Quickstruts KYB vs DURALAST Pontiac Vibe Toyota Matrix

UPDATE….so I started hearing a subtle clunking. Not on hard bumps…but more so on very small ones at lower speeds. I thought it was maybe a plastic fender liner or something. Thought it was too subtle to be an end link but I decided to change those out anyhow. Still there. Then someone suggested I check the but atop the strut. Im thinking to myself “no way. These are relatively new (about 15k miles/7 months ago). Well…site enough, it was a bit loose. At least a good quarter turn worth. Sound is gone. But….not I sometimes feel like I’m hearing a much quieter version of that me sound. Perhaps the mount is no good now? I drove it for maybe a week….mostly around town. Maybe a couple hundred miles total. Then drove it back home (east Kansas to southern Illinois) about 375 miles where I figure out it was the nut. Anyhow….so….KYB as suspected is not what it used to be. I guess checking this nut is supposed to be a regular maintenance item?????

This is not an in depth comparison…just relaying my experience in installing Duralast Quickstruts (LS34-84091R) only to find one of them was defective. I’m not bashing autozone or duralast, indeed they made hood and let me exchange them for the KYB Strut-Plus (ASR4117). But…it speaks a bit to their quality control.