5th avenue! :D

How about an alignment? I did an alignment on my S2000 because I wanted more camber and noticed the funny tire wear. The damn thing is like a brand new car again.

The shock may have felt similar, but I suspect the new shocks work better than the old ones. A big part of the job of the shock is to damp bumps, which happens very quickly which is not something that you or I can simulate by leaning on the shock or bouncing the corner. In the past I had heard the same story about checking shocks by boncing the corner of the car. That probably still works on the corner of a '75 Monte Carlo or an '82 Ford Granada, but it's not going to work on the average European car which are usually much more stiffly sprung.

Some shocks are really easy to see are shot. Some shocks seem fine, but don't preform as they should.

Yeah- that's the plan. The front struts will force a new alignment, so I'm gonna put on the new shocks/struts- replace the front A-arms, bushings, and front ball joints as preventative (I don't want them failing 6 months from now or something- my luck), and then new tires (Its tire time too..really what is pushing the whole issue- Oh yeah- that and the CV boots are toast- so Im putting new cv axles on - easy with front suspension off) I'm hoping the rear bushings are all fine. Very complex linkages back there but it seems pretty low stress. Also replaced the rear brakes pad rotors. Will throw a set on the front when its apart next week too.

Oh yeah- another volvo tip- the aftermarket cv axles (probably all brands- but at least the volvo aftermarket) have a really lousy cv boot quality- mine failed within 3 years. This time I went OEM again.

(edit- too bad elephant racing doesn't make polybronze bushings for volvo station wagons! :) )

I was taking my MR2 Turbo out to play at AX and the old Bilsteins had 165K miles on em. Started the install and found that none ere leaking and all were charged with gas,,,prolly not fully charged. The new uns took some getting used to....I would guess them to be fully charged.

All my vehicles have Bilsteins......even my 50 year old Mustang.

These things do not wear with mileage. Typical failure mode is a blown seal. Which could come from rust on the shaft or old cheap rubber seal.

Porsche uses (used) some pretty tough durable dampers with tough materials throughout. Other makes ~ not so much.

Dampers/shocks are very simple devices. They push and pull oil thru little holes. The holes don't change. But if the seals go, they lose the thick oil and start pumping air. Engineering term for that situation is Under-damped.

You're doing good to get 100k out of them. I'd say you got your money's worth.

Island, they do have seals on the pistons. As those seals wear they leak, effectively making those holes bigger. So they can leak inside as well.

If the car is squirrelly, and not tracking straight like it should, then I'd say you may need an alignment, and possibly wheel bearing(s) or control arm balljoints, steering parts worn, etc. There is a lot to understand about what is going on and how to check parts for wear.

+1 ^ Sure, but those are well protected, and are going to be the last to go. (unless crap mfg has internal defects) And even then, they have to be well worn to present much change in damping rate. Whereas when the oil is going/gone... Air is compressible and not so viscous. ;)

Good point. At 165k miles, there are likely TONS of things that could need to be replaced, not least of which is rubber bushings that are deformed.

Bilstein Rocks. I made sure the family van got a new set all the way around right at 100k miles. Rode a little stiffer then originals at the beginning. Now all its fine

And stiffer shocks just make those things all the more noticeable.

Did all 4 struts on my '99 Camry at 154,000. As yours, my old ones seems fine when off the car. It drove a like a new car when the job was finished. Dealer wanted $1,200. Parts and spring compressor cost me under $300; so a good savings for a DIY thing.

I replaced my original shocks with Koni FSD's, replaced all bushings (front and rear) and had a alignment done when I hit 70k. Afterwards, didn't really notice any difference.

I have KYB's on my Poncho, Yellow Billies on the PU, and Red Label Sachs on the BMW-

I almost did Billies on the BMW but I was afraid of destroying the ride- shocks aren't meant to last forever and the Sachs are just awesome. The Billies are tough, but at that high charge rate they ride like ass on a street car. I use them on the truck, cuz the alternatives all die early- too early.

Speaking of dying early- I don't buy the hype that Sachs die early on BMW..I've gone 100K on 'em on my last E39 and you know what? They were fine when I sold that car. There's a reason they were put on the E39 and it wasn't because of cost savings.

rjp

Bilsteins on PU trucks I've owned gave a fantastic ride. As others have mentioned, it's all about the dampening and sometimes a firm shock can still give a really decent ride if it's matched to the spring rate, weight of vehicle, etc.

I replaced the shocks & steering damper on my truck at 156K miles. I don't necessarily think I need to let them go until I notice the ride getting worse. I figured mine were overdue then, but I really can't tell any difference.

I would change them at 150+k if I had any doubts about my suspension.

I am a Bilstein man here too and everything but beater cars get stock shocks replaced with Bilstein when the time comes. I had them on my Sequoia after at 155k miles the stockers started leaking. At about 220k, one of them backed out the top adapter. I wanted to return to Autozone but those morons said they had none in stock. One phone call to Bilstein, an email with a copy of my receipt and they express shipped a new shock for free under their lifetime warranty. These shocks are all made in Germany or the US. Way to go. Like speeder says, they are great on big vehicles too, even my Excursion 4x4 Diesel benefited from them greatly!

G

Might be worth it to do ball joints, and tie rods when you're in the front end. While you're in there sorta deal.

+1 to keeping the sachs. I went Koni's on my daily driver, and wish I went sachs/OEM.

I spent the weekend redoing the front end. It still needs an alignment but is pretty close considering I just winged it. WOW! What a difference. The squirrelly handling is GONE and it drives like the NUMB volvo it was meant to be! The old front struts were noticeably weaker than the replacements. Even without the alignment, it drives significantly better than before.

Obligatory Magnus Walker suspension picture- GET OUT AND SOCCER MOM!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1439732483.jpg

Not the same, but at 70k on my Ford Ranger, although it felt firm on fairly smooth pavement, it tended to "crash" into some pavement flaws and the tires didn't stay planted when hitting a flaw in a curve. I wasn't sure if the linkage was worn or shocks. Just pushing on a corner, couldn't get much movement.

But then, going slowly over a speed bump, the truck bounced too many times on the other side.

Rented some time on a garage lift and put new Monroe's on. What a difference. Felt stupid for waiting so long, but the wear creeps up on you.

I bet you can feel the difference! Don't skimp on the choice of alignment shop. They're not equal.

I wish more people would say this, instead of "Oh, xxx miles? You probably need new ones." with no real evidence or fact.
I think there is a lot of placebo effect going on when people replace perfectly fine shocks.

I decided not to replace my shocks b/c there is no oil or crud on them whatsoever.
The car does not fail the classic bumper bounce test, either.

I'm no expert, but is money better spent on actual wear items like ball joints, bushings, and alignment before randomly replacing shocks that are dry as a bone? Does that seem reasonable?

I think there is a scam aspect to the shock absorber replacement industry. On most cars they are relatively easy to do and the job has a profitable parts-to-labor ratio. As the OP implied, it’s hard to tell if shocks are bad (unless they’re REALLY bad), so it’s an easy sell to an uninformed car owner. A lot of serviceable shock absorbers have been replaced because it was profitable for the shop, not because the car had a safety or handling issue. The way most cars are driven a shock absorber has to be really, really bad before it affects the performance of the car. A marginal shock that would be obvious in a P-car at a DE would never be noticed by most drivers.