I'm trying to educate my 14 year-old better on car maintenance and repair as he eases up to driving age. This past year we've done oil changes, brakes and replaced an intake manifold. This weekend I'm going to get a set of Monroe quick struts to replace on my daily driver. I've honestly never done struts but feel confident with me and YouTube, we can get it done. That said while we're in there any other wearable parts we should just go ahead and take care of?

Depends on the mileage as well as of the car is fwd. If so, and higher mileage, maybe hubs and cv shafts.

Thanks. 155k miles. FWD

Yes. Doing the Monroe quick struts that are full assembly. $300 for the pair with much less hassle seems like the obvious choice.

Third on the KYB suggestion. Much better ride and struts if you're going through the trouble.

KYB all the way. I think there are left and right so make sure you identify that. Can be a pain to get all three mounting studs to go up into the holes, have a helper hold the bottom while you guide them up into the mounting area.

As usual, lots of KYB recommendations here.

I like a soft ride in most instances when replacing struts. I've read where KYB tend to be stiffer and Gabriel will tend to be softer. Is that true? I see these two options often on RockAuto and would like to know if there is a known and definite softer-ride choice.

Oh, it may be good to check and replace sway bar links if they are old. And sway bar bushings. You are touching some of that stuff anyway while you are working on the struts.

I like the idea of a complete strut assembly. There is a significant safety risk of compressing the springthe spring could get away from you and potentially cause serious bodily injury. Unfortunately there are many models not supported, and the quality varies widely.

If your car has adjustable camber, get an alignment immediately, and make sure they set the camber.

In posts like these, it does help to include year, make, model, and mileage. While you're in there, rock the front tires to 3 and 9 and again to 12 and 6. Check all tie rods and ball joints for bushing or joint wear. Check CV axles for torn boots. At that mileage, I'd also be looking at oil, valve cover, and trans pan gasket leaks.

So I just had my truck in for an assessment before putting on a leveling kit. Ball joints were the most worn/loose and they mentioned tie rods being in good shape but those two items would be first on my list to check as mentioned above.

Alignment was also advised after strut replacement.