A few days ago I noticed a puddle about 6" in diameter in the garage. Looking under my truck I realized it was coming from the right rear shock. My truck is only 8 months old, and has just shy of 10,000 miles on it. Is it common for the shocks on these trucks to fail so early on? What would cause it to fail? I towed a travel trailer about 400 miles last summer (not sure of the tongue weight, but the trailer was only about 3000 lbs, so it couldn't have been much), and coincidentally towed a boat (220 lb tongue weight) about one week before the leak occurred.

I've read that you should always replace shocks in pairs, and never one at a time. I am assuming that this will be covered under warranty, but I am guessing that the dealer will only replace the bad one. If I ask for them to replace the other one and they refuse, should I pay to have the left side replaced as well?

 

Might just be a lemon shock lol usually the shocks on these trucks are built pretty well. I put 96K on my 05 and never had a problem even did towing about once a month. I would fight and try to get both replaced if not just pay for the shock out of pocket there not too pricey but I would still push for them to do it. Free is always better then cheap!

 

Another leaker here. 7000 Miles. Never overloaded. FX4 for the record.

 

I had to warranty my left rear shock for the same thing on my 2010 FX4. It blew out at 4500 mile. I have yet to haul anything or off road it.

After this the Bilsteins are looking tempting.

 

x2... i had my right rear replaced last week... only 2,000 miles on my truck.

Bilsteins will be a future upgrade

 

Just noticed the left front on my 2011 leaking. Only 3000 miles. No towing and only some easy off-roading. I'm not too concerned because it should be under warranty as long as they don't give me a hard time about my wheels/tires, but I'm annoyed. I might take my free replacement shock then upgrade to some Bilstein 5100's.

 

I have a 2010 FX4 and both of my rear shocks were leaking badly at around 6500 miles. They were both replaced under warranty. It does suck that stuff like this happens on a brand new vehicle though.

 

They replaced one of my front struts at the first oil change due to leakage

 

They replaced the rear passenger shock on my 2010 FX4 with only 14000 miles.....also leaking

 

Shocks typically leak because the oil seals get nicked, either from trapped debris or from the shaft becoming damaged by something like a kicked up rock. Just the way it goes...

A very small amount of fluid leaking out of the shock creates a pretty decent sized oil spot on the shock or garage floor.