Are you able to fix my cars suspension?

A vehicles suspension can be set up for many different purposes, for example a high-performance car might have much stiffer suspension and dampening. This stiff suspension should allow for less body roll through the corners and provide a much more firm ride.

And this stands to reason, as if the engine is large and powerful lets say roaring V8, well, there’s no point in having that much brake horse power under the cars bonnet, if the car then has soft suspension making the ride less responsive. So, as you can gather the suspension needs to suit the purpose of the car.

For example a family car might well be sent up for comfort, so the suspension is much more softer, therefore this might be more comfortable on say a long motorway journey.

However, regardless of the set-up of the suspension, the suspension arms and also bushes as well as dampening springs, can become worn and deteriorate over time. For example, you have to imagine the stress that the springs on your car and the whole suspension system endures on every drive, for example imagine all of those speed bumps, pot holes and also poor road surfaces which all are absorbed by a cars suspension.

If this deterioration is left unchecked, this can compromise the handling, and can also cause the steering to feel different. This can cause suspension faults, also on a lot of modern cars, there will be variable settings, where from the LCD display in the car, you can often set different suspension settings, such as comfort, sport, and on some cars even track set-up.

Therefore, its possible that electrical faults can be incurred, and should not be ignored.

On certain vehicles you may have an engine management system which can diagnose problems with the cars suspension, such as a component of the air suspension that’s gone wrong on say a 4X4.

The centre LCD panel may warn you that there’s say a problem with the cars suspension, or lets say the cars dashboard.

However, on some vehicles, because the suspension is mostly mechanical, there may not be any management system the see if there are any problems. This is why is especially important that the car owner has car seen by a competent mechanic if you suspect any problems.

Does your car’s handling fell different from normal?

You may have driven your car for a long period of time?

Therefore you might be used to the car’s handling by now, for example how the car feels on a country road bend, or say cornering round a roundabout.

Therefore, any difference in the handling, for example, there might be a different knocking sound as you drive over pot-holes or say a speed bump, or the steering wheel may feel less responsive, then these are just some of the signs that something is wrong, and you should get the fault rectified.

Its worth remembering that some cars, wont display a fault code for a suspension related issue.

Do you hear a different noise as your car rides over bumps and potholes in the road?

Potholes can cause a lot of problems with a car’s suspension, as the whole purpose of the suspension system is to even-out and make the ride more comfortable for the driver and passengers, if the system is subject to a large shock because of being driven over a pothole at speed, this can sometimes cause a lot of damage and will need to be inspected by a mechanic.

Does your car feel lower on one-side of the vehicle?

Sometimes one side of the car can feel lower, for example the suspension arm or spring might be deteriorated, this will need to fixed. If the cars undrivable, make sure a mobile mechanic visits you.

Is your car simply less comfortable to drive?

It’s also entirely possible that your car starts to become less comfortable, it may not be able to take the shocks of the road as well as it was once did?

So although there might not be, in some cases any total mechanical failures, it might be the case that the components have just become more warn, therefore they may need replacing before they do deteriorate to the point where say a part fails.

Is there uneven tyre wear across the tyre?

The suspension arms and spring’s purpose is to dampen the ride, it should therefore take the shock out of the wheel as it drives along the road. If the lower suspension arms and other components become highly worn then this can cause uneven tyre wear.

Does your car requires suspension need to be repaired?

We are an independent garage; we repair many suspension systems on vehicles every single month.

For example, we can fix the suspension system on a large sports utility vehicle (SUV), which can be very different to what is fitted to say a city car, yet with that said our mechanics are highly experienced in working on all types of car suspension.

Plus, you can be rest assured that we will only supply quality suspension parts when they need replacing.

Why not book your car in for an inspection by one of our mechanics here in Cardiff?

If you are concerned that your car suspension is not working correctly, then why not give us a call today?