2 Different Struts?

[moonstonemike]

Hey everyone, one of my struts started knocking so the dealer is changing it. The weird thing is when I was checking the parts list for the vibe while the guy there was ordering the part it list 2 different struts for the vibe 1 for steel wheels 1 for aluminum.Does anyone know what or why the difference is?

[BlueCrush]

Hmmm. it should be the same for both alloy and steel wheels. But there are 2 different part# for the fronts: 1 for the driver's side and 1 for the passenger's side. It if is for the rear, therre are 2 different part #'s as well: 1 for FWD and 1 for AWD cars. I don't see why it would be different because of the wheels...

[kevera]

Everything is more complicated in Canada

[moonstonemike]

Here is a picture from gmpartsdirect.com

[moonstonemike]

If they are the same then I guess gm is charging people .07 cents more sur-charge because they had to fill out the extra paper work for your upgraded wheels

[kevera]

The 03-04's have 2 also.I guess most go aftermarket,so this hasn't come up much.If the 03-04 fit the 05+,they are only $59 each.

[Raven]

My brother, retired Technical Director of GM Motorsports Canada, explained to me a while back that there are very subtle differences in the production run of struts. In order to closely match the performance of your existing strut, if only one is replaced, different part#s are kept in stock. If you are replacing both, it makes no difference really. The aftermarket version of the KYB GR-2 strut is slightly stiffer than the OEM KYB GR-2 but very close in performance.