Replaced original struts in 2010 Toyota Tundra , one was leaking. Research to order quick struts was lacking on detail , specs , etc. Got FCS quick struts which “meet or exceed oem specs” etc…chose FCS since they actually had some detail. Turns out the truck rides lower now when I plow and the plow bottoms out . Any thoughts ?
My guess is that they must have shorter and/or weaker springs. You could try the Tech Support feature of their website. Perhaps they’ll have details.
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Some trucks have dealer springs available for use with a snow blade as part of a “Snow Plow Prep” package. They are usually a bit longer and stiffer to carry the additional load. Go visit your Toyota dealer and ask the parts man about front springs for plow use. If there is no such thing, search Tundra or 4WD specific parts suppliers for the proper springs.
Or a spring spacer kit like this;
Or grab the old springs off the replaced strut and swap them in, if you still have the assemblies.
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Get a return for wrong part.And replace with the proper part.
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These aren’t meeting OE specs, so I’d return them if possible. Anyone heard of FCS? I haven’t.
http://www.fcsautoparts.com/complete.html
I just checked, and the company is based in Michigan
But they don’t even have a toll-free number 
It’s always a good idea to place any new part beside the old part and compare them just to avoid issues like this.
I’m assuming this was not done because there has to be a difference in the assembled length.
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Yup
years ago, one of my supervisors installed some new “quick struts” on his personal car
Afterwards, it looked quite silly, because the front was way too high
He returned them, and went with a different brand
Somebody else is mentioning this low ride problem on Amazon product reviews:
“Lowers the ride height - I replaced a set of worn out struts/springs with 250,000 miles on them - the static ride height on the new struts is actually lower than the worn-out OEM springs. I reached out to FCS to see if they had any recommendations, but so far they have not responded. The ride quality has improved but the chassis sits too low to the ground.”
Hopefully they aren’t one of those companies that absolutely refuses to respond to phone calls and emails
Who still needs a toll free number? I did not think anyone still had long distance charges.
I can’t think of any installation problem that could cause your issue so I too believe the problem is with the struts. I think the best solution would be to buy some name-brand replacement struts and upper mounts, install them onto your original springs and put those back on the truck.
I’m in the minority here but I avoid using “quick-struts” if at all possible. They’re just never as good as original equipment. For example, the quick strut replacements for a 2002 Ford Taurus and a 2002 Mercury Sable are the same part numbers, but the factory original part numbers for coil springs for these 2 cars are different. I’ve also had noise and alignment issues with complete assemblies unless they were the Monroe Sensa-Trac line. I’d never buy struts from an off-brand company. Stick with Monroe, KYB, Gabriel, Bilstein, Rancho.
I prefer to keep factory springs rather than a generic one-size-fits-multiple assembly when possible. There are too many different OEM springs for an aftermarket supplier to be able to offer at an economical price.
Quick struts are a top to bottom solution, are they not?
No. The OP found out that they are not a good solution, Nevada_545 doesn’t like to use them as he explains in the post above, and I don’t use them for reasons I gave above as well.
Springs arrive in many slightly different lengths at the assembly plant. They ae scheduled into the car based on its projected final assembly weight because the ride height must be correct for the cars “look”, the ride and legal heaflight height requirements. Each model may have between 3 and 7 different springs just for the front. The shortest one or 2 almost never get used. - Just because you can order a 4 cyl stick without AC or power seats doesn’t mean one will ever get built!
Service parts usually don’t cover the full range for the same reason. Aftermarket suppliers pick ONE for the 4 cylinder and ONE for the 6 and call it a day. That means your ride height and alignment will vary. Lightly optioned cars will ride high and loaded cars will ride low. Its a compromise so you don’t have to stock a ton of different part numbers.
Not direct experience with FCS, but I recommend Bilstein and Rancho. They offer adjustable shocks so you can adjust the stance of your truck.
Sorry, my friend, but 20+ years as an engineer in manufacturing has taught me differently. Designers determine all the precise spring parameters based upon the calculated needs, then make final adjustments in prototype testing. Once the exact parameters are nailed down, a “specification control” drawings is established and the springs are ordered from the vendor in the volumes needed based on the production schedule, with controls established to ensure continued compliance with the spec control drawing. Springs are not sorted for production.
Your point that the makers of these “ready struts” probably use the same spring for many strut applications is probably true, however, meaning it won’t work well in all of them… especially when you hang a plow on them as the OP is doing.
thanks for all your comments. I did match new and old before installing and were same length , old springs are thicker which ended up making a 2 inch difference in clearance on the wheel wells and for plowing. Returning new quick struts for refund ,old ones are back in for now, will have garage install new struts , plates , and spacers using old springs. ( Im not one to mess with compressed springs myself …they can literally kill you without the right equipment and experience )
Did quick struts one other time on a minivan , which now that I think about it ruined the traction. Lesson learned , no more quick struts , springs arent the same.
Sincere thanks for posting back. It’s always good to find out what happened.
Yeah, I’ve read mixed reviews on quick-struts. Seems like sometimes they work, sometimes not.
Happy motoring.