Are your shock absorbers leaking?

When your car shock absorbers give up the ghost, you’re in for a bumpy ride. As a key component of the suspension system, the shocks work with the springs to absorb the impact of your wheels bumping and jolting over uneven surfaces and keep your tyre in contact with the road. A leaking shock absorber is one that can’t do its job efficiently, so it’s important you know what signs to look out for. At mycar, our mechanics have the expertise to diagnose your suspension problems and quickly sort out a solution.

What is a shock absorber?

Without a suspension system between the body of your car and the wheels, you would feel every little bump in the road, and also have a hard time keeping all four tyres on the ground. The spring absorbs the suspension movement, either by cornering or going over bumps in the road, and the shock absorber dampens the oscillations of the spring. A car can drive without shock absorbers but it would bounce down the road like a pogo stick.

Shock absorbers are basically a tube filled with oil and have a piston attached to a rod that moves through the oil. As the piston moves up and down inside the tube, the oil is forced through tiny holes, in the piston creating resistance and slowing the piston down. The process generates heat, which is absorbed by the oil. If the shock loses oil, it can no longer do this. If the seal around the piston wears out, it can leak internally, losing its ability to dampen the movement.

How long do shock absorbers last?

Cars living an easy life of casual suburban driving might see their shock absorbers last as long as ten years and nearly 200,000km before they lose enough performance to warrant replacement. For tough working vehicles, or cars that see a lot of hills and rough roads, shock absorber repair or replacement might become prudent after only five or six years and less than 100,000km. Like many components in your car, they simply wear and reduce performance over time. Some just more than others.

How to know if shock absorbers are worn

Signs of worn or leaking shock absorbers include:

Knocking noises in the suspension when going over bumps.

Can you drive with bad shock absorbers?

Shock absorbers wear so slowly that quite often you don’t realise how much the ride of your car has deteriorated until it’s quite severe. A car can drive on worn on blown shock absorbers, but with no dampening of the springs, it will bounce down the road like a pogo stick. You can use your hands to bounce the back of a car with blown shocks and it will not only keep going, you can easily make it bounce higher and higher like a trampoline.

This bouncing is quite dangerous as tyres can reduce their contact patch with the road and big bumps aren’t dampened and go straight into the body of the car as the shock absorber bottoms out. This can cause damage to the entire car’s body and other suspension components. Handling, braking and acceleration are all effected and reduced, sometimes to dangerous levels, when shock absorbers are blown.

Shock absorber replacement

mycar offers a comprehensive suspension service, including repair and replacement of key suspension components. Call your local mycar shop to discuss your car’s suspension system and get shock absorber prices relevant to your vehicle. We know that car maintenance adds up quickly and can hit the hip pocket hard; that’s why we work hard to keep our shock absorber replacement cost down to a minimum (we cover average costs on our service page).

Keep your shocks in good shape – book into mycar for a suspension service today.