Suspension

Springs and Shock absorbers form part of your vehicle’s suspension system designed to reduce the effect of bumps and vibrations from road surfaces, providing you with a more comfortable ride. A good suspension system also helps to maintain vehicle stability and handling as well as helping to reduce your braking distance.

It can be difficult to recognise a problem with your suspension system because loss of performance occurs gradually over a period of time.

The spring works in an extremely harsh environment and over a mileage of 50,000 miles can move in excess of 500 million times. This leads to sagging or actual snapping. Poorly maintained roads and the prevalence of speed bumps has significantly increased the failure rates of springs in recent years.

To test your shock absorbers try this simple ‘bounce’ test. Press down on one corner of your car and let go. Count the number of bounces before the car comes to rest. If the car bounces even twice, your shock absorbers could be faulty and need to be checked.

Any suspension fault has a negative effect on your vehicles handling and safety characteristics and leads to premature tyre wear so it is always advisable to seek professional advice.