02 Highlander ride quality

[jared leechburg]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum. Hopefully I'm not asking a question that has already been discussed, I've searched the forum to no avail.

I'm driving an 02 Highlander with 150,000k on the odo. The car has been in the family since new. I've driven the car occasionally throughout it's life, but not within the past two years.

When I last drove the vehicle a few years ago, it still had the supple, easy-going ride quality that it was blessed with when new. However, when driving the car again a few weeks back I noticed that the ride quality had become much more abrupt. I had it's worn out tires replaced with new BF Long Trail TA Tour's. If anything this degraded the ride quality slightly over large bumps further (these feel like very heavy tires). The vehicle handles small bumps well, but big dips or broken pavement deliver firm, rubbery kicks. Handling is stable and relatively controlled, but overall, the car feels much 'heavier' than it used to.

Would replacing the front struts and rear shocks address this? What would you expect to pay for new shocks? I can't think of any other remedy, other than changing out the tires (although the TireRack reviews of these tires on comparable vehicles are overwhemingly positive).

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!