Vehicle Suspension Maintenance

After many years and tens of thousands of kilometers, your vehicle suspension system components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive around.

As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth BC highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads. In addition to just wearing out, vehicle suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road.

Because the lifespan of shocks can vary so widely, your car maker recommends periodic inspections. During an inspection, your DOWNTOWN AUTOMOTIVE service advisor will check for worn, broken or missing parts.

Signs that shocks or struts are wearing out: The tires may have a cupped wear pattern . This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly. You may notice a floating or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your vehicle dives excessively when stopping or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid , it’s definitely time to replace them.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, come see us at DOWNTOWN AUTOMOTIVE for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. Worn or broken shocks can cause premature wear or failure on other vehicle suspension parts such as ball joints and other steering components as well. If your suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so take care of these things.

When you replace your shocks at DOWNTOWN AUTOMOTIVE, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your DOWNTOWN AUTOMOTIVE service advisor because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.

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