Last time I took my car to the dealership I was told that I needed a new rear passenger side strut (or that it needed to be replaced, can't remember the exact wording). Instead of just getting the usual Honda brand replacement part I want to start upgrading my car and this is as good a place to start as any. Problem is, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to cars and don't really have any idea what needs to be done when a "strut needs to be replaced".

After some searching through the forums and around the interwebs I see strut bars/towers all over the place. So, am I being told that the entire rear strut bar needs to be replaced or something else? Are aftermarket struts completely different from stock struts? What's the procedure here?

 

What year is your car?

The dealership was telling you basically that you need to get a new shock. When you replace one, you need to replace all 4 for the ride quality to be good and consistent. strut bars are not quite what you are looking for. Depending upon the year of your car, I may have a set of Sportline springs and Tokico high-performance shocks that I would sell you.

 

It's a 2001, 2dr.

So I should be looking for shocks instead of struts, at least for now. Then once I've got the new shocks on I can add strut bars to give me more stability, correct?

 

A strut is a type of shock absorber but a bit more sophisticated.

 

youre confusing "strut" and "strut tower brace/bar". 2 incredibly different pieces. Most modern cars have struts. They are simply a shock absorber which also has the spring perch mounted to it and the piston and shock body sit inside your coil spring. They are what allows your car to go over bumps and rough pavement without bouncing around and feeling harsh.

A strut bar is a performance piece that mounts between your 2 front struts and/or your 2 rear struts. It simply reinforces the mounting points and ties the chasis together making it more rigid. If you don't do any performance driving, you'd never feel a differnce. The additional bracing helps when taking corners aggressively on a racetrack and provides for greater chasis rigidity.

Given your lack of automotive knowledge I'd say you probably aren't in the market for the strut bars, you simply need a new set of struts to smooth out your daily commute.

 

So in this case, I'm looking to replace my current struts with some higher quality parts. What would I look for to replace the worn down strut? Any good suggestions on parts to look at?

 

look for KYB (good brand great price), Tokico, Koni, H&R, Bilstein..... the quality amoung those is all comperable how ever the left side of the list is the least expensive and the right side is the most, the more money you spend the better product you get, also, consider an H&R Cup kit or KYB shocks with Koni or Neuspeed springs

 

Of course, the higher the quality the higher the bill. I've done a couple searches for Bilstein struts and it seems to keep taking me to the Bilstein shocks. This is the part that's confusing me. Am I correct in saying that shocks and struts are not the same thing? Or am I thinking about it backwards and that I should be ordering shocks to replace the struts. Man, maybe I should have taken mechanics in high school

 

shock and strut are practically the same thing. A strut IS a shock absorber, but a shock absorber is not necessarily a strut. Your car uses STRUTS. If you order a set for your car using the correct year and model, regardless of whether they are worded "shock" or "strut" you're going to get the right part. As for brands, Monroe Tokico, Bilstein (touring class) and KYB are probably your best bet. Koni and H&R as well as other sport (tokico illumina or KYB AGX) shocks are designed for cars with a modified sport suspension (lowered) and provide a much firmer ride. They also cost considerably more. You really don't seem like the type to be worried about sport suspensions and thus, you should disregard the suggestion for purchasing springs as well, you won't be a happy camper.

 

Thanks jrward. At least now I don't have to second guess what I'm looking at when I see the different terms come up for my car.

This is just the beginning of what I'd like to do to my car but my limited knowledge is my biggest hinderance, obviously. At some point in the future I do plan to lower my ride so if I get the touring class shocks would I then need to swap them out for sport suspension?