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Thanks for your reply.
How does the car behave on the road? Particularly with the rear loaded with passengers and luggage. Is it in any way "bouncy"?
No, the car feels fine to me, and I suppose the damping efficiency must have been checked at the MOT so they should be about fine
Thing is, that to replace the dust covers, won't it be necessary to remove the shocks from the car? If you're going to go to that trouble, you might as well replace the shocks as labour will [probably] be the largest part of the cost.
Indeed. Also, as far as I can tell, the dust covers are not available separately and Haynes suggests replacing the whole assembly. I have the parts anyway (there was a good deal on ebay for original shocks etc.).
If the car is behaving itself under load and the shocks are not leaking, then leave alone for now, get a few more miles out of them and then change them in a year or so. Without effective dust covers they may deteriorate quicker than usual.
Yes, this is why I asked this question here - I have no way of telling how quick they'll deteriorate and, as you said, I don't want to be in the situation that I realise they have already failed, when I need them most!
If you feel that the performance has dropped off at any stage, then change them as worn shocks can affect the cars stability under braking (especially hard braking, eg an emergency, which would be when you need all the stability you can get). You don't give the total mileage, but I would suggest changing all four shocks as a set to maintain maximum control and stability should you ever need it.
The car has done almost 70000 miles - no idea if either of the previous owners had any of the shocks replaced, but they look original.
Thanks again
Albert
Edited by albapa on 11/11/2013 at 12:18
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