Saturday, November 20, 2010

Struts on a 2006 toyota corolla?

We were recently at our dealer for a regular check-up. The car has 115,000 km on it and we were told that the left rear strut is leaking. We have felt no bumping or anything else unusual in the way the car drives. We barely drive it, especially in the summer. I've even heard of cars going way longer and never having to change the struts. Questions:

1 - how can we tell ourselves if and how much the strut is leaking? Wouldn't there be a spot on the driveway?

2 - can we replace it ourselves?Struts on a 2006 toyota corolla?
1 - You raise the car and remove the wheel, and look at the strut. If it's wet (as though oil has been leaking from it) you have a leak (don't do this after driving through puddles, of course :) ).



2 - Yes, but you don't want to. It's dangerous and a huge PITA. Take it to an independent mechanic and see about getting a 'quick strut'. It's a complete strut assembly with a new mount, new bearing, new boot, new bumpstop, and new spring. It will cost about $120 more than a plain strut (figure on $200 for a quick strut assembly) but you get a lot more new parts, and save some money in labor since they're much easier to install.Figure $225 for a plain strut, or about $270-300 for the quick strut assembly.



Of course labor rates vary by region, so this might be low or high by a bit.



And a bad strut won't affect safety unless it's noticeably bad, and won't wear other parts, so let this one go until you have a problem you can notice.Struts on a 2006 toyota corolla?
I would get a second opinion go to any repair shop ,but a dealer.