How do you check your shocks? (luxury, vehicle, sedans, seats)

[Deez Nuttz]

I was told you put your foot on the bumper and push down. The vehicle should go down as you push down and immediatley come back up to where it was and stop.....and not bounce back down again w/o assistance from your foot.

Is this the proper method of checking shocks?

Or do you just prefer to drive down a bumpy road and see how many times you can get the under carriage to make contact with the pavement?

[Drilco]

Thats how i was told to check them as well, by pushing down, also look at them to check for fluid leaks.

[Belinda_Cooperstone]

That is how you check them, also if you hear obvious sounds like a clunk or a rattle that also means different things like it needs to be greased or you have a loose part. Another way of checking while you are driving is to break hard, if it lowers in the front ( nose dives) you have a problem.

[Tennesseestorm]

Some cars (with naturally softer suspension, such as luxury sedans) may go back up and down a little. Cars designed with stiff suspension (such as sports cars) shouldnt. SOMETIMES they will "fail firm"... meaning rather than bouncing in large motions, they will get overly stiff and will not compress well, causing a harsh ride.... as if on a bicycle or a log truck.

My old 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville is a tank and it will bounce about 2-3 times, but probably normal for a 5000 lb tank. My Mercedes will bounce a little and may need new shocks, but not bad enough to worry with now. My Lexus and Chevy are fine. They have "soft" suspension, but dont bounce with the bounce test.

If a car has excessive float and bounce, then they probably are worn and need replacing. Its been my past experience if you need new shocks or struts (whatever your car has) is to get factory OEM ones at a dealer (which will cost you MORE and downright costly on some cars), but well worth it. I have found that on past cars that cheap aftermarket shocks give too harsh and stiff of a ride. Normally you would think the cheaper ones would be the softest dampened, but they are not. They are usually some of the harshest.

Cars with air-suspension option (Lincoln Town Car, Lexus LS400, Chrysler New Yorker, Buick Park Avenue, etc) can get very costly to replace the air shocks.... sometimes $1000-$1500 each! My dads friend has a 1988 Lincoln Continental with factory air-suspension... well it did have.. they went out and it was replaced with standard struts with some modifications. My grandma had a 1988 Chrysler New Yorker Landau Mark Cross Edition, with air suspension and WOW what a comfortable car.... with pillow seats, air-suspension, you literally never knew there were ANY bumps in the road. It was like floating on a cloud... (that was the only good thing about that car... lol).

I have a Lexus LS400 without the air suspension, but it still has a soft ride, but I have rode in some with air-ride and wow, they are smooth as a cloud, but costly to replace when the fail.

[Deez Nuttz]

True story....

Used to have a 1976 Olds Cutlass Salon w/t-tops. A friend of mine lived in an old farm house about 1/4 mile off the road way. Used to travel down his driveway at 30 mph, the car bottoming out several times along the way. When I say "bottom out" I mean the frame literally would touch the gravel in the driveway.

Then another guy we knew had a 1975 Buick Regal. The one time I rode in it (there were 4 of us total) the car seemed like it was doing pancakes....as in the right front corner would dip down, then the left front, then the left rear, then the right rear....the repeat...as if you were sort of floating....

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Check my shox?
I take my shoes off and wiggle my big toe.
If it sticks through, I need new shox.

[ranger17]

old school way to check:

" if this van's rocking"
..... and rocking, and swaying, and bouncing

time for new shocks