Shock absorbers

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Right, how adversely can a worn pair of shocks affect the general handling of the car?

The one's on the 19 have been leaking for ages and I fear they may be past it.

On the road the handling does not inspire any confidence at all, and the car generally seems to 'wallow' about. 90% of the time the car feels like it will either under or oversteer on corners (it's a random selection unfortunately) even on long gradual corners that require only a very slight turn of the steering wheel.

In a straight line the car's front end seems to pitch from left to right, becoming more noticeable when braking. To describe the overall handling of the car is like driving a double decker bus with all the passengers crammed onto the top deck!

Obviously having worn shocks on a car is not a good idea but just wondered if there were any other components of the suspension that could contribute/augment to the generally shite handling the 19 has at present, I find it hard to believe that a pair of worn shocks can generate such shocking handling.

I've tried the suspension 'test' - pressing down on the car on both front wheels and to be honest the car returns to stationary within the one bounce.

Cheers.

Site Subscriber Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 2929

bottom ball joints can cause shit handling as can severly worn suspension bushes and bent bottom arms.

if there's excess wear in the steering colum, that could also be a contributing factor.

tbh there are loads of things that can contribute to any suspension/handling problem.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

its the shockers.

the 1 bounce thing, only when they are really, really past it does the thing bounce more than once.

they an pass the bounce test when pretty knakcered.

The blue hatch has all new renault gear, its a struggle to push the damn thing down. Its super solid but handles well. Although I have not really tested it.