The suspension system of motor vehicles is one of the vehicle systems constantly subjected to high loads and therefore undergo severe wear and tear. Most of the auto specialists, some of them from VW Service, recommend checking the suspension system at least every 6,500 or 7,500 miles or immediately if there’s a sign of its breakage.
When you take care of your vehicles worn out suspension components, you prevent it from even more severe damage and a potential break down of your car. You also prevent an accident on the road.
Many car owners only start paying attention to this issue when their suspension components begin to misbehave, this includes when they start hearing strange sounds, especially while driving over a bump. Find below a few signs you have to check your suspension system.
Signs of Failing Suspension Components:
- Clunking or squeaking while going over bumps
- Bouncy or a floaty ride
- Excessive body roll through corners
- Excessive wear in the tire
- Poor steering handling or feel
- Uneven ride height
Audi suspension issues
There are quite some suspension problems, and one of the most common is wear or breakage of the arm bushings. These control arm bushings in your Audi car are subject to maximum tension and pressure during braking or acceleration. The forces being extreme, causes the rubber bushings to weaken and crack.
Most Audi models use a unique eight-arm control system with two upper arms and two lower arms on each side. When two or more of the control arm bushings wear out, replacing all the divisions at once is more cost-effective, to save the long-term cost incurred on both part replacement and labour.
There are other components like the wheel bearings, sway bar links, ball joints, etc. that has to inspected simultaneously. While the failure of these parts is less common, unchecked arm bushings put additional workload and stress on the other components of the suspension, such as the ball joints, sway bar links and tie rods, which results to premature and excessive wear and tear.
Irrespective of the Audi model you’re driving, be it an Audi A4, A6, A8, S4, S6 or S8 model or even the Q-Series you need to check your suspension at least after 40,000 miles.
VW suspension issues
As for Volkswagen, there are quite some suspension issues you could face, and we have highlighted a few below.
Bad wheel orientation
The bumps and potholes on the roads can cause wear and tear on your suspension system overtime in the vehicle, and this wear can cause misalignment of the wheels. Alignment problems can cause uneven vehicle wheel wear and can also affect steering.
Shock absorber
Your vehicles shock absorber make it possible that as you drive, you don’t feel every single bump you pass over by making sure your wheels remain on the ground. To know if this problem exists in your vehicle, observe how it reacts when you pass over a bump. Notice if it shakes or bounces more than necessary or if it shakes while you drive on rough roads, if it does, then you have to go for a fix.
Spring
The springs of your vehicle hold all the weight of the car, so it is not surprising that they sag or break with time. A simple way to detect this problem is to check the parked vehicle on flat ground. If you find that your car is lower on one side, then the signal is clear. Another symptom is to observe if there is any clunking noise as you drive over a bump or as you turn.
