Originally Posted by
Top_Fuel
He is asking about
complete strut assemblies...also known as "loaded" struts.
A bare strut is just the shock absorber portion of the strut. That's what is available on Rockauto. You would have to take all the used stuff of of your existing struts (mainly the coil spring and strut bearing) and transfer those parts to the new strut. That's a fair amount of extra work that requires specialty tools, and you are just transferring old used stuff onto the new strut.
Loaded struts have all new parts and are really simple to install with normal hand tools. Unless you are on a serious budget, loaded struts are the way to go when it comes time to replace them. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a loaded strut for a Mirage in North America.
You can check out
THIS video explaining bare vs loaded struts.
Thanks for that video - it really clarified for me what I need to do with my truck. Just an aside, my incompetent mechanic messed up installing my high end Elka shocks, then misdiagnosed the squeeking, missed those shocks wearing out; and finally ordered wrong replacement struts (now my truck is lifted in the back and lowered in the front)
Oooof, thanks, I needed to vent that out
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View my fuel log 2023 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.4 mpg (US) ... 18.9 km/L ... 5.3 L/100 km ... 53.3 mpg (Imp)