Hello all!

Looking for recommendations for front strut options. I have an 05 SE with 65k, the front struts are still doing their job for now but they are pretty rusty. I did a search and saw a lot of posts advising against quick struts because of the ride height change, but what issues does that cause? All of the quick struts I've found have very hit or miss reviews though too, so this seems to be the general consensus.

The rear air-ride gave out a year ago, and I did replace those with the Monroe conversion kit.

What are my options? Buying a new strut tower and new springs sounds like the best option?

Thanks in advance!

Andrew, aka harofreak00, has parted out numerous Bonnevilles, to help keep other Bonnie's going. I personally bought a front strut/spring assembly from him after my spring somehow broke many years ago. It was a good part, and I'm sure he has plenty more for sale.

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'02 Pontiac Bonneville SE 108,539 miles, N/A, SSEi exhaust system, boat roller mount. Gone, but not forgotten.
'13 Buick Regal GS 102k miles, 270 hp, 295 lb/ft, ZZP intake.
(yes, there is a story behind my avatar.)

If the only issue is that they "look" rusty, I would leave them alone. But if you're wanting to throw parts at it, buy new bare front struts and new mounts and swap your OEM springs onto them. The aftermarket springs will jack the front end up 4-6" beyond stock, it looks ridiculous. Contact me if you need any used parts.

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Its not so much throwing parts at it just because, but more preparing for the inevitable. They're working but definitely a little worn, and caster is out of spec which I imagine is a symptom of this too. I'll keep you in mind for sure when the time comes!

The height raise also causes CV axle issues and driveline vibrations.

For what it's worth, my KYB front struts have looked "rusty" for over 5 years and 100k miles and they still feel good.

I have the same Monroe kit as you do out back, also looking super rusty, now finally getting a little tired after 60k miles and 5 years.

Spray them with some rust reformer or fluid film if you care. The rust doesn't matter that much. It's just surface rust.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

If you decide to go new go Gabriel. They made them for Delco for years and still do. They will be closest to the OEM ride.

Bumping my old thread because my oem struts are leaking below the boot. For carrying the springs over to new struts, will I need anything else(new mounts, bellows, spring insulators etc) and are there any recommendations as far as which to get? I'm looking between Gabriel and KYB for the struts themselves, it seems like either will be fine.

My tie rods aren't in the best shape, so since I'm replacing these and will need an alignment again anyway, might as well get these out of the way too

Still rocking my KYBs with over 100k miles now. Would recommend those.

Don't think you need new bellows. Would recommend new mounts. Don't cheap out on those.

Don't get Detroit Axle anything, but especially not tie rods. Struggled to get even 10k miles out of mine. On ACDelcos now with no issues.

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

A friend of mine swears by Detroit axle, but I would never. One side currently is from AutoZone and the other is acdelco, both tie rod ends are giving me some trouble now though. Autozone after 2 years and acdelco after 7 months/2k-ish miles. After a ton of looking into it I'm going mevotech TTX this time and hoping they will last a little longer than a few thousand miles for $10/more per side.

The acdelco tie rod I put on last summer has tons of horrible reviews on Amazon saying they didn't last. I ended up ordering 2 of them to replace what I have, but sent them back when I got 2 different tie rods entirely.

100k miles on the kyb is phenomenal, I'll look into those some more for sure. Thank you! Any advice on strut mount? If I can help it, I don't really want to spend $100/side on the GM mounts, but looking around it seems like most of the aftermarket mounts are unreliable.

Edit - I went with the GM mounts, I may have been talking to you on the facebook post I made in the group lol. Everything should be here tuesday.

Yes, that was probably me. Report back with how it all goes!

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-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 247k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 98k miles

Update, strut mounts came in, and they didn't include the bearings that are listed. I don't know if this is a Rock Auto listing error, or these actually weren't supposed to come with them.

Earliest I can get any aftermarket ones is sunday, so this isn't happening this weekend I guess!

edit - found the mevotechs available by friday, guess I will be the guinea pig for those. I can't find any BAD reviews, but there are very few good reviews. For as long as they've been on the market, it's worth a try.

edit #2 - RockAuto got back to me today, and said that the GM mounts(19208376) no longer come with bearings and they are considering it a catalog error. They have now removed the section that said "Bearing Included - Yes" in the listing as well.

GM mounts were mailed back, replaced with Mevotech, struts are assembled and the car is driving. I didn't have a chance to get an alignment, so i'm not really going to drive much until that happens next weekend.

My tires had early signs of cupping(brand new tires, go figure) and once the springs were off the old struts, it was clear why. They could be pushed down by hand.

I did end up going with gabriel struts, new bellows, and mevotech mounts. The gabriels had the same part number as ACDelco printed on them, but were about $30 cheaper per side. Here are some pics.

Old Struts:


New strut installed - My springs weren't in nearly as bad shape as I thought


Ride Height - Went up maybe an inch, but doesn't seem bad(car is dirty, and I need to paint the mirror):



edit #12318273

Tie rods were done today. Inners were gritty and loose feeling, but outers were also bad. Autozone lasted like a year and a half, ACDelco lasted 8 months. No play when moving the wheel, but the second the nuts were loose on the outer ends, both of them were basically free moving.

Now have ACDelco inner tie rods, and Mevotech TTX outers installed. Finally getting an alignment this weekend, and will be back on the road and I can stop going for a ride in my wife's kia, and get to work on her suspension next lol