Topic: Rear shock leaking--replacing *only* the rear shocks?

[Mitlov]

The rear left shock on my Jetta sprung a leak at 50,000 miles.  My mechanic says it needs to be replaced.  I was going to put on a quality stock-replacement aftermarket unit (i.e., keeping the stock springs and not going for significantly stiffer shocks).  I was looking at either a Bilstein HD or a KYB GR-2.

The mechanic says that we should just do the rear suspension, not all four corners.  I was a little concerned that this might leave the car unbalanced somehow, having used OEM shocks up front and new aftermarket in back.  But at the same time, if there's no real problems, I really need to save the money (student loans and the US health care system have left us with precious little cash sitting around).

Are my concerns legit?  Or is the mechanic right, that there's no reason to replace the front shocks in this situation?

[rrocket]

Mit...I've done just the rears before on a couple of cars before, and there were no worries.  I've also used both of those shocks before.  The Bilsteins will be stiffer than the KYBs.  Another choice would be the KYB AGX...they have adjustable damping for not alot of extra $$

[PJungnitsch]

Agree, no reason to replace the front shocks too that I'm aware of, always stuck to the one axle myself. Sounds like you have an honest mechanic.

The GR-2's on the front of my truck are still good after 13 yrs and 140,000 km, I took them off the other day and checked, no gaps in the stroke, amazing.

[inco]

If the car has original shocks on it and one goes, the logic is that the other ones MIGHT soon follow and so you are better off replacing all four. Now if he said replace just the faulty one you might be a little concerned about different handling, but he didn't and he is right.

[barrie1]

Just the 2 should be fine as he probably inspected all 4 and just the one set will be fine. Your pocket will dictate what you can afford but the brand names you have stated are quite good indeed. This is the normal way it seems to go as one end wears faster then the other on most cars and overtime you will do all 4 but usually not at once. 

[Mitlov]

Thanks all.  I'll do the rear with Bilstein HDs, and when the fronts start to go, I'll do the same there.

[wing]

As long as you aren't tracking it   Stiffer rear than front could make for some interesting handling!