Hello, my 1987 IROC has just turned 67,000 miles and drives great. my question is how long does the stock GM front struts last?
Thanks for any insight.
Robin Destin,Fl

 

No way to answer that. Bounce the front end and see if it keeps bouncing or if it stops when you do.

 

My 59k 1989 has dead struts, shocks too - OEM, not aftermarket BTW.

From my experiences, OEM shocks and struts are going to be dead by 60k, unless they are some special option like real Bilsteins or something along that line.

My 84 had dead shocks and struts with 50k in 1990 (obviously not age related)

My 2002 Acura TL-S struts were so dead the car was dangerous at 60k

My mom's Buick had dead struts & shocks at 45k.


Short answer - if they are the originals to the car, they should be replaced...

 

The bounce test won't tell you anything. My car wouldn't bounce. But could be easily compressed by hand after they were taken out.

I'd say 40,000 miles is due for a change.

 

If it had Bilsteins, you can send them in for a rebuild, will be far better than anything you can get for anywhere near the price.

 

Only the rears received bilsteins that i know of. My car was stock and had delco/bilsteins in the rear and just some black delcos in the front. Fronts were completely done at 65k...as in cadillac bouncy on the highway.

 

I just put on KYBs on the front this past Saturday & am very happy. The Monroe's were shot. My car has 113k miles & have had since December. I m on a budget so I went w/KYBs based on all the posts here. It's my daily driver & feels like new. FYI the center link is new as well.u will enjoy the handling as long as U got good tires. Best wishes

 

The stock struts in these cars were inadequate the day they were built, and haven't improved since.

"Last" is somewhat subjective... are they still there? then some people would say they've "lasted". OTOH, some people, myself included, would maintain that they didn't even "last" all the way out the stealership driveway the day the car first hit the road.

Swap em out. You won't BELIEVE the difference.

I think on my 83, I swapped em out the 1st time in about 86 maybe 87, with about 60k miles on em. TOTALLY REVOLUTIONIZED the car. That was about the 2nd "mod" I did; right after putting a shifter in it that took out the feeling of having a bowl of overcooked oatmeal in the system somewhere, and right before changing the stupid "linkage" clutch system to hydraulics.

 

i have a set of front ac delcos and rear ac delcos shocks and struts and rear coils. let me know as long as u pay for shipping.

 

If it doesn't have Bilsteins on it up front, install them.

If it doesn't have them in the rear, install them.

If it does have them in the rear, rebuild them yourself, the process is pretty simple and if you can do basic maintenance on a vehicle, you can rebuild them.

 

It has the factory Struts up front and the factory Bilsteins in the rear. I have bought new Bilsteins for the rear. I am told that the Bilsteins struts are hard riding I am NOT an autocrosser just drive it to work or around town some days.

 

You have nothing to worry about. The hardest riding suspension will be the worn out stock suspension. New Bilsteins will have a much better ride than what you currently have.