Had our RDX at the dealer yesterday for service and they found the front struts leaking. Given they're original and have 171k+ mi on them, I'm not surprised and was going to ask about the cost anyway. They quoted roughly $1200 for the front, so I'm thinking of replacing front and rear myself after reading the procedure on how to do it. I was going to do the rears as well since they're likely at the end of their life as well. Then I'll just have the dealer perform an alignment when done.

One thing I'm wondering, the service manual states to replace most of the hardware in the process. Is this required, and if so, does any of it typically come with replacements or does it need to be ordered separately? On RockAuto it looks like some hardware may be included, but the listings don't state it specifically. I just want to be sure I have everything I need before tackling the job.

 

That price for just the front end is very overpriced. I had my mechanic quote me around $500-$550 if I was going to do them. I never got the chance but I was really considering it since my car was getting really bouncy and wasn't abosrbing the harsh New England roads that well anymore.

 

Service from the dealerships are always high , but that price ,,wow. If your going to do the job yourself, purchase the KYB shocks for the back and the same brand for the front struts.
You really need to purchase the top strut mounts while you are about it, they gotta be worn out also. As far as hardware , you might the the strut spring base replaced and the
plastic sleeve that goes with the front strut. The sleeve you have now might still be okay , it only keeps contaminants from getting to the strut rod. I for one would not
purchase the strut replacements that are already put together with the spring ect,,they are IMOP of low quality. I replaced all around on mine at about 70k miles, the KYB
stuff is much better than OEM.
Goodluck

 

Thanks for the helpful response. The dealer quote wasn't detailed, so I'm not sure what all was included in that cost besides struts and alignment. I looked up the cost for OEM struts and the cost for one is about the same as aftermarket for all 4 corners, so I'm not totally surprised at the cost.

I was planning on going with the FCS full assemblies up front for ease of replacement and FCS rear to have similar characteristics. I did search and can't find anything negative about the brand, and our Acura primarily sees highway trips on the weekend anymore, maybe a short trip in town a day or two during the week. I don't have an immediate timeline yet, so what is ultimately done is still up in the air, but I wanted to at least get a parts list together so I have a better idea of cost.

 

Sort of a side note: I purchased KYB shocks for the rear and the front some time ago, because they were available and there was a lot of talk about the clunking and other sounds. This last week I decided to replace the struts.


Spring Compressor


I 'rented' the spring compressor pair, but was utterly unable to compress the springs enough to be able to mount the shock absorbers inside them. In the process of spring compression, one of the two would inevitably slide, so the two would no longer be 180 degrees apart. After a considerable amount of unsuccessful effort, I took the first strut to a shop, where they assembled it for $75, then re-installed it in my car. I will drive there and have them do the other next week.

The diameter of the spring coil seems larger than in any of the examples I saw of the compressing tool's usage. It was very frustrating. In looking at the various versions of this tool for sale on Amazon, I note that some of them specify the largest diameter coil that they are made to work with, although nothing of the sort is ever mentioned in any of the videos *I* found about doing this job yourself. I also noticed that in any video or illustration, the pitch of the coil spring was much less than the pitch of the actual coil spring on the RDX, making the slipping I experienced more likely.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
I can't think of anything worse after a night of drinking than waking up next to someone and not being able to remember their name, or how you met, or why they're dead. -- Laura Kightlinger

 

I recently replaced all 4 struts in my 2013 RDX by myself for around $300. Ordered these TRQ complete shock and coil kit from Amazon. Fits perfectly and I followed along a YouTube installation. All of my struts were blown and had no more hydraulic fluid.

 

That looks like a really good deal; without a lot of information from people who have used these, I would not buy them. If they are undercutting *everyone* else's prices, they are very likely to be cutting corners somewhere. I don't know that, of course, and I hope they work for you for 10 years, but I'm 66 years old, and time has taught me that usually, if it's too good to be true, it probably is not true.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts - it's what you do with what you have left." -- Hubert Humphrey

 

They were a direct bolt-on replacement. No modification is required. Time will tell if they last. It's been several weeks since the springs have settled and the suspension feels very connected to the ground and responsive.

 

Does the TRQ strut assembly offer a lower ride height or is it the same as stock suspension?

 

[QUOTE=Str8pipeRDX;16927121]I recently replaced all 4 struts in my 2013 RDX by myself for around $300. Ordered these TRQ complete shock and coil kit from Amazon. Fits perfectly and I followed along a YouTube installation. All of my struts were blown and had no more hydraulic fluid.




looking to replace my 13 RDX fronts with complete set up like these. Can you advise how these TRQs are holding up from OEM quality? Ty!