Your vehicle’s suspension system plays a crucial role in delivering a smooth, safe, and controlled driving experience. By absorbing bumps, maintaining tire contact with the road, and supporting stable steering, the suspension ensures comfort for you and your passengers while protecting vital components from wear and tear. In this article, we’ll be going over how your suspension works, the best ways to care for it, and how you can avoid costly repairs and keep your vehicle performing its best for years to come.
What Is The Suspension System?
A vehicle’s suspension system consists of shocks, springs, and various interconnected parts that work together to keep your tires gripping the road, ensure stable steering, and deliver a comfortable ride for you and your passengers.
While the exact components and setup of the system can vary considerably between make and model, all suspension systems are designed with these responsibilities.
Suspension System Components
- Coil Springs: Springs that support the weight of the vehicle and absorb bumps by compressing and expanding, helping maintain ride height and comfort.
- Shock Absorbers: Also referred to as shocks, these dampen the movement of the springs, controlling unwanted bouncing and improving ride stability and handling.
- Struts: A structural component that combines a shock absorber and a coil spring into a single unit, providing both dampening and support for the vehicle’s suspension
- Control Arms: These hinged links connect the wheel hubs to the vehicle’s frame, allowing for controlled movement while maintaining proper wheel alignment.
- Ball Joints: These flexible joints connect the suspension to the wheels, allowing the wheels to move up and down and turn smoothly.
Best Ways To Protect Your Suspension
Regular Wheel Alignments
With the suspension system being directly attached to the wheels, it’s no surprise that neglected wheel alignments can affect the surrounding suspension components.
When a car is out of alignment, the wheels work against the forward movement of the vehicle, putting extra strain on the suspension system. If you ignore poor wheel alignment, it can cause your suspension components to wear out faster, reduce your fuel efficiency, and create noticeable drivability problems.
Having your wheels aligned by a trusted professional every 12,000 miles, or roughly a year of consistent driving, ensures that your suspension system is protected from unnecessary wear.
Avoid Bad Driving Habits
The amount of wear the suspension system endures depends a lot on how you can drive your vehicle. Taking speed bump sand pothils at high speed can cause a significant amount of unnecessary stress, while driving over them with caution will reduce the amount of impact the suspension must absorb.
Clean The Undercarriage
Often overlooked, cleaning the undercarriage will help keep your suspension system protected. Especially when it has been snowing outside, as the road salt can cause rapid corrosion to important suspension components if left to accumulate under your vehicle
Don’t Overload Your Vehicle
It’s best to always stay under the recommended load capacity mentioned in your vehicle’s owner manual. The more weight your vehicle carries, the more stress it places on the suspension system. Removing unnecessary heavy items or accessories when not in use can help to alleviate the load placed on the suspension components.
Replace Worn-Out Components Promptly
Replacing old suspension components when nearing failure is important for protecting the surrounding components. When one part of the suspension system fails, it places increased stress on the rest of the system, accelerating wear and tear.
If you notice symptoms of a faulty shock, spring, or ball joint, it’s crucial to have it inspected by a trusted automotive professional to avoid further damage and repairs.
Suspension System Repair at Scott’s U-Save
Issues with your vehicle’s suspension system can result in an immediate impact on driving dynamics and comfort in the vehicle, while other issues can be less noticeable until they reach full failure. So don’t let suspension issues linger; take your vehicle to the experts at Scott’s U-Save! Convenient locations in New Lenox, IL; Schererville, IN; Steger, IL; and Crown Point, IN, all staffed with ASE-certified technicians. Call or schedule online with us today!