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I drive a 2014 Corolla LE and recently had my right front shock strut and stabilizer bar link replaced under warranty(Defective part leaking) with OEM parts at 20k miles. Currently the car has 22k miles on it. Alignment has been done.

Question:

Since only the right strut has been replaced (Didn't think it was necessary to replace the unaffected left strut at 20k miles) would the right strut wear faster than the left strut until both have similar stiffness/wear?

I ask this because the left side strut is a tiny bit softer than the newly installed right strut. I am hoping over time, both struts will "equalize" to which ride and handling aren't affected.

Thank you!

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Yes, one side will likely wear out before the other. Typically shocks/struts are changed in pairs for this specific reason. Doing so maintains ride and drivability standards.

According to Monroe Shocks and struts typically will last about 50,000 miles, depending on the conditions they are used in. So, you have one side that has about half its life already used.

The dealership may have been trying to save a few bucks on warranty work. Personally, I would take it back to the dealership and have them replace the other side because there is a noticeable difference in the ride and handling of the vehicle.

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You don't have to worry about it as long as the difference is within acceptance limits. When they test the suspension, they can see the variance between left and right. If the difference is too much, this would effect handling of the car and can be a safety risk.

I think one side softer won't mean it will wear faster. But especially since your car is driven so little, I would think that the difference should be very little anyway.

I would check the tire pressures. Once I had almost 40% difference between left and right side when the car was in yearly checkup. Normally it was less than 10% every other year. Then I found out that one tire had a puncture and it was almost empty and it fooled the test machine.

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Did you check or were the spring rates checked for the right hand side compared to the original / left hand side - some cars have different spring options.

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  • The strut was replaced by an OEM Toyota part at the dealer so i'm sure the spring rates are the same. I believe the difference in ride is just from the strut having 20k more miles on it.
    – Jimm14
    Jun 28, 2017 at 22:52
  • Glad you are sure - I was at a dealership that supplied two cars - same colour same model and they went out on the road. When they came in for the first service it was noticed that the number plates on the front did not match the number on the rear... the rear plates were on the wrong cars. Anyway if the springs are the same then the only other difference could be the damper rate...
    – Solar Mike
    Jun 28, 2017 at 22:55

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