Well, I've finally got round to replacing the spheres on my Xantia. Looking at the markings the front corner and both hydractive spheres were originals. This is on a 98 with 151K miles! The rears had been replaced in 2002.
I'm pretty impressed by the lifespan given that the car was perfectly driveable: the decision came after a ride in a friend's Fiesta which felt as comfortable as the Xantia... The fact that when the car went into hard mode there were almost Activa levels of roll hinted that all wasn't well too!
The old ones came off fairly easily. The front hydractive and rear corners needed a shove from my size 12 foot on the ebay tool. The rear hydractive needed some hammer on tool action, but was easy enough once I'd tightened the tool sufficiently.
So far the car feels nicer - not a night and day difference, but definitely softer, particularly the rear.
Sphere Life
Moderator: RichardW