Magnified

Well, at nearly 90K miles, the right front strut has gone out. Wore rear tires out early (evidently the strut failure makes the right rear sit lower, according to the tech). So, to add to the economic misery the country is in, I'm having the strut replaced, all four Toyo T1Rs replaced with Potenzas, and the whole thing aligned and balanced (the front Toyos go into storage for another vehicle). Expensive struts - some signs of failure to watch for, not exhaustive and just my personal opinion:

1. one side sitting a little lower than the other
2. vibration unremedied by rebalance or alignment
3. ticking or other strange sound from right front prior to car being started(my wife told me she heard this after the fact sometimes as we approached the car; I didn't hear it because I was always on drivers side).

If you're looking for a good MB mechanic in the Houston area, I've got one for you.

LR