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From: JoeSpareBedroom on 16 Mar 2007 13:30
<bubbabubbs(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1174061830.064709.135870(a)l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> How do I know when my car needs a new set of shocks/struts?
> The car is a 2001 Corolla CE, 121,000 miles. The suspension feels
> pretty soft - much softer than that on my 1992 Civic LX (222,000
> miles.)
> But I can't remember whether it's always been this way, or if it's
> gotten softer over time.
>
> Cheers
>


Assuming it passes the bounce test mentioned by others, all that's left is
whether you're happy with the way the car feels. If you're not, explore
other options, but be sure you do the research so you don't replace one kind
of "normal" with the exact same thing.


From: Mike Hunter on 16 Mar 2007 20:12
Do you get a lot of headaches?

mike


<bubbabubbs(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1174061830.064709.135870(a)l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> How do I know when my car needs a new set of shocks/struts?
> The car is a 2001 Corolla CE, 121,000 miles. The suspension feels
> pretty soft - much softer than that on my 1992 Civic LX (222,000
> miles.)
> But I can't remember whether it's always been this way, or if it's
> gotten softer over time.
>
> Cheers
>


From: * on 17 Mar 2007 08:52


bubbabubbs(a)yahoo.com wrote in article
<1174061830.064709.135870(a)l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>...
> How do I know when my car needs a new set of shocks/struts?
> The car is a 2001 Corolla CE, 121,000 miles. The suspension feels
> pretty soft - much softer than that on my 1992 Civic LX (222,000
> miles.)
> But I can't remember whether it's always been this way, or if it's
> gotten softer over time.
>


The ONLY two ways I know of to truly "test" or diagnose shocks are to run
them on a shock dynamometer, OR to take the vehicle for a ride.

Hit a rough road, some railroad tracks, some dips, "S" turns, a nice,
smooth road, hard acceleration, hard braking, etc.

The old standard "bounce test" - where one bounces a corner of the car then
sits back and counts the oscillations - is really lame. It only generates
enough shaft velocity to "test" the fixed bleed orifices and devices, and
within-spec. seal blowby.

Bouncing the car gets the shock/strut shaft moving at approximately one
inch-per-second (ips).....MAYBE!

Driving down a smooth road and turning into a smooth turn moves the
shock/strut shaft at approximately four-to-six ips.

Hit a pothole, and we're talking 10-15 ips of shaft velocity.

Bouncing the car doesn't even open a single, low-speed valve in most
shocks/struts. Forget about the high-speed stages and valving.

I regularly show customers a shock moving at two ips on my shock dyno, and
they cannot believe how fast it actually is.....and the shock is really not
"up on the valves" yet at those shaft velocities.

Unless a valve is actually broken, it will not show up in a "bounce test",
so a shock/strut could easily pass the "bounce test" and still be a
dangerous piece of junk.



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