How to check that your shock absorbers are ok

Posted on April 19, 2020 at 8:23 am

Shock absorbers are very important part of a vehicle and often you can tell when they are on their way out or completely ruined. If your car seems to be a bit bouncy or not handling correctly it could be an issue with your shock absorbers. You may have juts had a 12 month MOT done and assume because the vehicle didn’t fail that the shock absorbers are ok, but this is not always the case. Shock absorbers often have to be really worn excessively or leaking  before they fail an MOT.

A simple test to see if your shock absorbers are going is to push down on each corner of the car and see how quickly it stops bouncing. It should only go up and down once or twice, if after this it is still bouncing then the likelihood is it will need new shocks. This test is not definitive though and you may still have an issue with your shocks even if the vehicle passes this test.

A garage will often charge you around £250-£300 to supply and fit a pair of shock absorbers. If you are able to source the parts yourself you may be able to save a huge chunk of money.

Posted in Cars