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Yesterday I got all four of my struts replaced. The car's ride feels fantanstic again. Say what you will about the 2003 Malibu, but it does have a smooth comfortable ride. The repair shop told me the rear struts were leaking. It got me to thinking. What happens to a car if driven too long with bad struts/shocks? Any mechanics seen such situations come into their shop?
Gosh, I thought this was going to be an interesting thread. I'd like to read stories from mechanics who admit (anonymously on this forum) how they've screwed customers over.
Reminds me of an old Brian Bosworth (the football player) story - this is great. He had a summer job while in college at Oklahoma. He worked on an automobile assembly line. Old time senior assemblers taught him some nifty little tricks. Here goes.
Some car owner would bring his car in for repair as he keeps hearing a constant tapping coming from somewhere inside the car. The service people check it out and can't find anything. He takes the car back but the tapping continues. He brings the car back to the service people who check it out even more thoroughly this time - still nothing. The owner takes the car back again and the tapping is driving him nuts. Finally, he insists the service people figure this out. They painstakingly start disassembling the car piece by piece, the panels, chassis, the frame, everything.
Finally, as they get to the deepest innards of the car's frame in a cavity almost impossible to access, they find a little bolt suspended by a string which allows the bolt to bang against the side of the frame. On the bolt is a note which reads "Ha, You finally found me."
What happens to a car if driven too long with bad struts/shocks?
It generally isn't a safe thing to do, but won't generally cause any major damage. What will happen is that road irregularities will be far more likely to upset the chassis and handling and braking will be compromised. So, you can drive on bad shocks/struts, but you should take it easy and be cautious. The bump you hit on the freeway at 75 will just feel like a bump in a regular car. In a car with bad shocks/struts that bump could cause you to lose control.
Bad struts will throw off your geometry and can potentially cause serious damage to chassis and steering components if you neglect them long enough. Same goes for tires.
Yeah.....a rather deceptive subject line to this thread???
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