struts gone bad ?

I have a 2009 Legacy Special Edition that was making EXCESSIVE road noise. I went to the dealer; on a test drive the mechanic IMMEDIATELY thought I had bad bearings. Upon putting the car on the rack, he said the bearings were fine and the tires were bad. They were wearing evenly side to side but had major bumps in them. SO I went to the tire store where I bought the tires and they said I had bad struts. The car has 69k miles.

Who do I believe, how can I verify this? I do have the Subaru 100k warranty that DOES cover struts but Subaru says they need an area rep to check the car.

The odd part is, everyone says there is no real way to test the struts sooo how can the area rep test them ?

Slightly confused.

Struts may be weak at that mileage (tho they last longer, with reducing effect).
Sounds to me like the tire people are trying to get out of replacement.
Have the Subaru rep check the struts and get a written result of inspection and take that to the tire shop.
Don't know how they will check, but there is a certain amount of pressure needed to compress the strut when unloaded.

O.

It's easy to do a basic strut check. Out all of your weight on one corner of the car, then release it quickly. A new stock strut will allow the car to come up slightly above the rest position and settle. A blown strut will allow the car to oscillate for two or more cycles before coming to rest. A performance strut will damp to the rest position with no overshoot. Repeat the test at all four corners.