GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I purchased my Vibe new in the Summer of 2006.
Here's a timeline of the suspension work that has been done to the car.

• 7620 - 9/16/2006 - Installed Progress sway bar
• 125283 - 2/13/2012 - Installed four new Tokico Blue Struts (purchased from eBay), Front strut mounts (the top hat) and front rubber isolators (the rubber thing between the strut and the bottom of the spring)
• 125318 - 2/15/2012 - Four wheel alignment (it only needed the fronts done)
• 130649 - 7/27/2012 - Replaced Front right strut replaced under warranty. I had to pay for installation. The company I purchase the struts from no longer sold this brand, so I had to go through the distributor.
• 161483 - 1/23/2014 - Replaced Front right strut and strut dust sleeve. I had to pay for installation. When I contacted the distributor again to purchase a replacement, they didn't return my phone calls or emails. I ended up purchasing is on Amazon.
• Two wheel alignment, soon.

I replaced the original struts because the front ones where starting to leak. The rears where in good shape, but since I was switching to a different brand, I thought it would be best to change them all.
Tokico Blue struts are basically stock replacement struts with the same geometry, but different valving to make them firmer than the stock struts. When functioning properly they do that task fine. The car corners flatter, but you feel more of the road. The problem is, on my car, the Front Right strut keeps failing. First at 5k miles, then again after 30k miles. The Tokico Blues were installed because I intended to start Autocrossing. I participated in 11 events after the first broken strut was replaced.

This time the mechanic found both the front rubber strut dust sleeves have holes in them. So the driver side strut assembly will need to come apart to replace that. Going forward I will be recommending these be replaced when the front struts are replaced.

At this time the other three struts seem to be working well. I hope I can get another 30k out of them.
TL;DR: I will not be installing Tokico products on my car in the future, and I will not recommend them to other people.

Wow, that's weird... I'd look more at something in the car than the struts themselves. What would be causing the strut to blow so quickly is the question you should be asking.

I've had Tokico struts with Tein S-Tech springs for 7+ years. With the 2" drop the stock struts blew quickly. I also had my right front Tokico blow after 3 1/2 years. No problem since. I figured it was due to the horrendous road conditions around here. Broken pavement, pot holes and washboard dirt roads.

I wonder if anyone else has had trouble with the Right Front (passenger side) strut.
It's understandable to have some failures when manufacturing something this complicated, but it's unusual to have the same part fail two times on the same car, while the strut on the left side is fine.

Forgot to mention my car is using the stock springs, because I wanted to stay in the stock class when autocrossing.

I have been tracking down a front end vibration and I think it is my right front strut. I do have Tokico blue struts and my vibration is coming from the front right and that strut looks old compared to the left front strut. I don't know if the oil leaked out of it or what. Now it's time to track down my receipt.

Check to see if the strut shaft is covered in oil. When my first one let go it was covered, not to mention making a lot of noise, because everything inside of it was wobbling around. Making a right hand turn at speed made the sound louder.

It's common for racing parts to have a short life. Back when I was autocrossing I was using Koni struts. They were $250 each but they did an awesome job. Sadly they would only last a season before needing to be replaced. It doesn't mean they're bad, just expensive up keep. You've got to pay to play.

I got my Tokicos back in Oct 2012, no problems yet.

Indy500 wrote:I have been tracking down a front end vibration and I think it is my right front strut. I do have Tokico blue struts and my vibration is coming from the front right and that strut looks old compared to the left front strut. I don't know if the oil leaked out of it or what. Now it's time to track down my receipt.

Push down on that corner and release. See if the car bounces more than once or makes the sound.