How many miles before I replace struts?

Hello,

My 03 tacoma 4x4 has about 83,000 miles on it. My tires are wearing a little funny... with the treads wearing high/low/high/low ("cupping"?). One mechanic has told me that I need my struts done and this is why they are wearing that way, another told me (after bouncing the truck a bit and having it show that the struts are only a little soft, and seeing that there is no leakage) that this sometimes happens to winter tires if you drive on bumpy roads a lot - which I guess I do, and the struts do not necessarily have to be done right now. I do not think this is an alignment issue. I am getting new tires and don't want to have them wear improperly. My main question is, at what point should I expect (mileage) to have my struts done on my truck? The rest of the info is there in case anyone has any useful insight.

Thanks!
-Brian

 

I dont drive the miles so I go by time. I did mine at 5 years at 35000 miles on my 02. Same with my oil change. I don't drive the miles...I go by time.

 

ide say if u put new shocks(inside your struts) on your going to notice a huge differance.83,000 miles,its time for new ones imo.i had 68,000 on my trd ones and they road like crap.and it could b an alignment issue to.these trucks can seem to drive nice and straight and tight but your alingment could still b off.

 

I just pulled the oem TRD Off Road progressive coils and Bilstein shocks off my truck. They have less than 5,000 miles on them. I'll let them go for a very reasonable price. PM me if you're interested. If you're at all handy, they're not hard to change by yourself either. I did it in about 3 hours.

 

he has a "03".

 

Dope! Sorry.

 

I was just trying to help the guy out. I'll get some pix and post them properly in the FS pages.

 

no problem man.