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The right time to repair or replace your failing suspension equipment was yesterday. The next best time is as soon as possible. Simply put, it’s never a good idea to wait around to fix your suspension (Shocks and Struts).
Driving around on worn-out shocks and struts can cause all sorts of issues that affect the comfort, performance, and safety of your vehicle. In this article, we go over a few of the most significant of those issues to emphasize the importance of addressing your suspension issues right away.
6 Issues Caused by Driving on Worn-Out Shocks and Struts
When you drive a car that has failing or failed struts and shocks, you risk running into a long list of issues. Some of those are more significant than others. In this section, we take a look at six of the most critical problems that can occur when you ignore suspension problems.
1. Increased Stopping Distance
Many drivers don’t realize that their struts and shocks do a lot of the work of bringing your vehicle to a stop. They do so by absorbing the force generated by stopping a big, heavy machine, making them a key safety component in your vehicle.
When your struts and shocks are worn down, your vehicle will take longer to come to a stop, especially at highway speeds. In many cases, the additional stopping distance and time can be the difference between an uneventful commute home and a rear-end collision.
2. Poor Handling
The struts and shocks in your car are the link between the steering wheel and the wheels, making them a critical part of its steering and handling system. Healthy struts and shocks allow for precise, responsive driver control and feedback, enabling the driver to maneuver and turn with ease.
However, when those struts and shocks wear down, they lose their responsiveness. The result is a vehicle that’s more difficult to control and may not do what you need it to. That can be annoying at best as you try to compensate for the difference. At worst, it can make it difficult for you to avoid an accident, putting your health and safety at risk.
3. Damage to Other Suspension Components
Your suspension does the important job of keeping your vehicle level and distributing the force and feedback of driving evenly across the body. Or, at least it does that when it’s in good shape.
When one or more struts or shocks wear down, it changes the physics of your vehicle. Uneven distribution of force can cause excessive or uneven wear on other suspension components, causing them to wear out more quickly.
That’s why suspension repairs tend to get more expensive with time. The longer you wait to address a bad shock or strut, the more you’ll have to repair or replace and the more you’ll have to spend to do it.
4. Compromised Ride Quality
Driver comfort is another responsibility taken on by your shocks and struts. These components provide the damping power that absorbs bumps and dips from the road and smooths out the ride.
Struts and shocks that are in poor condition can’t provide the same damping support as those in good condition. With decreased resistance power, they can allow for significantly more body travel, which translates into a much bumpier and much less comfortable ride for the driver and passengers.
5. Excessive Tire Wear
Your vehicle’s struts and shocks are what enable your tires to maintain consistent and even contact with the road surface. As a result, they help minimize wear and tear and keep that wear and tear even and predictable.
However, once those shocks and struts start to wear out, they can’t provide the same amount of support. This means your wheels may wobble or make contact with the road in ways they weren’t designed to — bringing your tires with them. When this happens, your tires are likely to wear out more quickly and less evenly, resulting in a less comfortable and less safe ride.
6. Failed Inspection
The suspension is one of the checkpoints for many state inspections, as it is a critical part of every vehicle’s safety system. If your struts and shocks are in really poor shape, your vehicle may not be able to pass inspection, creating delays and challenges to renewing your registration and staying in compliance with state laws.
Driving around on worn-out shocks and struts creates a safety hazard for you and everyone else on the road. State regulatory agencies know that, which is why inspectors need to ensure that your suspension is in good working order before passing your vehicle in an inspection.
Don’t Wait: Fix Your Struts and Shocks Now
Waiting around to fix your failing shocks and struts can make your car less comfortable, less safe, and less enjoyable to drive. It can also make the inevitable repairs much more expensive.
Need someone to install your new shocks and struts? Our team can help line you up with a Strutmasters-approved repair center for an installation that matches the rigorous standards we set for our suspension equipment.
