Symptoms of a bad shock

Symptoms of a bad shock

They’re are about more than comfort; they’re a safety item

Most people think that shock absorbers and struts are just for comfort. While good shocks do provide a more comfortable ride, their main job is to keep  your tires on the road and eliminate bouncing. When they wear out, you lose ride comfort and control and and that causes increased stopping distance. Here are the symptoms of worn out shocks.

Less control and worse ride comfort

Worn shocks allows your tires to bounce when they hit a bump. When your tires are in the air, they can’t control your vehicle’s position. Worn shock absorbers make you fell like your vehicle won’t stay in its own lane on bumpy curves. You’ll also feel your vehicle sway more on turns and possibly feel like your vehicle is being pulled in another direction.

Excessive nose dive when stopping and faster front brake wear

When they’re worn, they can’t resist the weight transfer that happens during stopping. So vehicle weight shifts forward, puts more stress on your brakes and causes the nose to dive.

More wear on all your suspension components and tires

This one is pretty simple: more tire bounce means more suspension component movement. More movement means more wear. So you’re not saving any money by postponing shock replacement. Drive on worn shocks and you’ll wear out your ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings and stabilizer end links much faster.

Tire damage

Every time an airborne tire returns to the pavement, the contact scrubs off additional rubber; kinda like airplane tires do when the aircraft lands. The “divots” created by the tire recontacting the pavement creates “tire cupping” which causes tire imbalance, more tire bounce and rapid tire wear.

Test for bad shocks

You can test your shocks with a bounce test. Press on the fender of your car several times until you get maximum up/down movement. Then stop. A good one will stop the up/down movement within 1 to 1-1/2 rebounds. A bad shock will allow the vehicle to continue rocking. If you see more movement than 1-1-1/2 it’s time to replace your bad shocks.

NOTE: This test only works with shocks, not struts. Struts are a whole different animal. Even a severely worn strut will pass the bounce test. For more information on how to test a strut, see this post.

©, 2022 Rick Muscoplat