There are numerous signs that your struts are getting old and need to be replaced. The first sign is your car, truck, or SUV’s age and mileage. If you’re driving an older vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it, you might be looking at new struts soon. You might also need new struts if your ride is extremely bouncy or you’ve found it harder and harder to handle your vehicle. You can test your struts and if they are bad, bring your vehicle into Trinity Auto Care for a new set. Let’s learn how to do the “bounce test.”
Park Your Vehicle
Pull your vehicle onto a flat surface and put it into park. Don’t set the parking brake. You want the surface to be level, as this will make the bounce test easier to read. If your driveway is sloped, for example, do the test in your garage if the floor is flat. If you need to, drive to a level area, such as a parking lot. Once you’re ready to do the test, turn off your vehicle and, again, put it in park but don’t set the parking brake.
Test the Front Struts
If you’re strong you can do the test yourself. If you want a little help, grab a family member or friend. Standing in front of your vehicle facing the bumper, place your hands on the hood and push down as hard as you can several times. You want to get your vehicle bouncing from your pushes. This is why you might need to have more than one person push down on the hood if you aren’t strong enough. After you’ve pushed down several times, let go. If your vehicle immediately stops bouncing, your struts are fine. If it keeps on bouncing, you need new struts.
Do the Same in the Back
Next, test your struts on the rear wheels. In some cases, you might be testing shocks, as many vehicles have struts on the front wheels and shocks on the rear wheels. It doesn’t matter if you’re using this method for struts or shocks; it works for both. Again, while standing behind the vehicle at the rear bumper, place your hands on the trunk and push your vehicle down several times. The results are the same for the rear. Bouncing means worn struts or shocks; no bounces mean everything is okay.
If you do need new struts and/or shocks, come see Trinity Auto Care. We’re located in White Bear Lake, MN, and we’d be happy to check your shocks and struts.