Want to avoid damage to car's suspension? Follow these tips
What's the story
The suspension system is an integral part of a car, ensuring safety and a smooth ride by absorbing road shocks. Regular maintenance can keep potential issues and costly repairs at bay in the future. To maintain your vehicle's suspension system, it is important to replace worn-out parts, use high-quality components, avoid overloading the vehicle, align wheels periodically, and drive carefully.
Functionality
Why is suspension system important?
The suspension system includes springs, shock absorbers, struts, control arms, and ball joints. If any of these components fail, the entire system can be impacted. Worn-out suspension parts can lead to serious vehicle damage and safety hazards. Shock absorbers and struts should be replaced every 80,000-100,000km depending on how you drive and the road conditions.
Component quality
Quality matters in replacement parts
When replacing suspension parts, it is important to use high-quality components designed for the specific vehicle. It is always recommended to use manufacturer-suggested parts. While cheap aftermarket parts may save you upfront costs, they could cause more problems down the line and compromise safety. Overloading a vehicle can put extra stress on its suspension system, causing it to wear out faster.
Maintenance
Wheel alignment and tire pressure
Periodic wheel alignment is critical to ensure that the tires of your vehicle are properly aligned. This keeps uneven tire wear, bumpy rides, and other issues related to a misaligned suspension system at bay. Ideally, you should align the wheels at least once a year or after driving 15,000-20,000km. Keeping tires inflated is also important as lack of air pressure on tires puts stress on the suspension system of a vehicle.