Our 95 wagon just started to show this problem (50K miles,

almost 6 years old now).

I wonder if colder weather affects the struts at all? And,

what exactly is it that wears out (are there springs in them)?

I had a look at the way they are mounted and I don't think

it would be too difficult to replace myself (think of it

as an opportunity to disassemble and reassemble things

tighter to reduce the number of rear rattles).

The one thing I did notice is that the wires that run through

the hinge (on drivers side) seem to have some fraying in the

insulation. So, if you do open things up have a look there

since it might be a good idea to re-wrap the wiring at the

hinge.