Driving to work this afternoon I passed over a few rather annoying holes on the road surface. The drive was not smooth and I made a mental note to have a look at my shock absorbers.
What are the dangers of worn shocks on the road?
I found info about this on the Arrive Alive road safety website:
- Poor road holding: Worn shocks are unable to keep the tyre in contact with the road or even out excessive spring movement and the car becomes more difficult to control on the road and a danger to the driver, passenger and other road users.
- Worn tyres: With the worn shock not being able to keep the tyre in contact with the road, it bounces on the road causing worn flat spots on the tyre which reduces the life of the tyre by a huge margin – expensive.
- Poor braking : When a car brakes with worn shocks the tyres tend to bounce causing the tyre to lose contact with the road and extends the stopping distance by an extra 2.6m from 80km/h in the dry ! This could be the difference between hitting someone or not. ABS braking systems are even more affected.
- Aquaplaning: Normally this happens when there is some water on the road and your car’s tyres are worn, as you go over the film of water the tyre lifts off the road and you have complete loss of control. The same thing can happen if you have worn shocks – Even if your tyres are in good shape!
- Component wear: Due to the extra movement of the suspension with worn shocks this causes other suspension and steering components to wear out quicker – expensive.
- Headlight dazzle: Your car will bounce more causing the headlights to blind oncoming traffic – dangerous.
- Fatigue: With the long distances we have to travel in South Africa it’s easy to tire on long journeys, this is made worse when your car’s shocks are worn as you now have to concentrate more on keeping the car on the road (even if you are not aware that you are doing it), this tires you more easily – dangerous.
Also view:
• Dangers of Worn Shock Absorbers
• Shock Absorbers and Road Safety