Anyone have an idea how long OEM shocks last under normal driving conditions? I'm not having any problems but wonder how much the ride has been affected on my 07 Rav4 with 55,000 miles on it and 4 Northern winters under it's belt.

 

I replaced my 99 Civic struts at 100K. They were still perfectly fine, no leaks, or noises but started getting bouncy on corners. Is your CR-V an LX or EX. The EX was made in Japan, should be good to 100K at least -- the LX (we had one) was made in England -- and you know what they say about British cars

 

I think around 75,000 miles on the Hondas I had for over 100,000 miles.

 

Ellen-it's a Toyota Rav4

 

Absent any fluid leaks or obvious handling changes it can be hard to tell. One old school test is to go to each corner and push down as hard as you can then let off quickly and watch the response. It should just return to normal drive height without any bounce.

*Note - this method has no guarantees of accuracy.

 

Shock absorber wear is like the boiling frog thing -- things go south slowly and you adapt as you go along. If that corner bounce test fails at all, new shocks might well be quite a pleasant surprise.

But it's surely true that that Rav4 isn't ever going to handle like an S, even an S with bad shocks. HPH

 

Like most automotive "things". Thank God that they do not make them like they use too. I remember the days when OEM shocks needed to be replaced almost right out of the show room.

 

I just got to thinking - without a ladder the corner bounce test will be kind of tough on a RAV4.

 

For whatever reason 3 of my shocks on the S2000 were gone before 40K.

My Front shocks on my E430 needed to be done at 120K.
They were fine for he most part but at high speed they tended to let the front end "walk" when going over expansion joints etc.
I don't recall ever changing the shocks on my ML with 195K on it.

At 145k on my old 626, I'd get vibration at highway speeds on the rears.
Turns out the tires got scalloped, both inner and outer edges, and out of balance from the odd vibration pattern; the shocks just weren't doing there job any more.


So until you feel the need along with a symptom, don't worry be happy.

 

Thanks for the input everyone!