How do you tell if it's bad coil springs or bad shocks???

[~Vēġó~]

Just wondering.....without removing the assembly from the vehicle how do you know whether it's shock or spring?

For instance, the bounce test- the rear of the vehicle depresses without much effort but if bounced, it returns to stop almost instantly...doesn't take much weight for the rear to "hang down".....

the front however is quite hard to depress and if bounced returns immediately to stationary......

Ride is a bit jerky not really bouncy as much as it is jerky...but then the road is horrid.

Thoughts?

[VIP2Nr]

wanted to know the same thing...i have kyb ExcelG shocks & the ride is very "jerky" to..

[Dave]

oh wait u was serious, lol

never really knew how to tell w.r.t. springs

[VexXx Dogg]

front has the engine weight so it wont be as bouncy as the rear.

Springs may lose some tension, but that happens after a lot of years/use. As dave said, it hard to tell.

More than likely the cause is the shock or perhaps the accompanying suspension bushings.

[turbohead]

well the bounce test is to test the shock absorbers. wen bounced teh travel should be no more than 1 1/2 times til the vehicle is stationery ne longer an yuh shocks are busted. with the springs wat i do i jack up the car an rock the springs in the assembly an make sure it is steady an not rockin in the shock assembly like right now in my car. an if you could compress the spring with yuh hands then it definitely bad. also a major part we overlook wen changing these parts are the rubber at the base of the spring this rubber if bad could cause some really irritating noises. and no do not take a garden hose an place it over it to rectify the problem, buy a rubber. there are also tools dat help to measure the spring tension of a spring to see if it sagged an lost tension. springs that lose tension tend to give you dat bouncy an uncontrollable and uncomfortable ride.

[cinco]

easiest way
whats the mileage of the car?
if you clockin 100k miles i would say change shocks and springs technically springs are supposed to last the life of the vehicle but with trini roads i dont think they will.
look for signs of leaks from the shocks or odd noises when compressed start with changing the shocks and then if it doesnt feel any better its the springs

[~Vēġó~]

soldier, start by changing shocks? at $5K+ for the front and $2500 for the rear, original, that eh no cheap try nah!!!!.........though the guys in aus are adamant that that the kyb excel-g's are an upgrade from oem, so maybe I'll go that way........my current ride height is about one cm lower than what my manual states....but then maybe that's because of the tyres 225/60/16's where the oem tyre size to get oem height is 205.65.16's.........

car just has 77,000 km on it.......rear shocks were changed when I got the car with oem as it was excessively bouncy........

I'll be getting a price check on coil springs soon, so I'll figure what to do next.....

[cinco]

gotta pay to play you want luxury you pay the price for the parts
77k is the indicated mileage is it foreign used? you might have much more than that and not know

[slow323]

with my experience i find that no matter what you try you really still have to pull off the shock/spring to test it, to me thas the only way to knw for sure

another test we did Which i do not recommend for everyone to do is to take your car on a empty flat road, get it up to a good speed not excessive and slam on the brakes . if the shocks are bad the car will dip and pull to the side with the bad shock

[Marct]

I always found it was a dumb way to test to see if the shocks were good- you figure by now they would have a "life gauge or meter" on the shock at least

[cinco]

actually tire wear is your best bad shock indicator but it isnt always a direct indication of the shock itself
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_wear.htm
http://www.procarcare.com/includes/cont ... ewear.html

Cupping is what usually indicates bad shocks

[geodude]

boy with them roads in Penal i change my shoks twice last year

[~Vēġó~]

^^^what shocks you using man???

gotta pay to play you want luxury you pay the price for the parts
77k is the indicated mileage is it foreign used? you might have much more than that and not know

indeed but I think I'll get some new springs and compare with the current ones....then try the excel-g's....(that oem massey price is a killer that the wife eh go be too happy about)

tyre wear is good...no uneven wear marks.

And I don't doubt that the car may indeed be more than 77k.......but it was in immaculate condition and 25 months later it looks and is still performing as it was from day 1 (except for the ride...lol).

[bushwakka]

goin an try the bounce test yea

[josh.dookie]

hmm always confused me about this as well!

[cacasplat3]

for the shocks, bounce test.........however if someone drives behind you on a bumpy road and notices that the wheels oscillate a lot (i.e. a fast up and down motion for about a second after the actual bump) the shocks are bad.

for springs, its usually excessive sag, especially at the front........when going through depressions you may find the car reacts more violently than usual since the spring does not really have much resistance to the wheel's movement, hence a lot of the force is transmitted to the car......you may also find that the suspension will bottom out often........

rear springs in passenger cars with little load will more than likely never need replacing.......

we replaced both front shocks on the A33 with KYB Excel G's after the car was jacked up to change engine oil, when lowered it appeared that both front shock shafts were either bent or the internal valves were stuck, since, when compressed the shock would take about 5 or 6 mins to return to the neutral position.

the KYB's never missed a beat since that happened in 2006 and over 100,000km use........

[josh.dookie]

when lowered it appeared that both front shock shafts were either bent or the internal valves were stuck, since, when compressed the shock would take about 5 or 6 mins to return to the neutral position.

the KYB's never missed a beat since that happened in 2006 and over 100,000km use........

How that happen jed??? Trinidad road cud ruin neting bai....

[cacasplat3]

i dont blame the roads.......i do think that the internal valves were stuck.......cuz its hard to believe that the shafts bent from only the weight of the wheel and suspension being suspended......
its strange that it happened to both shocks at the same time.....i've heard of it happening to a CRV and another A33, but on both of them it was only one shock affected........

it was really weird driving it too........once the suspension compressed it would not rebound, so it kept the front of the car really low.........went home from the mechanic, jacked up the car.......pulled both of them off the car and went looking for replacements..........

[josh.dookie]

ok cool, manufacturers defect? What can cuz that happen then cuz its really weird!

[~Vēġó~]

for springs, its usually excessive sag, especially at the front........when going through depressions you may find the car reacts more violently than usual since the spring does not really have much resistance to the wheel's movement, hence a lot of the force is transmitted to the car......you may also find that the suspension will bottom out often........

sounds about right........