DIY automotive repair : How to diagnose suspension problems.

Suspension issues in a vehicle can easily be overlooked by the average driver. However these problems can also cause severe damage, as well as extensive repairs.

Shocks and struts are the most obvious component in a suspension system. The purpose of these are to keep your tires on the road, and to obviously absorb the spring action from bumps in the road. There is a very simple, but conclusive way to test these. Simply push down, and let it come up until the car is bouncing, and when you let off, if the car rebounds more than once you are experiencing soft shocks or struts.

You may also notice that when driving at highway speeds on rough roads that the car feels like a boat on water. Actually, it may feel like a very smooth ride, but all that extra rebounding of the suspension as a whole is not good for the other components of your suspension. Also, when taking exit ramps you may feel as though the car leans excessively. Bad shocks and struts will also cause "cupping" of tires. Cupping is when one block of the tread stands out more than the next. Run your had over your tires if they don’t feel smooth you probably have an issue. These are all good signs to take a look at those struts.

When replacing the strut, you will have to have the spring pressed off of the assembly as it is one whole unit. There are products out there that come as the whole assembly, check in to these, they may cost some more, but will save you in labor and extra time down the road.

Ball joints sit at the bottom of the strut tower and are a very common suspension issue. They are at the end of the lower control arm. The best real test for these will require a partner. First lift the car in the air so that the tire is free from the ground. Have a partner with a flashlight look at the ball joint from behind the tire as you wiggle the tire up and down. If you have a ball joint problem your partner may notice that it spreads apart slightly. If the ball joint spreads GET IT FIXED! While you can drive a car with bad ball joints, all it may take is one bad pothole to let that ball joint spread to far and the tire will collapse underneath the vehicle.




Now before you let that car down check the tie rods. There are inner and outer tie rod ends. The outer ends connect the steering arm to the hub assembly. The inner ends connect to the steering box. These also are a very common issue. Simply keep your partner where he is and now wriggle the tire side to side. If you have a tie rod problem, they will feel loose as you wriggle the tire. Have your partner hold them as you do this and if they feel any play, or looseness at all, you may have a problem.

Both ball joints and tie rods should not move under the power of a human shaking them. They are designed to pivot tightly, and any play in either of these can be hazardous. When either of these parts goes bad you may feel a slight shimmy when turning under acceleration, or when steering through turns. Both will cause misalignment, and uneven tire wear.

Hopefully this will help diagnose our suspension issues as these are the most common issues we may be faced with. Its surprising how simply they can be diagnosed when you just have the right information! Cheers my friends. :)