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Every system in a car is susceptible to wear, some parts more than others, but everything has a useful life and must be replaced. Lack of preventive and corrective maintenance on shock absorbers can result in instability that leads to an accident and sometimes irreparable damage to the moving parts of the suspension.
The shock absorber is so vital to the car that, together with the brakes and tires, it forms part of the “safety triangle.” If any of these three elements fail, the steering, stability and braking of the car are directly affected.
-The first sign that a shock absorber is no longer in optimal working condition is the vibrations and swaying that are felt in the car when exceeding 70 km/h.
-Another sign is the number of bounces that the car’s suspension makes when going over a speed bump. A shock absorber in good condition absorbs the impact of this type of obstacle so that it does not reach the cabin and if it is in good condition it only “goes back and forth” once when overcoming any obstacle on the road.
-Depending on the make and model of the vehicle, the average life of a shock absorber ranges between 70,000 and 100,000 kilometers, so it should be considered replacing them after this time.
Some recommendations for good shock absorber performance include :
-Visually inspect all shock absorbers. Some faults or damage are noticeable to the naked eye.
-Permanent attention on the road. The vast majority of damage to a shock absorber is caused by a lack of attention while driving. It is very common to fall into a pothole or “hit” a speed bump due to being distracted, this can cause irreversible damage to the shock absorber, the suspension, the tire and even the rim of the car.
-Don’t forget to periodically check the shock absorbers to ensure they are working properly.
-Respect the maximum load and occupancy limits of the vehicles. Exceeding these limits will cause the shock absorbers to be overloaded during operation, which will cause a faster decrease in their useful life.
