I have a 2004 toyota 2wd 4runner sport edition with the v6 engine. The car has 100K miles on it and appears to be very well maintained. I recently purchases new tires and then had an alignment done on the vehicle. During the alignment I was told I needed to replace the front and rear struts and shocks. He told me that the car has hydraulic struts or shocks (not sure which) and that it would cost $1,100 for the job. Question I have is what is the difference between Hydraulic vs. gas and is this a do it yourself job?
2004 4runner struts/shocks question
- Thread starter brennanjr
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NJshadow93
New member
Try posting in the 4th gen section. You will get more answers over there. Being that you need to replace struts and shocks, you may want to look into suspension upgrades such as lifts if that's what you like. There are many options which will ride better than the factory suspension and may actually cost less as well.
Dawg4Runner
New member
Your 4Runner has coil over shock absorbers in the front and separate coil springs and shock absorbers in the back. The shocks contain hydraulic fluid for dampening and are pressure charged with nitrogen gas. So the shocks are both hydraulic and gas. In your case, at 100k, they are probably worn and leaking and no longer doing their job.
Regarding "is this a do it yourself job?" Depends on your mechanical abilities and tools necessary for the job. It's a pretty simple job but can be difficult or dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. My suggestion is if you're not sure, pay a shop to do it. Plus you'll have to get it realigned afterwards anyways.
Ditch the Xreas (its way overpriced and wasn't that great to begin with) and replace it with a quality aftermarket brand.
Here's a write up on how to do it on the toyota120 site. Suspension Install
