Your car's safety and roadworthiness is dependent on your vehicle's ‘stopping, steering and stability' capabilities.

The suspension in your vehicle is not just there to make your ride less bumpy like some people believe - it is a major part of the safety of your vehicle and how well it stops and handles on the road.

The suspension system is basically made up of four components:

• Struts - provide structural support for the vehicle's suspension as well as some shock dampening
• Shock absorbers - simply put - they control the up-and-down motion of your car and keep your tyres in contact with the ground at all times but really are an important safety feature.
• Springs - support the weight of your car and allow the body of your car to remain stable while the suspension helps the wheels hug the road.
• Tyres - your tyres need to work with the rest of the system correctly to maintain safe driving behaviour of your vehicle

All of these components work in conjunction with each other and are vital for the on road safety of your vehicle.

At 50kmh one single worn shock absorber can add 2 metres of stopping difference to a braking vehicle - and that could mean the difference between life and death in an extreme situation.

Where you drive, how you drive, and the loads you carry can all impact on shock absorber life and the condition of the suspension system - so there is no hard and fast answer to the question “when should I have my suspension system checked” Repco authorised service recommend that you have a trained specialist inspect your shock absorbers for signs of wear every 20,000km.

Marks Mechanics are experts at suspension systems for all makes and models, and can diagnose and fix problems of all kinds, from the well documented motion sickness caused by the rear suspension problems in VE commodores through to elusive rattles and shakes that other mechanics just can't seem to find.

Call us at Marks Mechanics today to discuss your car suspension needs or issues and our friendly staff will be happy to help.