Shock absorbers failing?

[S1LV3R]

hi fellas,

is it just me or my shock absorbers (or something else) are starting to fail... :(

the ride and the handling are not as good as before...roads feel bumpier and there's too much body roll

(i think)

tyres look ok

tyre pressure is OK (front 36 psi rear 32 psi)

any thoughts / comments would be appreciated :)

S1LV3R

[perthcamry]

What year is your Camry and how many kms has it done?

Have you done a wheel alignment and balance?

[S1LV3R]

What year is your Camry and how many kms has it done?

Have you done a wheel alignment and balance?

hi perthcamry,

2005 and about 17K.

i just had it serviced about a month ago on about 15K and at that time according to the dealership, wheel alignment and balance were not necessary :)

S1LV3R

[leasaunce]

17K?? that should be still in excellent cond!

i think its all in your mind

shock absorbers usually starts to go crummy around 80-100k. So you're still in the SAFE position :)

[perthcamry]

mine did loosen up a bit at around that time. Now I am flogging the poor things with low springs. Get a rear sway bar and that will help you ;)

[S1LV3R]

mine did loosen up a bit at around that time. Now I am flogging the poor things with low springs. Get a rear sway bar and that will help you ;)

perthcamry, what exactly do you mean by "loosen up"...did you actually have Toyota look at it and what did they say?

about the rear sway bar, does it really help and which brand? approximate cost of that plus labor?

thanks... :)

[perthcamry]

I just noticed my shocks on the sportivo loosend up a little after the first few thousand kms. I had the same thing happen with a VW. I did not talk to Toyota about it as just one of those things that happens.

Rear sway bar is a whiteline and costs about $150 + 1 hour labour at a mechanic.

[S1LV3R]

17K?? that should be still in excellent cond!

i think its all in your mind

shock absorbers usually starts to go crummy around 80-100k. So you're still in the SAFE position :)

leasaunce,

what you're saying is true as most people don't get shock absorber problems before 80-100k.

however, i've had bad experience with my supposedly-all-good new car, remember?

read the topic i started a while ago (link below) and you'll understand where i'm coming from with this <_<

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...?showtopic=4170

[Saiya]

A good way to check if your shock absorbers are working to to push down on your car until it starts bouncing on its shocks.

Let go of the car and the bouncing should stop with 2-4 bounce.

[bigdenis]

What brand of shock absorbers do people recommend?

[perthcamry]

What brand of shock absorbers do people recommend?

And for a lowered series 5 camry sportivo and how much are they?

[S1LV3R]

What year is your Camry and how many kms has it done?

Have you done a wheel alignment and balance?

is it true that swapping rear and front tyres (tyre rotation) can cause the car to pull to the left / right???

:(

S1LV3R

[lauschie]

What year is your Camry and how many kms has it done?

Have you done a wheel alignment and balance?

is it true that swapping rear and front tyres (tyre rotation) can cause the car to pull to the left / right???

:(

S1LV3R

this can happen,left tyres usually carry more wear then right,this is because the roads are angled more on left and are little bit rougher. i am not a strong believer of tyre rotation and didnt do it with first set of tyres on my rolla. got 52000kms out of them and they still had tread for another 10000kms i think.

all the best,

lauschie

[S1LV3R]

What year is your Camry and how many kms has it done?

Have you done a wheel alignment and balance?

is it true that swapping rear and front tyres (tyre rotation) can cause the car to pull to the left / right???

:(

S1LV3R

this can happen,left tyres usually carry more wear then right,this is because the roads are angled more on left and are little bit rougher. i am not a strong believer of tyre rotation and didnt do it with first set of tyres on my rolla. got 52000kms out of them and they still had tread for another 10000kms i think.

all the best,

lauschie

hi lauschie...thanks for your reply :)

i can understand the thing about the roads being a bit rougher and angled more on the left. however i don't see how it affects the wheel alignment (pulling to the left) when the front and rear tyres are swapped?

i'm also aware that the front tyres of front wheel drive cars always wear out faster than the rear ones.

