The Complete Strut Advantage

[Counterman]

You might know them by one of their coined terms like quick struts or loaded struts, but either way, it means you’re getting a completely assembled strut, rather than one or many separate pieces. There are many advantages to this, many of which are best realized by remembering what brought about the idea in the first place.

Before the common availability of a complete strut assembly, replacing a bad component in a strut required a coil spring compressor so the unit could be safely disassembled. It was far more labor intensive, and you always had to use caution working with the coil spring. A bad shock absorber was almost always the component that was being replaced, but a problem often encountered by technicians was that one of the other components such as a bushing or bearing would show considerable wear upon disassembly. Nobody wants to reassemble something with worn parts, and since many of the components weren’t considered “normal” service items, you would often have to wait a day or two to get them.

This, of course, made for an inefficient repair, but it’s not the ultimate reason that assembled struts became popular. When strut suspension systems first saw widespread use, they were used on small, lightweight, front-wheel-drive vehicles. As a result, the coil springs rarely wore out or broke, and the only component that went bad frequently was the shock absorber itself, so it was common to disassemble the strut just to replace the shock.

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A completely assembled strut saves a lot of time
and eliminates the possibility of mistakes.

As the strut suspension design became more popular and the many advantages of it became clear, it quickly found its way onto full-size sedans and trucks. Suddenly, the struts were no longer holding up meager economy cars, and we began to see broken coil springs, worn bearings and strut mounts, and worn spring insulators, on top of worn shocks. Almost every time you disassembled a strut, you found that all the components needed to be replaced.

Stocking all the different strut components for every make and model was cumbersome to say the least, but it was necessary, so the idea of offering a completely assembled strut was a welcome revelation. Limited at first to a few of the most common models, the idea took off quickly, and now you can get them for almost any application.

The advantages for a counter-professional, a technician or a DIYer can be summed up the same way for all of us. It’s simply easier. Technicians prefer them, and almost always ask for them first. DIYers may not be familiar with them, so as a counter-professional, you may have to explain the advantages.

Safety is number one. There’s no danger involved when you don’t have to compress and remove the coil spring, and it saves on the tool too, which a DIYer will either need to borrow or buy. Even though it’s possible that purchasing a single component such as a shock absorber or coil spring may be less expensive, the process of building or assembling the strut is where the biggest hurdle can arise.

Overall, there aren’t too many different pieces involved, but there are almost always some type of spacers and washers. Placement is critical, and it’s easy to make mistakes or lose one of the small components without realizing it. You can end up with a strut that rattles excessively or, in the case of a front strut, binds up during turns. An assembled strut eliminates the possibility of any of these problems.

There’s also a savings in labor time, which trickles down to the customer who’s paying the bill, or if you’re doing the job on your car, it saves your personal time, and nobody complains about that. The advantage of all-new components allows you to guarantee proper performance, no noise or rattles, and a long-term repair. 

The final part of the equation is that struts should always be replaced in pairs, and you’ll often have to explain why. No, you can’t stop somebody from buying just one, but replacing only one side means you’ll have unequal performance side-to-side, and as we all know, if one side is worn out, then the other is, too. It’s as simple as that.

Selling completely assembled high- quality struts is the quickest way to a satisfied customer, and it makes your job easier, too. Occasionally, you might have an old-school customer who wants to do it the hard way, but install complete strut assemblies once, and it’s all they’ll ever ask for.

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