Does my car need new struts?

[TRIK-56]

We bought my wifes 2000 Grand Prix GT when it had 57,000 miles on it and it now has 70,000. I doubt that the struts have ever been replaced on it.

It seems to me this car has always taken small pot holes or bumps in the road surface very harshly. It jars the car to the point you think there should be bolts coming loose soon!

Is this common for the GT's to take bumps this hard? I know it has a stiffer suspension and my front end alignment man says thats normal and it probably doesn't need new struts yet but I'm not sure I can agree with that. Since I haven't ridden in another GT I don't have any comparrison to go by.

Do you think new front struts would help this car? I'm not looking for a Cadillac type ride but don't like the bone jarring effect I get when passing over rough bumps either.

I have read a lot of praise on this forum about the KYB brand struts. Would this be the brand I should get or would another brand suit me better?

Any comments or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

Bobby

[BNaylor]

If you have over 50K miles it is recommended to replace the struts if you want that original ride and control back. After 50K miles they have started to wear out and will get progressively worse. When I replaced mine at back 60K miles I could feel a big diffference. I went with the KYB GR2 all around.

[phaelax]

I got a 2000 gtp with about 70k miles and just bought the KYB struts myself, which turned out to be cheaper than Monroe, which people tell me to avoid. I'm just waiting for a weekend to install them.