I've got all 4 new monroe struts to put on and before I go digging into the job, I'm trying to figure out if I should just replace all the boots and mounting kits too, or if there is a way to test them.

 

My pickle is that nobody carries these items locally.  I suppose I could return them if I ended up not using them.  Anyway, is there a way to check them before digging into this job?

 

Am I correct that the mounting kit is some kind of bearing?

 

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/monroe-strut-mate-strut-boot-kit-63619/18570485-p

 

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/monroe-strut-mate-strut-mounting-kit-902924/18570446-p

 

I moved bumpers and boots over on mine. Mounts were dry/crunchy on my WRX so, I replaced the mounts. Wish I had done that on the Outback but I didn't check them so, not sure what condition they were in.

On my 05 OB with 150K Miles the part identified as "mounting kit" is what failed.

Rattling and clunking.

Replaced those top mounts (KYB brand) and kept on driving.

The shocks were fine.

Edited December 21, 20187 yr by brus brother

I'm at 258k miles.

 

The struts have lots of grease on them and after I rubbed for a while I found that they were "Subaru" parts.  So...perhaps they are original.  

My gut says I should put everything in nice and new and likely I'll never have to think about this again.  I don't have much experience with struts and the associated hardware, so I'm not sure if I could figure out if they are really broken or not.  Or if they are getting ready to fail.

 

NH

I would definitely order the front tophats to have on hand at least .. those are the ones that have the bearing in them for steering. and KYB for the win there

Rears don't typically have many issues.

springs, boots, and other stuff, unless in really bad shape, just swap over to the new struts.