You can assess the technical condition of the suspension while the car is moving. When driving at low speed on an uneven road, the suspension should operate without knocking, creaking or other extraneous sounds. After driving over an obstacle, the car should not swing.
Advice: It is better to combine the suspension check with the check of the condition of the tires and wheel hub bearings (see "Wheels, tires and hubs" — one-sided wear of the tread on the outer or inner side of the tire indicates a violation of the wheel alignment angles in the front suspension).
To carry out the work, you will need an inspection pit or overpass.
Sequence of execution
1. Prepare the car for work (see "Preparing the car for maintenance and repair").
2. Using your hands, rock the upper part of the front wheel of the car in the transverse direction. We check the front suspension on the other side of the car in the same way.
If there is any play (even barely noticeable), then we check the reliability of the fastening of the steering knuckle to the front suspension strut and the condition of the hub bearing (see "Wheels, tires and hubs").
It is better to check the functionality of the shock absorbers after a long trip, while the working fluid in the shock absorbers has not cooled down.
3. Vigorously swing the front part of the car body in a vertical direction. If the body continues to oscillate due to inertia (more than two up-down movements), after it stopped swinging, it means that one or both shock absorbers are faulty. To identify a faulty shock absorber, repeat the test, applying force first on one side of the car and then on the other.
Note: This check only detects faulty shock absorbers. The effectiveness of vibration damping by shock absorbers can only be tested on a special stand.
4. Inspect the suspension struts. Fluid leakage from the shock absorbers is not allowed.
Shock absorbers should be replaced in pairs, even if the second front shock absorber is in good condition.
5. Visually check the condition of the cushions 1 and struts 3 of the anti-roll bar, rubber-metal hinges of the levers and longitudinal stretchers 2, ball joint covers 4...
...5 cross-bracing cushions.
We replace hinges and cushions with one-sided rubber bulging, tears and cracks (see below for relevant sections).
6. Check the tightening of the nuts securing the suspension parts and tighten them if necessary.
7. Inspect the suspension parts. Deformation and fatigue cracks in suspension parts are not allowed. We replace damaged parts.
8. Using a caliper, measure the distance between the brake disc and the wishbone. If, when the body is rocked, this distance changes by more than 0.8 mm, then we replace the ball joint. We check the ball joint of the other front suspension strut in the same way.
