The suspension system on a vehicle is between the frame and the road. The suspension system’s primary function is to maximize the overall performance of a vehicle as it cruises down the road. The suspension system also helps to absorb bumps in the road and provide a safe and comfortable ride.
If you want to know more about your vehicle’s suspension system, discover the answers to four frequently asked questions.
The suspension system on your vehicle consists of the following parts:
Some vehicles do not have shock absorbers. Instead, these vehicles come with struts. A strut is similar to a shock absorber, as it provides support for the suspension as well as the coil springs.
The steering system is also important as it works with the entire suspension system to make the car turn. The entire suspension system sits on top of the vehicle’s frame, which carries the weight of the vehicle.
Your vehicle’s suspension system sustains a lot of wear and tear. When you drive over potholes, hit bumps in the road, crash into the curb, or get into a fender bender, these all take a toll on the suspension system. Because of this wear and tear, your suspension system requires regular maintenance.
In some instances, your suspension system may require an evaluation by a professional auto technician. Learn about some signs you should have a professional look at your suspension system:
Some of these signs could also indicate that you need new tires or a wheel alignment. However, any of these signs warrant an inspection as soon as possible.
Like any part of your vehicle, you will eventually need to replace certain parts of your suspension system. This is especially the case with your shocks or struts. You may need to replace your shocks or struts between 50,000 and 100,000 miles. This number is not set in stone, however.
If you routinely drive on rough, bumpy roads, you may need to replace your shocks and struts sooner. If you drive on smooth surfaces only, the shocks and struts will most likely last much longer.
If you notice fluid leaking from your shocks and struts, or they are greasy, you may need to replace them. If the mounts and bushings around the shocks and struts are damaged, you will want to replace all of these parts of the suspension system.
Are you concerned about your vehicle’s suspension system? Do you need to have the suspension system looked at by ASE-certified technicians? Or, maybe you know the time is right to replace your shocks and struts. Whatever the case may be, contact Evans Tire & Service Centers. We have helped California drivers keep their cars on the road for over 40 years.
When people think of automobile performance, they normally think of horsepower, torque and zero-to-60 acceleration. But all of the power generated by a piston engine is useless if the driver can't control the car. That's why automobile engineers turned their attention to the suspension system almost as soon as they had mastered the four-stroke internal combustion engine.
The job of a car suspension is to maximize the friction between the tires and the road surface, to provide steering stability with good handling and to ensure the comfort of the passengers. In this article, we'll explore how car suspensions work, how they've evolved over the years and where the design of suspensions is headed in the future.
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If a road was perfectly flat, with no irregularities, suspensions wouldn't be necessary. But roads are far from flat. Even freshly paved highways have subtle imperfections that can interact with the wheels of a car. It's these imperfections that apply forces to the wheels. According to Newton's Laws of Motion, all forces have both magnitude and direction. A bump in the road causes the wheel to move up and down perpendicular to the road surface. The magnitude, of course, depends on whether the wheel is striking a giant bump or a tiny speck. Either way, the car wheel experiences a vertical acceleration as it passes over an imperfection.
"" The suspension on your car maximizes friction between the tires and road and provides steering stability.© 2018 HowStuffWorks
Without an intervening structure, all of the wheel's vertical energy is transferred to the frame, which moves in the same direction. In such a situation, the tires can lose contact with the road completely. Then, under the downward force of gravity, the tires can slam back into the road surface. What you need is a system that will absorb the energy of the vertically accelerated wheel, allowing the frame and body to ride undisturbed while the tires follow bumps in the road.
The study of the forces at work on a moving car is called vehicle dynamics, and you need to understand some of these concepts in order to appreciate why a suspension is necessary in the first place. Most automobile engineers consider the dynamics of a moving car from two perspectives:
Ride: a car's ability to smooth out a bumpy road
Handling: a car's ability to safely accelerate, brake and corner
These two characteristics can be further described in three important principles — road isolation, road holding and cornering. The table below describes these principles and how engineers attempt to solve the challenges unique to each.
"" This table describes road isolation, road holding and road cornering.© 2018 HowStuffWorks
A car's suspension, with its various components, provides all of the solutions described.
Let's look at the parts of a typical suspension, working from the bigger picture of the chassis down to the individual components that make up the suspension proper.
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