30" tires on stock suspension, will it wear out the shocks faster?

[kmpl]

I recently bought an 02 pathfinder SE and it already has 30" tires. The front struts are leaking and the springs are sagging. I'm replacing the struts, shocks, and springs all around and I was going to put a 2" lift in it because I get some tire rub under heavy load offroad. I read through the suspension lift threads on here and on a few other forums and I know my two options are to either get 2" lift springs, or to install some spacers, like the ones at 4x4 designs. After reading about the issues people were having with topping out, it has made me decide to replace my springs with stock length, and then add spacers in the front and the rear.

My question is, does having larger tires(30") with stock springs make the struts wear out faster? I was thinking if there is more weight on the larger tires that it would actuate the shock more, causing it to have a shorter life span.

What have you guys experienced?

[atraudes]

From what I recall, simply adding weight (sprung or unsprung) won't wear the shocks faster, unless the spring is overloaded and therefore not doing its job. Increased motion like on rocky terrains and such are what will accelerate their wear. The thing the lift and larger tires will accelerate wear on the most is the CV joints, though a few members here have installed manual hubs to mitigate that. The downside to those, of course, is needing to get out and engage them before using 4WD

You'd probably benefit from more medium or heavy duty springs, like those listed in the suspension discussions. I think using shocks and struts with longer travel that are designed to be used with lifts will avoid the topping out you were hearing about. Check out 4x4parts.com if you haven't already. The guys that work there are super knowledgeable if you call, too.