Spring is the best time to do a comprehensive maintenance check of your suspension, which may be prone to failures after winter. Neglecting alarming symptoms may lead to further damages. Taking care of your car’s suspension to make driving comfortable and completely safe. Check which elements are worth examining before spring.
Winter failures of the suspension - how they originate
Low temperature, high humidity, road salt, sand - your car’s suspension is exposed to really harsh conditions in winter. Don’t forget about mechanical damages that can occur in winter as you drive through hard snow or chunks of ice piling up on parking lots or along local streets. No wonder many failures occur during winter or shortly thereafter.
The first symptoms of suspension wear may be hard to identify and may include poorer driving control, decreased driving comfort or a less sensitive steering system. These changes occur gradually and may not be noticeable during everyday driving, yet they affect your safety and may prove fatal on emergency braking or when trying to omit an obstacle. That is why it is a good idea to visit a garage after winter to have your suspension checked by mechanics.
A critical warning is any clutter of the suspension. It’s a sign that the suspension joining elements are in a very bad condition and can compromise the driver’s safety. Spring reveals any play or damage, as the many holes and cracks in the asphalt are quite a challenge to the suspension. This is when a suspension check carried out by professionals is indispensable.
Suspension elements to be checked after winter
You should start the post-winter suspension damage assessment by washing the suspension. You must first rinse mud, sand and road salt off the suspension before the extent of the play and damages can be assessed. The rinsing will also prevent corrosion from spreading and will allow to assess the corrosion protection.
One of the most important elements requiring checking after winter are the track control arms and their bushings. The metal-and-rubber elements connecting the track control arms are prone to failure after winter. Sand and road salt may scour the bushings, while low temperature accelerates the ageing of the rubber elements, resulting in microcracks. You must definitely check the ball joints i.e., the elements connecting the track control arm to the wheels.
You should also pay attention to the stabilizer bar and the stabilizer bar links. These components are responsible for connecting both track control arms on one axle and prevent excessive body tilt. The stabiliser bar presses on the arm of the wheel on the inside of a turn, allowing both wheels to maintain better grip on the road. The stabiliser bar link bushings are the elements that wear the fastest - usually after about 20-40 thousand km. Their play may result in nervous and unsteady steering.
In addition to the suspension, one should also check the steering system. You should pay special attention to vibrations and jerking of the steering wheel. A common fault is damage to the tie rod end connecting the steering system to the suspension. Excessive play can cause the tie rod and the steering gear to wear out more quickly in the long term.
Choose reliable suspension parts
The quality of new components is important for safety. The key to choosing proven and safe suspension components is to make sure that the manufacturer meets the quality requirements, such as the European ISO standards or IATF 16949 certification guidelines for the automotive industry. An example of a brand that meets these requirements is REINHOCH, whose products are available in Europe through the Inter Cars chain.
The comprehensive offer of suspension and steering parts of REINHOCH, including: track control arms, ball joints, stabilizer links, metal-and-rubber elements, engine and gearbox mounts or tie rods and tie rod ends, covers over 95% of the European car park and is an attractive alternative to original products. The REINHOCH products are easily accessible, which facilitates professional repair of all popular car models.
In addition, the engineers responsible for the implementation of new products are constantly monitoring the market developments and garage demand. In one year alone, REINHOCH’s product range was extended by more than 400 new applications.
Visit Reinhoch’s website
REINHOCH’s products undergo stringent laboratory tests to ensure the correct composition of raw materials, high performance, durability and repeatability of the products.
Repeatable quality is largely due to production in carefully selected, fully automated and robotised factories, which manufacture products also for the OEM market. This ensures that only tested parts are sold to garages. The high quality of REINHOCH’s products is confirmed by a certificate issued by the European Automotive Institute.
Additional features of the REINHOCH products are the laser marking of the parts and the hologram seal on the packaging. This way the customer can be sure that the product has not been opened before and that the package contains an original, high-quality part.
When choosing parts, choose wisely. REINHOCH guarantees comfort and peace of mind in the daily use of your car.
REINHOCH’s products are available in the sales chain of Inter Cars.
Don’t forget about wheel alignment!
Almost every interference with the suspension of a car requires wheel alignment. Setting the wheels at the right angle i.e., setting their toe in and camber, is essential for a car to be driven safely and confidently. We recommend that you have your wheel alignment checked every time a suspension repair is carried out.
