This May Be A Stupid Question But...

[mech9T8]

I think I'm asking this almost as an excuse to get a stiffer suspension...you know, shocks, springs, sway bar, etc. But seriously, how do you know that you need to replace all that stuff. Right now my car feels great but when it needs it I'll get the better stuff.

[thekid]

typically speaking your springs should never go bad. Your struts should last at least 60k miles but could last a lot lot longer depending on your driving habits, if you have ever auto-x'd the car or otherwise tracked the car, that severly cuts down the life of the struts. You can break or otherwise mess up strut mounts by hiting pot holes or bumps at insane speeds, or by driving habits. There is no real set time to replace the suspension. You can actually drive on a blown strut for quite a while and still have fairly decent handling if you really have to.