How to check suspension components?

[DeanH]

Pretty much as the title says! I'm desperately in need of two front tyres and my tracking is way out. Before I shell out on that I'd like to make sure it's not going to get disturbed again as I have an occasional suspension knock.

By my own admission I'm terrible at suspension work and I have no idea what to do to check each component over. Anyone have any pointers or is there a good online guide for checking it over part by part?

[Georgeandkira]

Get a helper.
Jack a front wheel. Hands at 9 and 3. Motion whilst rocking betrays bad tie rod ends.

Hands at 12 and 6. Motion whilst rocking might reveal a bad ball joint.

Use a small pry bar and small motions to make a ball joint move.

With the wheels on the ground. Have a friend turn the steering wheel slightly whilst you watch the tie rod ends.

With due care, remove a road wheel and roll the hub with your hands to feel for roughness (bearing).

How many mils are on your car? At 150K, for example, just change your dampers front and rear. Look for leaks in shocks and struts.

Check for even height in the shock mounts as viewed with the bonnet up. This can reveal bad mounts.

Visually inspect the springs for integrity. They can rub and cut tires when they break or do so benignly.

[barrybritcher]

common problems:

Track rod end - follow the steering rack - the track rod attaches the steering rack to the wheel hub.

Lower control arm / wishbone rear bush (this is the triangle shaped part) the rear bush is the circular one - when jacked in air if you can see metal or if rubber is split , then it is gone.

Check wheel bearing while you are there, hub will be stiff to rotate by hand.

[DeanH]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

Get a helper.
Jack a front wheel. Hands at 9 and 3. Motion whilst rocking betrays bad tie rod ends.

Hands at 12 and 6. Motion whilst rocking might reveal a bad ball joint.

Use a small pry bar and small motions to make a ball joint move.

With the wheels on the ground. Have a friend turn the steering wheel slightly whilst you watch the tie rod ends.

With due care, remove a road wheel and roll the hub with your hands to feel for roughness (bearing).

How many mils are on your car? At 150K, for example, just change your dampers front and rear. Look for leaks in shocks and struts.

Check for even height in the shock mounts as viewed with the bonnet up. This can reveal bad mounts.

Visually inspect the springs for integrity. They can rub and cut tires when they break or do so benignly.

Originally Posted by barrybritcher

common problems:

Track rod end - follow the steering rack - the track rod attaches the steering rack to the wheel hub.

Lower control arm / wishbone rear bush (this is the triangle shaped part) the rear bush is the circular one - when jacked in air if you can see metal or if rubber is split , then it is gone.

Check wheel bearing while you are there, hub will be stiff to rotate by hand.

Thanks both.

Car is on 206k miles but drives really well. Just noticed a recent quiet knock when going over uneven/poor road surfaces. Also a strange feeling through the chassis when braking from motorway speeds.

Finally had a chance to get the car jacked up and take a look. There's some play on the passenger side when rocking left and right. Makes sense really as I replaced the driver's side track rod end on the last MOT.

Is there anything else I should check or is it safe to assume the track rod end is at fault?

EDIT: Last MOT also picked up "Nearside Front Shock absorbers light misting of oil or has limited damping effect". All I can see is that the boot has come away from the bumpstop at the top, how would I go about making sure its still ok?

Dean

[Georgeandkira]

At 206K they wont be OK unless Volvo installed some indestructible shock element from another planet into that strut.

Get Bilstein H4 or H6 strut cartridges and swap the springs over. Do not fear the spring compressor. Even if you're a rookie you can do this. Just be even when you tighten it.

Avoid buying full complete replacement struts. Nobody has anything good to say about them.
You might want to buy the bearing plates from a reputable company to which they can be returned should yours be in good condition. Mine were. I just shot some lube into the raceways and was done with it.

When you do your struts you're likely going to destroy the end links during disassembly. Is there any chance the links were replaced by a previous owner? If they're not too rusted you MIGHT be able to carefully remove them. Otherwise, just buy new ones.

The strange feeling upon braking may very well be the subframe mounts. They're rubber/metal biscuits which dry out. Here the engine needs to be supported as you tackle one corner at a time. The subframe has 4 corners.
I've never done this but I did install the poly spacers kit ($20-$40 depending on sales) and I have to say I could feel a good tightening. For the low money and ease of installation you could try going that route.

There might be other loose elements to inspect.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

At 206K they wont be OK unless Volvo installed some indestructible shock element from another planet into that strut.

Get Bilstein H4 or H6 strut cartridges and swap the springs over. Do not fear the spring compressor. Even if you're a rookie you can do this. Just be even when you tighten it.

Avoid buying full complete replacement struts. Nobody has anything good to say about them.
You might want to buy the bearing plates from a reputable company to which they can be returned should yours be in good condition. Mine were. I just shot some lube into the raceways and was done with it.

When you do your struts you're likely going to destroy the end links during disassembly. Is there any chance the links were replaced by a previous owner? If they're not too rusted you MIGHT be able to carefully remove them. Otherwise, just buy new ones.

The strange feeling upon braking may very well be the subframe mounts. They're rubber/metal biscuits which dry out. Here the engine needs to be supported as you tackle one corner at a time. The subframe has 4 corners.
I've never done this but I did install the poly spacers kit ($20-$40 depending on sales) and I have to say I could feel a good tightening. For the low money and ease of installation you could try going that route.

There might be other loose elements to inspect.

Complete replacement struts in the UK are as rare as hens teeth (Cheap brands maybe possible to get, but that would be pointless & I wouldn't recommend using them either). However, there's nothing wrong with using a complete strut from a top brand like Sachs (If you can get them that is). FCP Euro as an example sell top quality complete struts made by Sachs, which would be a great bolt-in option if they shipped to the UK (Which they don't, unfortunately). Complete struts do save a lot of faffing around, but its just a shame you can't get decent complete units here.

[DeanH]

I'm not saying that any of the components I'm looking at are original, just that the car is on 206k. Don't particularly want to replace the strut for the sake of it, is there a way to check its operation?

[Kev0607]

Check these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPh75zckPWE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIYPi6-CS1Q

By the way, its best practice to replace your struts on each axel in pairs. So, don't just replace one strut on the front driver side as an example & leave the other front one on the passenger side... If one strut is bad, the chances are high that the other one is too (Hence, replacing in pairs). .

[Bonefishblues]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Check these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPh75zckPWE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIYPi6-CS1Q

By the way, its best practice to replace your struts on each axel in pairs. So, don't just replace one strut on the front driver side as an example & leave the other front one on the passenger side... If one strut is bad, the chances are high that the other one is too (Hence, replacing in pairs). .

That, and the fact that you'll get back to an evenly-damped car across the axle, as opposed to new and old (which even if serviceable, will have diminished operation)

[Brendan W]

Speaking of track rods, I was on a third set of inner rod ends with the original outers still okay. With wheels in the air look for play in and out where the rod attaches to the rack.
If you have a manual car you can check the front wishbone bush by opening the bonnet, put the car in top gear and rock it back and forth. Both bushes are visible from the top and any play more than a few mm is immediately obvious.
Wear here can account for uneven tyre wear and or slight juddering when braking and cornering.
Have a look at the roll bar bushes as well. If you can see daylight between the bush and the bar that could account for the gentle knock over bumps