How do you know if the suspension has gone on your car?

Those three things support the car, absorb bumps, and steers the vehicle while turning.  When any part of that car suspension system is damaged, it impacts the steering and degrades the performance of the car. This can often be fixed with new shocks or struts, sometimes a realignment of the front wheels. 

What causes suspension damage?

If you’ve driven enough, you have no doubt “hit” your share of potholes and drover over rough roads. It used to be bad after winter, but these days, seems like all the roads are filled with potholes.  As careful of a driver as you may be, there is always that one huge pothole hidden by a shadow or around a slight curve that  you come across before you have time to avoid it or slow to a crawl.

 Over time, when you’ve “hit” enough of those potholes or went over speed bumps at 30mph , it can damage your car suspension. If you’ve ever hit a bump hard enough   that you “ “bottomed out” aka, the bottom of your car hit the road, you did not do your car suspension a favor.

 Why does car suspension break?

Car suspension rarely break, in fact, the cars made today have a coil spring, the chance of the car suspension breaking is one in a thousand. The suspension of an older car with leaf springs could break but it would have to be a had impact. While we say it is rare a car suspension would break, it does happen. Some factors that could cause a car suspension to break: 

• Bumps: Hitting a really large bump at a really high rate of speed could break a car suspension. 
• Overloaded: The springs on a car suspension can be overloaded and then hitting a bump with that weight could be more than the car suspension is designed to hand. 
• Rust: The springs of a car suspension are made of steel, and all steel will rust, and when combined with other corrosion an oxygen from the atmosphere, it weakens the spring. Once a spring is compromised with corrosion and rust, it could break fairly easily.  The corrosion is normal after salt has been left on icy roadways. 
• Chemic Changes: Over time, steel can have chemical changes from hydrogen molecules penetrating between the iron, making the steel crack from hydrogen embrittlement. Again, like corrosion, this is usually from salted roadways in the winter. 
• Age: Metal won’t weaken over time unless it is abused. In the case of car suspension, that abuse is in the way of hard bangs and strong vibration. This causes cracks and the springs weaken. This can’t happen in short time, it takes probably a million bends before the steel weakens enough, but if combined with rust, this could speed up the process. 

How long does a car suspension last?

There are too many factors and variable to get a timeframe on the life of car suspension. It mostly weighs on the shocks or struts. If we’re forced to put a number on the lifespan of shocks or struts, we would give them 5 years on average.  There are cars that the shocks can last 10 years though. 

What does a bad suspension sound like?

 If you’re hearing your car suspension is squeaking, then you need to take your car to the mechanic for new shocks or struts.  If there are other issues under the front end, they can advise you then. If your car is making creaking, groaning, popping, or snapping sounds while steering it around corners, your car suspension is worn out. Same with any clunking, rattling, or popping sounds while driving over rough roads.

Can you fix suspension on a car?

Yes, and it could be fairly inexpensive, and it could be costly, depending on what all is needed in the car suspension. If it is replacing the shocks or struts, that is the cheaper repair. If the axle are bent or broken, you could be looking at $1,000 or more.  The type of car you have is also a factor in the cost of repairing car suspension.