2009 Toyota RAV4 Front Struts

KONDRA50

MEMBER
2009 TOYOTA RAV4
94,000 MILES

I was told my front struts are leaking is there any way to tell when you drive and is it common that this happens I do not notice performance issue or unusual wear of tires vehicle rides smooth so that's why I was wondering if this is something that happens

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Absolutely. Struts can fail in a number of ways. They can cause excessive bouncing. They can make a knocking noise. That is heard easiest on relatively smooth roads when a lot of other noises aren't there to mask it. They can also leak oil out the top. If that leakage is slow, it can go on for quite a while before excessive bouncing will occur. Usually internal wear leads to that leakage, and that wear also eventually leads to a knocking or light rapid thumping noise.

That wear won't get bad enough to allow a wheel to lean excessively and cause tire wear, but the vehicle will need an alignment when the struts are replaced because replacing them requires disassembling other parts that may include taking adjustment points apart.