Citroen Relay Struts

Excessive bounce, nose-dive under braking, clunks over rough roads and visible oil weeping down the body. The bounce test is the useful one and needs no tools: push down hard on each corner and release. A healthy strut brings the car back up and settles in one movement. A worn one carries on bobbing two or three times, and that is a damper no longer controlling its spring.

Struts start from around R315 and range from R149 to R4,500 depending on the model and specification through our supplier network. Labour is the bigger variable at roughly two hours for a front pair, plus the alignment afterwards. Ask for a quote covering parts, fitting and alignment together — a parts price alone understates this job substantially.

Yes, both fronts or both rears together, every time. A new strut on one side and a worn one on the other means the two sides of the car respond differently to the same input, which shows up as a pull under braking and as instability in a quick lane change. Budget for pairs from the outset; a single strut is rarely money well spent.

Yes, without exception. Unbolting the strut from the hub carrier disturbs the camber setting, and a new spring restores ride height, which changes the toe. Skip the alignment and a set of new tyres can be ruined inside 10,000 km — which costs considerably more than the alignment would have. Have a four-wheel alignment done immediately after fitting, not next month.

80,000 to 120,000 km on South African roads before wear becomes obvious. Potholes, coastal salt on the strut bodies and regularly carrying loads all shorten it, and a single hard pothole strike can bend a strut rod outright. We inspect at every major service for weeping, play in the top mount and the bounce test, rather than replacing purely on mileage — plenty of struts are fine past that range and some are finished well before it.