How long should OEM shocks last?

Joined
2 September 2007
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286
Location
SoCal
My 91 was originally sold in November of 1990. It still has the original shocks on it, which would make them nearly 18 years old now. However, the car only has 30k miles, there are no leaks and driving/handling are great, although I really don't have anything to compare it to. How do I know if it's time to replace them or not?:confused:

TIA
 
That's hard to tell unless you've owned the car since the original date. My 91 had 107k miles when I bought mine and the suspension was surprisingly in good condition. With only 30k miles, yours should be in really good condition. Most guys (myself included) replace the suspension because of the high ride height, rather than worn out suspension.
 
My 91 was originally sold in November of 1990. It still has the original shocks on it, which would make them nearly 18 years old now. However, the car only has 30k miles, there are no leaks and driving/handling are great, although I really don't have anything to compare it to. How do I know if it's time to replace them or not?:confused:

TIA

Mark, I think you will find that even though you think the car drives "great" that a new set of shocks (even OEM) will be a HUGE improvement. I typically don't let shocks see more than 10 years on any car regardless of mileage.
 
Most guys (myself included) replace the suspension because of the high ride height, rather than worn out suspension.
Not necessarily. I replaced my shocks at ~50K miles (and 11 years) because the handling just didn't seem as sharp and precise as it did when new. And even though I got Bilsteins, I installed them at the stock ride height. The front nose scrapes enough of the time at the stock ride height, thank you, and I wouldn't want the car any lower (and more difficult to get in and out of).

Note that my car sees a lot of track use (over 8K of those 50K miles were actual track miles), so my experience regarding the need to replace shocks may not be directly comparable to yours.
 
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