S1LV3R

[STYLSH]

Because the tyres have not been worn evenly. Have you noticed how all our roads are angled to the left and things like round abouts are always turning right? As a matter of fact we usually turn right faster than we turn left, (to get through before on coming traffic comes) . This puts extra wear on that tyre and suspension components there as all the weight is pushed towards that corner of the car and thus the outside left edge of the left front usually wear faster. The opposite is the case in the states. Pot holes, speed bumps, anything that sets the car unbalanced can ruin wheel alignment

Another thing that will affect wheel alignment will depend on how you park on the side of the streets. If you climb the curb and stay there, it puts extra stress on the suspension.

Now say you've rotated the tyres, the actual alignment of the suspension is still wrong even if you put brand new tyres on. Every time you jack the car up so that the whees are off the ground ruins the wheel alignment.

This is why they do the alignment after they take all the wheels back on, and on a flat surface.

Proper tyre care will be to do a wheel alignment and rotation every 5000-10000km. And the amount of km on a set of tyres depend on a lot of things too. Such as the stickiness of the tyre (soft/hard compound - harder it is the slower the wear but not as grippy), the way you drive (flying round corners, chirpies), the actual quality of the tyre, and the way you look after them. You can wear through a tyre with 10000 without doing burnouts or those if you have bad alignment. (Wears out the 1 edge of the tyre so the whole tyre needs to be scrapped)

Edited June 23, 2006 by Un4given

[S1LV3R]

Because the tyres have not been worn evenly. Have you noticed how all our roads are angled to the left and things like round abouts are always turning right? As a matter of fact we usually turn right faster than we turn left, (to get through before on coming traffic comes) . This puts extra wear on that tyre and suspension components there as all the weight is pushed towards that corner of the car and thus the outside left edge of the left front usually wear faster. The opposite is the case in the states. Pot holes, speed bumps, anything that sets the car unbalanced can ruin wheel alignment

Another thing that will affect wheel alignment will depend on how you park on the side of the streets. If you climb the curb and stay there, it puts extra stress on the suspension.

Now say you've rotated the tyres, the actual alignment of the suspension is still wrong even if you put brand new tyres on. Every time you jack the car up so that the whees are off the ground ruins the wheel alignment.

This is why they do the alignment after they take all the wheels back on, and on a flat surface.

Proper tyre care will be to do a wheel alignment and rotation every 5000-10000km. And the amount of km on a set of tyres depend on a lot of things too. Such as the stickiness of the tyre (soft/hard compound - harder it is the slower the wear but not as grippy), the way you drive (flying round corners, chirpies), the actual quality of the tyre, and the way you look after them. You can wear through a tyre with 10000 without doing burnouts or those if you have bad alignment. (Wears out the 1 edge of the tyre so the whole tyre needs to be scrapped)

Un4given, thanks for sharing your knowledge :)

let's do a brand new car scenario. so the car and the tyres are new. everything's new and fine; wheels are balanced and aligned; suspensions are aligned; the car's a straight liner on a flat surface.

the car's then driven for some distance and it's never parked with one side of the car on the curb, it's not driven hard around corners, perhaps a few spinning moments at the traffic lights and right turns. hence pretty average driving.

then the front and rear tyres are swapped (rotated), and now suddenly the car's pulling to the left.

why the actual alignment of the suspension is now wrong even if we put brand new tyres on...

if it's true that the front left tyre is the most worn out tyre, then the car should already be pulling to the left before the tyre rotation, am i wrong to say so...

if there was a car that had 16" left wheels and 18" right wheels, the car would not be a straight liner, would it...

S1LV3R

[STYLSH]

When you swap the tyres, you will need to jack the car up =) "Wheels are off the ground" When this happens your wheel alignment is altered.

Have you noticed when you do jack the car up the wheels all pulled in? Now when you are getting the car back on the ground, unless you slowly do it and pull the wheel out as you lower it. It will stay buckled in on a slight angle.