Strutmasters Consumer Reviews - Page 2

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I was looking to replace the suspension on an older Lexus GX. The dealership quoted me at around $2,000 for a car that probably only had two, maybe three good years left in it. After looking around on the internet I found Strutmasters. I had seen some of the reviews on this site but they must have really changed some things there because I had a pretty easy and friendly phone call and a few days later had all my parts. My mechanic had no trouble doing the conversion and assured me that the parts were as described since I was a little nervous from some of these reviews.

The difference in the car was night and day. I had no idea things had gotten so bad on my Lexus. Everything is still working fine today and I would certainly look to Strutmasters again if I find myself in a similar situation. No complaints whatsoever.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I ordered two air springs for my '92 Town Car on 24 April 2006 and installed them upon arrival. These springs were purchased with the understanding and in good faith, that they were 'backed with a lifetime warranty' as shown on their suspension-alternatives.com website (I have a snapshot of that webpage showing exactly that). Just recently (late December 2013), the air springs failed causing leaks and a complete loss of air during an overnight park.

I talked to one of Strutmasters' representatives (not to be named) in the warranty department and advised him of the spring failure. I told him that I had talked to Arnott and they advised me that the warranty needed to be handled from the point of my purchase, namely Strutmasters, LLC, DBA suspension-alternatives.com at the time of purchase.

The representative at Arnott had advised me that Strutmasters should honor their warranty to me and there would be no problem for Arnott to honor that same lifetime warranty to Strutmasters. The Strutmasters representative asked me to provide documentation.

I e-mailed him the proof of purchase documents as well as pictures of the failed parts. He said he would talk to their supplier (Arnott Industries), the same Arnott representative that I had talked to, about it. I furnished the Arnott representative's name and extension to the Strutmasters' representative. He advised me that he would e-mail or call me the following day, with the verdict, which he did.

His reply was: "I spoke to ** at Arnott [sic] and he stated that he told you that any warranty on the bags will have to be handled through us since the purchase was made through us. Per our warranty. He stated that his warranty will not overrule ours. He mentioned that he knows that different vendors carry their product and each one may have a different warranty on the product. But that at the end of the day, the warranty will be handled by the company that you purchased the component from, going by that companies warranty guidelines.

"As stated yesterday, we don't warranty air products because of their short life span and so many things that can go wrong with air. We still sell them from time to time if this is what the customer wants. But we try to get the customer to convert the vehicle to springs. Some do, some don't. The life that you got out of these bags is better than most cases. Sorry we can't help. It was nice talking to you. Have a Happy New Year."

I might add that when I removed the failed springs, I found the DOM clock on the springs indicated a date stamping of October 2003. These springs sat on someone's shelf for ~2.5 years before my purchase and installation, hardly a great recipe for the longevity of rubber parts.

I have not had any further contact with Strutmasters after receipt of the 'You're out of luck e-mail'. It appears there is no reason to, that is why I am posting here in hopes that others will not buy into their products and fall into their 'gotcha' trap. Buyer beware!

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I had an extremely disappointing experience with a Strutmasters conversion kit for a 2009 Lexus LS460L. The conversion struts caused an embarrassing rattle in the front suspension. Consultations with three local suspension shops all identified the struts as being the issue, but Strutmasters "had no idea what it could be." It was maddening. In desperation, I finally replaced the Strutmasters struts with a used set of OEM struts. The OEM struts COMPLETELY fixed the rattle issue! My experience with Strutmasters returning the struts only added to the frustration.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I had some trouble figuring out which kit I needed to order for my Hyundai Equus but the person on the phone was very helpful. I wish I could remember their name. Overall the suspension feels a little stiffer than the original but that's actually kind of nice in most situations. I was able to install at home with a friend, so that's another plus. Hopefully, I won't need to replace the suspension on another car, but if I do it's good to know that this is a good inexpensive solution.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- Got some new front struts for an Escalade that's been a project car. I installed the new front struts myself (they come pre-assembled with the springs) in a few hours without much trouble. Definitely recommend watching the install videos on YouTube. They were really helpful.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I was easily able to track down the product I needed... a rear replacement kit for an old Blazer. It was less than a week to ship and took only a few hours for my mechanic to install. Everything feels really smooth and solid while driving. Very nice product.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I was so happy to find this company. My Saab 9-7X was sitting really low on the suspension and I didn't want to replace the air suspension one piece at a time. Someone on the internet recommended converting to coilovers. I found these guys on Google and their website was really easy to use. Got exactly what I needed with no problem. Shipping was fine. Everything fit exactly as it needed to and I was surprised at how easy it was to install myself.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I was very confused about what part to order for my car. Called the company. Their representative (a male, probably in his 30s or 40s) spent well over 20 minutes on the phone helping me diagnose my issue and making sure I got exactly what I needed. My struts came a few days later and my mechanic installed them in half a day. Easy as pie.
This was a very positive experience.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- I am so, so happy to report that I finally found a conversion kit that fits my 91 Subaru Legacy. I have kept this thing running its entire life but the suspension can only take so many miles. Happy to report that the kit fits very well and was a breeze to install. The instructions are good but not great but thankfully they have a lot of resources online. No issues.

ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- Working on a Lincoln Town car I had inherited that needed a new suspension. I was on and off the phone in about 10 minutes total and got exactly what I needed. Everything arrived well-organized. Installed easy and rides surprisingly well for coilovers.