Signs of a Faulty Car Shock Absorber

Car shock absorbers are an important component of the vehicle suspension system. Their role is to absorb the shock of the spring rebound and absorb the impact of the road surface, which affects the vehicle's ride comfort and handling, and ultimately affects our driving safety.

Function of shock absorbers

From the name of shock absorber, it seems that the vibration of the vehicle is mainly absorbed by the shock absorber, which is not the case. The energy generated by the vibration of the vehicle while passing over an uneven road surface is mainly absorbed by the spring, which will also produce rebound oscillation after absorbing the vibration. At this time, the shock absorber is used to slow down the oscillation caused by the spring.

When the shock absorber fails, the car will not experience the consequences of body bouncing due to the bouncing energy of the shock absorbing spring, affecting the stability and comfort of driving. Simply put, the main purpose of the shock absorber is to suppress the spring bounce and quickly eliminate the body's bounce.

What we usually call the vibration and stiffness of a car refers to damping force. The greater this force, the harder the shock absorber. If the shock absorber is too soft and there is no spring to absorb the vibration quickly, the body of the car will bounce up and down between the tire and the ground, reducing tire traction. However, the ride comfort of the car will be better. Soft shock absorbers are generally used for family cars. If it is too hard, it will bring too much weight. Resistor springs prevent buffering, but improve the tire's traction with the ground. Therefore, some sports cars or SUVs have hard damping.

One thing that needs to be noted is that the shock absorber only plays a damping role in the suspension spring, and has nothing to do with supporting the body of the car. The real support of the car body is the suspension spring. Some cars are modified to have a high or low performance, which changes the length and elasticity of the suspension spring, along with the corresponding shock absorber. If there is no spring in the shock absorber, the car will lie motionless on the ground.

Car shock absorbers are also vulnerable parts that lose their performance or function with use over time

How to judge whether the shock absorber is damaged? 

Generally, after the shock absorber is damaged, the following faults occur:

• Shock absorber leakage. The surface of the ordinary shock absorber is dry and clean. If there is oil leakage, the hydraulic oil in the shock absorber leaks from the upper part of the piston rod. In this case, the shock absorber is basically ineffective.

• When the car passes over rough and bumpy roads or speed bumps, the wheels make a "bang" sound, indicating that the shock absorber on the wheel is ineffective or ineffective.
  

• When the car turns, the body leans significantly, and even causes sliding. This is mainly because the damping force of the shock absorber is too small to effectively restrain the compression of the spring.
  

• After driving on a bumpy road for a period of time, we feel the temperature of the shock absorber housing with our hands. Under normal circumstances, the shock absorber housing is warm. If the shock absorber housing is cold, it means that the shock absorber is damaged.
  

When the car comes to a stop, when we press down on one corner of the body and release it, the body bounces back due to the force of the spring. If the bounce is stable and stops quickly, the shock absorber is good; if the shock absorber bounces repeatedly before stopping, it indicates that the damping effect of the shock absorber is slightly worse.