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Strut life


kcd1184

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I know that strut life of a vehicle depends on a multitude of factors BUT, is there an "in general" range for life expectancy of my 94 Eldo coupe struts and what will I notice if and when they give out.

Kent

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I know that  strut life of a vehicle depends on a multitude of  factors BUT, is there an "in general"  range for life expectancy of my 94 Eldo coupe struts and what will I notice if and when they give out.

Kent

I have heard it was 70,000 miles, but that was from a competitor.. See that statement here http://www.bostonsuspension.com/FAQ.html

I know I need front struts as I bottom out with people in the car when the road rises and falls abruptly and that happened at 50,000 miles but its a 1996 Deville. I also live in the northeast where the roads are bad. If I could get two electronic struts for the front i would be thrilled. Are they still available? Mike

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Too many variables involved to give you a general mileage/years number. But the stand-on-the-bumper test should produce no more than one rebound.

Sometimes letting an experienced friend/neighbor drive the car will give you an early warning clue. Struts/shocks fail so slowly that the person driving the car every day cannot "feel" the difference. If you can get the front end bouncing like a low-rider by timing brake application, you need struts......

Mine are originals and I am starting to get some floating and too many rebounds on dips in the road. Six plus years and 131,000 miles.

Jim

Drive your car.

Use your cell phone.

CHOOSE ONE !

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The struts on my last Caddy, a 94 Eldo were shot when I bought the car at 68K... My current Caddy, 98 ETC are still fine at 66K, although the front suspension does need some type of work as it's banging over bumps...

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Mine were shot at 69K , all 4 of them were leaking ... Luckily the warranty was 70k so I just squeeked in a replacement for all 4 under warranty....... the continuously variable kind :> hehe

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The Dealer was charging me $1,300 for just the front ones! :( They were needed though. Oh yeah ive seen the shocks for the rear of the STS the veriable one for $140 each thinking of doing those myself. ACDelco Part # 580-117

post-3-1092279481.jpg

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bigfoo, when you said it was still under warranty for 70k miles, is that the factory warranty? The reason I ask is that my 98 sts with just a little over 60k miles is on the verge of needing replacement of the front struts. Is that covered under the factory warranty or did you buy an extended one? I really don't feel like spending 13k on a new set of struts if I don't have too. Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. ;)

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Always remember, the struts, like everything else, will last until just after your warranty runs out! :lol:

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For what it's worth, my '97 is at 136k miles on its original struts. No leaks and they're still working fine. They're looser than new obviously, but not dangerously so.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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I had an extended warranty to 70k miles I think but I"m not sure.. it was a while ago...... It was covered under the factory warranty because the struts were leaking.

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At 170K, I have original struts with no rattles or leaks, I keep waiting for the signs.

A good test is to get on your front or back bumper, jump off and see if your car dampens within one cycle. This, of course only tests the dampening characteristics, not the bearing supports.

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The struts on the 99 are the constantly variable something with the fluid in them.. I guess they are more prone to leaks ? I don't think the older cars had those...... i should have bought a 94 or 95 hehe

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98% of the time my struts 'appear' to be fine. If I pack the car, put my wife and daughter in it, and drive on the belt parkway I can bottom out easily, so much so that I am unable to exceed 50. Its a very scary feeling, as the road drops away, and then rises fast, I just continue to the ground. Initially I thought it was the springs, but its really a lack of control up and down. Most of the time however, its perfect. This has been happening since the car had 45,000 miles on it, but at the time it was 8 years old... so who knows... Are the electronic struts still available for a 96? Mike

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My '93 SLS was sold at 204,000 miles with the original struts. Car rode fine. Did have the SRC message at about 125k. Installed the bypass relay to fix...$5 fix.

Car did have mostly highway miles.

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The struts on the 99 are the constantly variable something with the fluid in them.. I guess they are more prone to leaks ? I don't think the older cars had those...... i should have bought a 94 or 95 hehe

Many modern Cadillacs have this system. It's called CV-RSS, or Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension. Earlier models had RSS. In short, most everyone with a '93 or later is looking for cheap replacements to the electronic struts. :)

Some models had regular dampers...including base model '97 and later Eldorado and Deville and Deville d'Elegance. But most, including SLS and STS and Deville Concours had variable dampers.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Hi guys , I took my 93 STS in yesterday to have them look at why I'm getting "hard warm strats" I believe that it is due to a faulty fuel pressure regulator ,but after I went to my local Caddy dealership the car wouldn't do it. :angry: So I told the mechanic I would drive it around and see if it would do it again for them , but to no avail, but while I was in the shop I asked about the electronic struts and he said he was almost positive that they (GM) didn't make them for the cars anymore...........

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I don't know if they make them anymore, but they are available, at least for my 94 Eldo, at $800.00 per strut not including labor. gmpartsdirect.com was selling them for over $500.00 a strut.

Kent

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98% of the time my struts 'appear' to be fine. If I pack the car, put my wife and daughter in it, and drive on the belt parkway I can bottom out easily, so much so that I am unable to exceed 50. Its a very scary feeling, as the road drops away, and then rises fast, I just continue to the ground. Initially I thought it was the springs, but its really a lack of control up and down. Most of the time however, its perfect. This has been happening since the car had 45,000 miles on it, but at the time it was 8 years old... so who knows... Are the electronic struts still available for a 96? Mike

Scotty, is your (loaded) ride height correct? Sounds like the leveling feature is on the fritz to me.

Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed.

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