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We get it. Money is tight for everyone right now and your car’s suspension failing is probably the last thing you needed. You can find cheap strut assemblies for your vehicle all over the internet from companies you’ve probably never heard of that can save you a little money.
However, these parts and kits are usually cheap for a reason, and installing them on your vehicle can be a very bad idea. In this article, we’ll explain why.
5 Reasons To Avoid Cheap Strut Assemblies
Cheap struts may look the part and have descriptions that make them sound like a comparable but less-expensive alternative to more established brands. But the differences you may not notice if you don’t know what to look for can lead to disaster. There are a few key reasons why you shouldn’t choose cheap strut assemblies.
1. Your Safety Depends On Your Struts
A car’s suspension is one of its primary safety features. It allows the car to maneuver predictable and be responsive to the driver. The suspension is also responsible for absorbing much of the force of bringing a vehicle to a stop.
It is not an overstatement to say that your life — and the lives of your passengers — depend on your vehicle’s struts. Cheap struts can seriously degrade performance, significantly increasing the chance of an accident.
Poor handling caused by ill-fitting parts can make it more difficult to avoid a collision or lead to your vehicle going out of control on the road. Struts that aren’t made with strong enough materials can increase your car’s stopping distance — when a few feet can mean the difference between stopping safely and crashing into the vehicle in front of you.
2. A Bad Fit Can Damage Your Vehicle
One of the ways suspension part manufacturers cut corners is by taking strut assemblies meant for one vehicle and selling them for another. While these might be a close enough fit to install and look more or less correct, even a tiny difference in the height of a strut, the points where it mounts, or the angle it sits at can have a huge, negative impact on your vehicle.
Your car is designed to move in a very specific way, and the strut assemblies play a pivotal role in that. A strut that sits even slightly off its intended position can change the way the vehicle rides and put unusual stress on parts that aren’t designed to take it. Over time, this can lead other parts of the suspension shifting out of place, the car going out of alignment, or even damage to the frame.
At Strutmasters, our engineers spend countless hours designing, testing, and refining each kit to ensure it provides the exact fit the manufacturer intended. As a result, we can be confident that all of our strut assemblies will help and not hurt your vehicle.
3. Cheaper Materials Wear Out More Quickly
Materials are another area where fly-by-night suspension part companies like to reduce their costs. Manufacturers have choices in the materials they use to make their products. Many see an opportunity to use alloys and other materials to make strut assemblies that look and feel similar to high-quality ones, but are cheaper and less dependable.
Even if these lower-quality materials hold up at first, they don’t tend to last. Your car is a big, heavy machine that exerts a lot of force on its suspension. Strut assemblies that use materials that aren’t strong enough for the job can wear out quickly, putting you back in the same position you started in within a few thousand miles.
With all of our strut assemblies and other products, we use only the right materials for the job — right down to the nuts and bolts used to fasten them to the vehicle. As a result, we know that our products will hold up under years of use.
4. Your Car May Perform Poorly
Whether they don’t fit perfectly or are made with shoddy materials, cheap strut assemblies can substantially degrade your vehicle’s performance. There are several ways this can happen, including:
Uncomfortable ride: One of the jobs of your suspension is to cushion the ride by absorbing bumps and dips in the road. Cheap struts may not offer the proper damping support, due either to weak materials, a bad fit, or simply being badly made. This can lead to a bumpy, jittery ride that’s no fun for anyone in the vehicle.
Poor handling: The wrong strut assembly can cause your vehicle to respond in ways you’re not used to. That can mean things like not turning as sharply as you expect it to, improper weight distribution going through turns, or reduced responsiveness. This is annoying at best and outright dangerous at worst.
Trouble braking: As we mentioned earlier, your struts do a lot of the braking work on your vehicle. Cheap parts may not be able to handle as much force as those made with more robust materials, which can increase the distance it takes to bring your vehicle to a stop.
Reduced load capacity: Weaker materials and ill-fitting parts aren’t likely to withstand as much weight as higher-quality strut assemblies. These cheap suspension components may function ok with just you in the vehicle, but when you start to add passengers or cargo, the difference can become clear immediately. With your vehicle unable to properly support the weight of what’s inside, you can put undue strain on the axles and other vital components.
5. You Can Easily End Up Spending More
There’s an old adage that says “I can’t afford to buy cheap things.” And this is as true of strut assemblies as anything. The meaning is that, while you might save a few dollars in the short-term, buying cheap things often costs more over time.
This starts with the strut assemblies themselves. While a strut assembly from a reputable manufacturer is likely to last at least four to five years under regular use, a cheaper one may give out within a year or two. That means you’ll have to buy another replacement, likely spending more than you would have to buy the better product in the first place.
But it doesn’t stop there. We’ve mentioned how cheap struts can damage your vehicle. That’s damage you’ll also have to pay to repair. Since that damage would likely not have occurred if you had used a higher-quality strut assembly, you can also add the cost of repairs to the cost of the lower-priced strut assembly.
All in all, going with the “cheaper” option can end up costing you far more than the more expensive one from a company you trust within just a few years.
There Is a Difference Between Cheap and a Good Value
We don’t mean to suggest that you can’t find inexpensive strut assemblies that offer an acceptable or even excellent fit and performance. But there is a clear difference between a product that is priced well for the level of quality it offers and something that is made cheaply in an attempt to undercut the market. When it comes to the struts you trust your vehicle and your safety to, that’s an important difference.
At Strutmasters, we’ve made our reputation over the last 25 years by providing affordable — not cheap — suspension solutions for car owners around the country. Our goal isn’t to be the lowest price on the market, it’s to provide high-quality products that our customers can trust at a price that makes sense.
