Overview of Shocks & Suspension System

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Part of the video series: How to Replace Your Shocks

How to Check the Condition of Yo...

How to Reinstall a Wheel After R...

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Tools Needed to Replace & Mainta...

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Summary: Learn about a car's suspension system and shocks with expert automotive tips in this free online auto repair and car maintenance video clip.

Views: 2,388 | Tags: repair, maintenance, auto, car, cars, replace, shock, absorbers, shocks, dampers, auto repair

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About the Expert

Nathan McCullough Nathan McCullough graduated from Nashville Auto-Diesel College with a GPA of 3.5 and received their Craftsmanship Award and Honor Seal. Nathan has managed sev... read more

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Video Transcript

Overview of Shocks & Suspension System

Hi, my name is Nate McCullough on behalf of Expert Village. In these clips, we are going to talk about the proper way to inspect, remove, replace and maintenance your vehicle's shock absorbers. In this clip, we are going to talk about some possible ways to determine if you have shock absorber trouble and just a general idea of how the system works. Here at the front of my Ford Explorer and this white piece here is my shock absorber. How the system works it is any impact that your wheel gets, any unevenness in the road is first absorbed by your spray. This is my front suspension spring and what happens is say you hit a pot hole, the spring is going to compress. If your shock absorber wasn't there, the spring would continue what they call oscillate, like that. What the shock absorber does is deaden the isolation of your spring. Be either a coil spring or a leaf spring. Some of the things that you want to look for if you have a bad shock absorber will be uneven tread wear. If you can see I have a little bit of cupping on my front tire. The treads are starting to stick out. Every other one is sticking out, this one is sticking down, sticking out, sticking down. What that is call is wheel trim. What that means is the shock absorber is not properly deadening the oscillation of the spring and allowing it to beat on the ground. One thing you will notice is if your shock absorbers are extremely bad is there will be oil leaking from this area. Above this shield there is a seal and over time the seal will deteriorate and cause the hydraulic fluid in the bottom of the shock to leak out. If you see that, it is definitely time for replacement.