Questions about strut going bad.

My 2 cents worth... What shop did you take the car to? Did you see the strut leaking before you took it to the shop? One of the oldest scams in the book is to quirt a bit of oil on the strut, get the customer, tell them their struts are leaking and then recommend replacement of all 4. If the car is only 3 years old, is it under warranty? If it were me, I'd clean the strut, drive for a week or so and then look to see if there's any new oil visible. If you don't notice any bouncing or uneven tire wear, I'd be really suspicious.

HTH

That is 'awful' early for a strut to blow out.

I would be checking the warranty status.

Does the oil look fresh or is there a built up layer of dirt and grunge all over the top of the strut where the shaft goes in?

If fresh, be 'very' suspicious of being scammed and dry it off, then drive for a while and check it again.

If it is indeed blown, I think replacing them in pairs is the best to keep the side to side spring/shock rate the same.

My $0.02,

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Any reason why they said to change all four? I could understand recommending that they be changed in pairs, but why all four?

Also I'd second the advice to look at it yourself. Or better yet, first bounce test the vehicle. Does the damping feel good and even at all four corners? Once you get a corner bouncing up and down, let go. it should settle to a stop very quickly, and not keep bouncing at all. (My Ford pickup with new shocks does oscillate once and then stop when I do this. I'm not nuts about it but I will have to accept that that's what it's supposed to do.) If it passes that test I would wipe any evident oil off the strut and keep driving, if it doesn't reappear I would have to say that either the shop made a mistake or they're trying to scam you. I hate to accuse a shop without any knowledge but a Usenet post, but the advice to replace all four does not sit right with me.

nate

nate

More info needed. How many miles? What kind of roads? If your vehicle has 75,000+ miles or driven over very rough roads then I would say replace all 4. If you vehicle only has 5,000 miles and driven only on smooth streets then I would say replace the one strut only.

How many miles on the car? Probably not too many (