Hard to find good replacement parts for my 90's Toyota
pfsal256
Scotty,
It's getting harder and harder for me to find good replacement parts anymore. I have 90's Toyota cars that I try to maintain, but most of the parts available are cheap Chinese manufactured garbage. Good example of my problem lately. Bought my 1994 Camry in 2012. Have since put on 2 complete sets of quick-struts in 60,000 miles. First was a set of Monroes (in 2013) with lifetime warranty. The two rear rod bellows deteriorated and were hanging after 3 years while one front rattled badly after 10K miles (everything else was tight according to the shop-my guess was the strut mount was bad). Only one (left front) was worth anything at all, but that bellow was starting to fail. I asked for replacements, but they just gave me a refund (that's good). Fast forward to 2016/2017. I bought another four quick-struts (rears in 2016 and fronts in 2017) from Moca Auto. Figured these couldn't be any worse, but I was wrong. The fronts now get stiffer as the temperature drops. Under 10 degrees F I can barely push down the bumper. Starts getting stiffer at about 20 degrees. I have had to lower the tire pressure in the front tires to help cushion the bumps. Michigan roads aren't exactly smooth, but 30 degrees and above no problem. The constant impacts has now started to make my dash creek and rattle. The only good parts I seem to have found is the "Import Direct" parts from Oriley's Auto and genuine toyota parts. Now if I see "made in china" on parts I automatically take them back knowing I will have to replace them in a year or two anyway. I believe Sensen makes the Toyota OEM struts so I guess I'll look for some of those or just bite the bullet and go get some OEM Toyota struts. I just get tired of replacing the same parts. Any advise?