Shocks and struts are a part of the suspension system and have a function to ensure a stable and safe driving. They are the most overlooked part of the suspension system.
All car parts have an expiration date. Some sooner, some later. There are some parts that have to be changed immediately after they fail, and there are some that you can still drive your car, even when they fail. So, once your shocks and struts fail
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How Long Can You Drive With Bad Shocks and Struts?


How long can you drive with bad shocks and struts
If your shocks and struts go bad, you should take your vehicle to the repair shop. If towing your car is not an option, you should drive your car carefully to the repair shop and have to shocks and struts replaced
Driving with bad
The biggest safety risk of driving with a bad strut or shock
How To Diagnose a Bad Strut or Shock
1. Visually inspect the tires for wear


Start off with a good visual inspection of the tires. If you have bad shocks or struts
One good tell-tale sign that you have bad
2. Leaking oil on and our the shocks and struts
You want to reach where the shocks and struts are located and inspect and make sure you don’t have an oil leak. Check the area where the piston goes through because there’s a sealer there. If the sealer around the piston fails, it’s going to allow the oil that’s inside your shock absorber to leak out.
If that happens you can lose the dampening effect of your strut assembly. Also, if you have a leak there, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the fault of a seal. It could also simply mean that the internal parts of your strut or shock assembly are failing and causing too much friction and heat. That excessive heat is making the oil expand and leak out where the seal is.
3. Perform a bouncing test
The classic bounce test is when you put your hands on the front fender or on the side where you suspect you have bad struts or shocks and you bounce the car. If the car goes down and moves back up and stabilizes, generally speaking, you have a good strut and shock.
However, this is not a perfect test because most of the car
4. Wobbly steering wheel when you drive
If your steering wheels wobble back and forth a little when you drive down the road and hit a bump, your shocks and struts might be failing or have already failed
That’s because when you hit that bump, your spring is moving up real quickly and rapidly moving your suspension. As a result, you’re entering out of tie rods around causing your steering
5. Excessive body roll around turns
Excessive body roll-around turns can also be a sign of bad
But, if you feel that the body roll is excessive as you turn your car, that is a clear sign of failed shocks and struts. This happens because the shocks and struts are not dampening the effect of the springs. They are not compressing on the left side and decompressing on the right side quickly enough.
What Happens When Struts Go Bad?


What happens when struts and shockers go bad? When struts and shockers go bad and you are driving
As you’re driving and your car goes over a bump, the springs in your car quickly compress and as you drive
Your car is just going to be bouncing non-stop going down the road. So, as your spring compresses, your strut will decompress with it as well slowly and in a controlled fashion.
Then there is the increased braking distance. If your shocks and struts are bad, when you press the brakes, the bodyweight of the car is going to shift on the front side and there will be not enough weight on the back of the car to ensure traction. Basically, the back brakes on the car will be engaged but the tires will not have enough traction