If you think that your car's braking system is solely responsible for bringing your vehicle to a halt, think again. Several other components are crucial to this safe operation and if you don't keep an eye on them, you may be risking the safety of yourself and others. While you must maintain those brakes in good condition at all times, you should periodically check these other components to make sure that they're helping and not hindering your deceleration effort. What do you need to look for?
Deal with More Than Just Bumps
You may think that shock absorbers and springs are there to make sure that you have a smooth ride at all times, and to deal with Australia's many potholes. As you may know, you have an interconnected system at each corner of the car, where the strut assembly absorbs any shocks and the spring helps to dampen any adverse effects. The absorber and the spring work together in tandem, but they do far more than simply deal with those potholes.
Understand the Importance of Your Suspension
When this assembly is properly tuned, the vehicle will be able to go around corners without tending to hop to one side as it does so. The assemblies at each corner may work independently of each other, but they stop the vehicle from leaning or lifting a wheel during a sharp manoeuvre.
Furthermore, springs and shock absorbers help to keep the wheel in contact with the surface beneath whenever you brake sharply. As you apply pressure to the brake pedal, the centre of gravity will move forward, and without these components the tyres could lose connection with the surface.
How to Check
How do you know if they are working correctly? You can perform a simple test right now to give you a good insight into the health of each shock absorber system.
Press down sharply on the front, driver's side corner of your car and count the number of times that the front wing rebounds when you let go. If everything is okay, then it should settle back to normal almost immediately. However, if you notice that the car bounces up and down several times before smoothing out, you've got an issue with your shock absorber.
Try this test on each corner of the car while you are at it. If you notice any issues, contact a car service mechanic as soon as possible. Make no mistake, you could be putting your safety at risk if you drive a car with faulty suspension.
Share20 July 2018
It's easy to get overlooked when you head into get your car serviced if you are a woman. I have found the trick to getting the auto repairers to take me seriously is to do some research beforehand and look at what the log book says they need to replace this service. I wish I had started doing it earlier because it's also helping me trouble shoot repair issues and I'm saving myself a lot of time and stress this way. I'm keeping track of everything I have learned on this blog so I can share it with other new drivers and help them understand their auto service requirements as well.