Are your shocks or struts worn? Have you been putting off replacing them for a variety of reasons, figuring it’s no big deal to wait a little longer?
Think again!
Shocks and struts are part of what is known as the “Safety Triangle” on your vehicle. They work in conjunction with your tires and brakes to form the chassis system, and it is that chassis system that keeps you safely rolling down the road. When one part of that triangle fails, you can bet the rest of it will fail soon, and that means serious trouble for the owner of that vehicle.
To understand the importance of shocks and struts, you must first understand their purpose. Shocks and struts keep your tires contacted with the roadway. When you think of them that way, it then becomes easy to understand that your shocks and struts help in providing steering response; they also give you maximum stopping power when you step on the brakes; and they provide stability on the road for maximum handling.
Safety tests are constantly being conducted that prove the importance of shocks and struts. In one such test, a vehicle with three new shocks and one worn shock required an average of four percent more time to brake from 60 to 0 miles per hour. Now consider that the larger the vehicle, the worse those results will be. SUVs and large pickups will require more room to come to a stop if there are worn shocks. In recent tests the figure was closer to ten percent more time to brake from sixty to zero miles per hour. In terms of feet that is over twenty, and in terms of time it is precious seconds that can mean the difference between safety and a crash.
So we highly recommend that regular maintenance be done on your struts and shocks. Simply getting underneath your vehicle and visually inspecting your struts and shocks is a great first step. Also, while you are driving, pay attention to the smoothness of ride, and when you go over rough roadway, determine whether your ride is rougher than it once was. These are signs that your shocks are wearing and will need replacement.
When it comes time to replace your struts and shocks, by all means you should do the job yourself. You’ll save, on average, seventy-five bucks per hour on mechanic labor, and if you shop at your local salvage yard instead of a dealership or auto parts store, you can save upwards of 50% on your replacement shock parts.
All Import Auto Parts has everything you need to replace those shocks and struts and get you safely back on the road of life.