In our vehicle maintenance and repair section, in this article we’ll talk about shock absorber failure. We’ll try to find answers to questions such as what happens when a shock absorber fails, and how to tell a shock absorber has failed.
Shock absorbers are among the components that strengthen your car’s driving safety and road holding. When there’s a shock absorber fault, the shock absorber can’t fully perform its job. Therefore, if there’s a problem with the car’s shock absorber, road holding becomes difficult and the car can fishtail. This can cause you to have an accident at the most unexpected moment.
The shock absorber prevents the vehicle from fishtailing by preventing the center of gravity from shifting during sudden braking. Especially in curves, slipping and fishtailing caused by excess load on one side of the vehicle can cause accidents.
How Is a Shock Absorber Fault Detected?
For the reasons we wrote above, we realize how important shock absorbers are for your vehicle, and how important it is to diagnose shock absorber faults. So if shock absorbers are such important components for a car, how do we tell that a shock absorber is bad? How is a shock absorber fault detected?
If more than 50% of the shock absorbers are worn, safe driving speed on curves and dry surfaces drops by 10%. Road holding capacity and tire-road contact decrease, especially in curves.
If there’s a problem with the shock absorbers, the vehicle can lose control and fishtail while driving.
Stiffness and shaking in the steering wheel may indicate a shock absorber fault. Also, if there’s softening in the suspension system, this can be a sign of a shock absorber fault too. The ABS brake system’s functions can’t be properly performed.
If you experience dangerous sudden fishtailing while overtaking and in crosswinds, this is also among the signs of a shock absorber fault.
Fishtailing in curves and an increased braking distance point to a shock absorber fault. Weakened road holding gives us a clue when diagnosing a shock absorber fault.
When you consider that the vehicle is bouncing quite a bit, the headlights being lit will move around and illuminate the road unevenly, disturbing other drivers. The vehicle’s night vision ability decreases. This is because the road is being lit unevenly.
Rapid tire wear is also one of the results caused by a shock absorber fault. Considering the tire’s role in safe driving, this creates quite a bit of risk. In addition, rapid tire wear is also a financially troublesome situation.
Vehicles with faulty shock absorbers experience slipping on wet surfaces. If skidding (spinning wheels) occurs even at low speeds on wet surfaces, this is also among the results of a shock absorber fault.
If control of the vehicle is very easily lost on snowy and icy roads, the shock absorbers are most likely faulty.
Can a Shock Absorber Fault Be Seen with the Naked Eye?
Besides the signs we gave above, can we tell whether a vehicle’s shock absorbers are faulty just by looking at them?
Shock absorbers basically consist of two parts. The coil spring and the damper.
When the coil spring breaks, your car will sag toward the side with the faulty shock absorber. This is noticeable to the eye.
However, if the damper ruptures, this is usually not noticeable at first glance. However, since ruptured shock absorbers leak oil, the oiled area collecting dust and looking as if covered in mud can also give you a clue about this.
For safe driving, accident-free trips, and your comfort, if you notice anything that might indicate a shock absorber fault in your vehicle, don’t neglect to have the shock absorbers checked during vehicle maintenance too. Replace them with new ones if necessary.
In this article, in the vehicle maintenance and repair category, we focused on diagnosing shock absorber faults. We tried to examine how a shock absorber fault is detected, and what its symptoms are. We wish you safe travels and enjoyable drives.
Leak Symptom
Oil leaking from the shock absorber body is a clear sign that the sealing components have failed.
Excessive Bouncing Feel
Bad shock absorbers cause the vehicle to bounce more than it should on rough roads.
Irregular Tire Wear
Faulty shock absorbers can cause tires to wear in a wavy, irregular pattern.
Related Questions
When the shock absorber can’t do its job, it can’t provide the damping needed to keep the wheel in contact with the road against the lateral force generated in a curve. This can cause excess load on one side of the vehicle and an uncontrolled slide.
A shock absorber worn to this degree can’t respond fast enough to irregularities in the road surface, and tire grip decreases. To stay safe, the driver needs to reduce speed to match this reduced grip.
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