Symptoms of Worn Shock Absorbers

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How to determine if your shock absorbers need replacement? Below are the symptoms of failing or worn shock absorbers. By paying attention to your daily drive and with some visual inspection, it might reveal to you if your shock absorbers are in good condition, or maybe not.

 

 

  1.  EXCESSIVE VIBRATIONS

With both your hands on steering wheel, if you feel excessive vibration while driving on even road, it can be a sign of worn shock absorber.

 

 

  1.  EXCESSIVE BOUNCING

Excessive bouncing after a bump indicates a bad shock absorber. Good shock absorbers absorb the damping and stabilize the vehicle in a single rebound.

 

 

  1.  RIDE QUALITY

The ride quality of your vehicle during daily drive might tell on shock absorber’s condition too. Watch out for nose dive when applying brakes (leans forward), body-roll when cornering (leans side-to-side) and squats when accelerating (leans backward).   

 

 

  1.  LONGER STOPPING DISTANCE

The inefficiency of worn shock absorber to maintain optimal contact between tyre and road surface reduces the frictional grip, hence increases the stopping distance.   

 

 

  1.  UNEVEN TYRE WEAR

Visually inspect tyres for bald patches. Uneven wear on tyres can be a sign of worn shock absorbers as they failed to keep tyres firmly on road surface.

 

 

  1.  OIL LEAK

Visually inspect for oil stains along piston rod or body of shock absorber. Loss of oil will affect the performance of shock absorber and oil stain can be a sign of oil leak.