Controlling your automobile is difficult when it has a bad suspension. This crucial foundation houses the wheels and steering system. In other words, you can drive your car, truck, utility vehicle, or van without its suspension. Automobile Diagnostics lists six signs below that indicate that your car’s suspension is worn and needs to be serviced.
1. Bumpy Rides
If your shocks and struts need to be replaced, you will feel every bump in the road. These parts are designed to cushion your ride so that you have a comfortable ride even on rough highways. Feeling every single bump that you drive over indicates a suspension problem that can usually be blamed on old and worn shocks and struts.
2. Low-Sitting Corner
Your suspension has springs on each wheel. If one of these springs breaks, your car will sit lower on that wheel. Another sign that you have a broken suspension spring is that you will hear a clunk every time you go over a bump. Depending on where you hear the noise, this will direct you to the wheel that needs to have a new suspension spring installed.
3. Misalignment Pulls
If your vehicle is not aligned, which is a crucial part of maintaining the suspension, it will pull to the right or left at all times. You may be driving straight, but your vehicle will head in either direction. Usually, realigning the wheels will correct this problem.
4. Momentum Movement
Another sign that you are having problems with your shocks and struts is momentum movement. What this means is that your vehicle will respond to what you are doing. In other words, worn shocks and struts will make it tilt to the side when you turn corners, lean forward when you stop and lunge backward when you accelerate.
5. Oily Shocks
As shocks get older, they begin to leak oil. If you check your shocks regularly, you’ll be able to tell when they start to leak. This is a sign that the shocks need to be replaced right away.
6. Steering Trouble
Finally, your steering system is part of your suspension as we mentioned above, and steering trouble can range from something as minor as low power steering fluid to something as major as steering column damage. It’s important to have your steering trouble corrected to maintain control of your automobile.
Automobile Diagnostics is the best auto shop in Columbus IN, and we can inspect your vehicle suspension to find out what is wrong with it. Once we identify the problem, we will let you know what it will take to fix it.