Can I replace just the front suspension absorber?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Novacog, Jun 13, 2023.

  1. Novacog

    Novacog Junior Member

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    After a lot of googling I couldn't find any brand that people recommended for prius suspension except OEM so I ordered the OEM absorber set thinking it would be a loaded part that I could just bolt on but it's just the absorber and not the spring or anything else.

    I definitely don't want to deal with using a spring compressor so I was thinking of just taking the old assembly off and taking it to a shop and having them swap the new absorber over but do the springs and other parts typically wear out as well? The car only has 100k miles on it.

    Alternatively is there a trustworthy brand I can buy the whole assembly ready to bolt on? Just replaced the traction battery so I want to make sure these new shocks hold up long term.
     
    #1 Novacog, Jun 13, 2023
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No you'll be fine just putting the shock absorber cartridge in your tube No problem at all I usually swap out for new springs and all that but that's just because I'm me there's generally no need to do that unless you're well over 200,000 miles or something and you've got problems noises clunking etc You may want to replace the top plate on the given strut and then when you do the other one replace that one too those are items that get clunky and get to making noise It's going to have it apart already to do this so top plates can be had from aftermarket they're not that technical some of the suspension places may able to match the Toyota dealer part pretty easily I run coilovers with pillow ball mounts on top a bit different from the standard strut assembly
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Jun 14, 2023
    Novacog likes this.
  3. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Why replace a 100k shock absorber/strut? Was it damaged?
    Most of my Gen 2s with over 200k still have originals. Put new ones on a 345k mile 2006 tho.
     
    #3 TMR-JWAP, Jun 14, 2023
  4. Novacog

    Novacog Junior Member

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    Guess I got unlucky. Bought the car used years ago and it was a salvage title from a front end accident (it was already repaired when I got it) so perhaps that put extra wear on the suspension. One side is still fine, the side the accident was on ironically, and the other side bounces too much and makes some noise.
     
    #4 Novacog, Jun 15, 2023
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2023
  5. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Maybe the bad one wasn't OEM? It is said in this forum that the OEM suspension parts outlast all the nonOEM replacements.
     
    #5 pasadena_commut, Jun 15, 2023
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