Hola Most Honorable Hive Mind:

My mechanic/tire shop is trying to convince me that my 2006 xB needs shocks and struts at 85K miles. I called the dealer and they said no way it should need them yet.

My beloved toaster does make a creaky noise when I stop in the driveway, but is stable when I step on the bumper and let go.

Thoughts? Comments? Brilliance?

 

Actually stick your hand in the wheel well and touch the strut if its oily the struts blown. then you need new struts

 

^^^ that

 

i've got a creaky noise too, but not sure if it's the same as yours. whatever it's probably just the noise it makes turning the wheel all the way.


yeah feel if they are oily. they could be bad, and they could not be. i had a mechanic once tell me my car at the time a 99 corolla was gonna blow the f up, and explode if i didn't replace the bad o2 sensors. well i told him to go pound salt, and 50k+ miles later i finally replaced it to sell it. car stayed in one piece!

 

my xA has 86,500 of hard miles. Delivering chinese food. speed bumps, stop and go's, more time in turns than straight aways, and it's still good.

although your driving style may differ, as long as it doesn't look like one of them hondas with cut springs that keeps bouncing after a bump, or leaking as addressed above, it should be good. Checking for uneven tire wear should also tell you something. Uneven as in flat spots or bald spots in patches. Not uneven wear like the outside tread wears faster than inside tread, like in my case too many turns too fast and not enough straights

 

mine is at 82k and needs a replacement

 

What kind of driving do you guys do when u need struts at such moderate milage? My xA has nearly 95K with few thousand off pavement miles. As far as I can tell front struts are going strong still...Rear is another story...RH sprung a leak..so I replaced them...

 

Yeah it's for the rear. I just purchased the vehicle. I noticed weird tire wear to the rear so I brought it in to my mechanic to check it.

 

Mine is right at 109K, and they are good, will probably change out next summer just cause i like to do stuff like that in my spare time.

 

It also depends on if the shocks are the OEM units and the car has lowering springs. A large drop would wear them out as would a heavy system or lots of cargo hauling by the previous owner.

Gen 1 rear shocks are well under $100 and easy to replace. Might be worth it for you.

 

Rolling on KYBs now they're pretty similar to the stock ones. Rear ones took me 15 minutes to replace. Gotta love Toyotas.

 

My '05 xB has 152K on it. I am a sales rep and carry a heavy load at all times. Still on stock struts and shocks and they are fine. Good advice on checking for oil leaks and weird tire wear. 80K mileage is too soon, IMHO.

John B.

 

in reality shocks and struts last MUCH less than 82k that dealer who said they should still be good to go is 1 on crack and 2 not trying to make money at all.