Common Suspension Problems and Possible Solutions

When it comes to suspension issues, driving your car becomes almost impossible. It sounds like the vehicle is going to fall apart. But what should you do? Well, when you are in this situation, the best thing to do is to have your car inspected and repaired as soon as possible.

In this article, I'm going to tell you about the most common suspension problems that have been reviewed by me and the team at Cararac.com. I will give you links to articles for further investigation and will also tell you how you may solve the problems on your own or with minimal costs.

Front suspension problems

The front suspension takes the highest load and is the first to meet all the road imperfections and speed bumps. So, its components don't usually live forever.

Everything starting with shock absorbers and finishing with tie rods may eventually require replacement. If you even hit the front wheel in an accident, you may be sure that the suspension will require serious repair.

It's very common for the front suspension to make all kinds of noises like squeaking, clunking, or knocking. But to diagnose the problem you need to pay attention to the symptoms. Does it knock when you go over bumps or when you turn? A lot of mechanics say lubrication of suspension parts helps you deal with squeaky sounds and other issues. But in most cases, only parts replacement really helps.

When your vehicle has issues with the front suspension, it's also very common for the car to misbehave on the road. It may be pretty wobbly and you may not experience the normal level of comfort when driving. Especially, wobbly cars are bad on highways.

Whatever is not good with the front suspension in your car, you don't want to ignore this as it may grow into a really dangerous issue.

Front suspension problems highlights:

• Level of importance:high
• Common reasons:road potholes, speed bumps, age, mileage
• DIY inspection:possible but complicated
• DIY repair:usually,impossible
• Average price in shops:$250 - $800
• Average time:2 - 8 hours
• If ignored:fatal failure, no drive, expensive repairs

Rear suspension problems

The majority of suspension issues happen with the front part as it gets the highest load. But if your rear wheels start clunking or you hear some other noises coming from the rear of your car when you go over bumps, there is a high chance that your vehicle requires some help.

When there are issues with rear suspension, one of the common symptoms is vibration. If the vehicle vibrates on highways, this is a clear sign that the suspension should be inspected.

But it's quite obvious that the rear suspension system is not as vulnerable as the front one. So, it will get less attention on regular checkups. The usual reason for the issues is the accident when the rear wheel is affected. Or the bearing that may go bad due to many different reasons.

Rear suspension problems highlights:

• Level of importance:medium
• Common reasons:road potholes, speed bumps, accidents, normal wear
• DIY inspection:possible but very complicated
• DIY repair:usually,impossible
• Average price in shops:$250 - $800
• Average time:3 - 6 hours
• If ignored:fatal failure, no drive, expensive repairs

Wheels problems

While wheels aren't seen as part of the suspension, they are connected with it directly and affect the suspension parts whenever something goes wrong. There are a lot of things that affect wheels because they directly interact with the road.

If you hear a metal screeching sound when you accelerate, it's not about the wheels, in most cases. This issue has something to do with brakes. But if you had an accident before this, there are a lot of chances that exactly the wheel rim is causing these sounds.

Also, the rhythmic rubbing sounds are often thought to be the reason for wheel issues. But they need further inspection. You may want to see if the wheels are straight. After accidents, you may find one wheel being straight while the other being turned. Of course, this is more of a suspension problem, but anyway.

The majority of problems with wheels are caused by accidents and potholes. But there is another thing that's worth considering - lug nuts and bolts. Poorly tightened or overtightened lug nuts may cause all kinds of problems and sounds. You may need to know how to loosen and then properly tighten the wheel nuts.

Wheels problems highlights:

• Level of importance:medium
• Common reasons:potholes, accidents, lug nut problems
• DIY inspection:possible
• DIY repair:possible
• Average price in shops:$50 - $350
• Average time:0.5 - 3 hours
• If ignored:wobble, wheel falling off, vibration, no drive

Wheel alignment problems

One of the first things to check when you have problems with your suspension or right after suspension repair is wheel alignment. There are various symptoms telling you that the alignment needs to be adjusted like a car pulling to the side when driving or steering wheel located in the wrong position when driving straight.

But you should also know that when you hit the curb, it's obvious that you need to check the wheel alignment. If the angles of your wheels are changed after that, you will be destroying your tires and the suspension parts will be under load.

Unfortunately, adjusting camber and caster at home is not efficient and you should find a shop that will do this for you.

Wheel alignment problems highlights:

• Level of importance:medium
• Commonreasons:hitting a curb, potholes, suspension problem, suspension repair
• DIY inspection:impossible
• DIY repair:impossible
• Average price in shops:$150 - $250
• Average time:0.5 - 1 hours
• If ignored:safety issues, tire wear, problems with steering

Drive shaft problems

This part is not directly connected to the suspension system but it's connected with the wheel hub and rotates the wheel. Very often drive shaft problems are mistaken for suspension issues. Unfortunately, these issues may easily lead to very unpleasant consequences like no-drive issues.

The drive shaft has two joints - one with the transmission and the other one with the wheel. The outer CV joint is a very common problem for many car models. It may make specific sounds when you turn and then if ignored it may pop out of the wheel hub. This will obviously lead to no-drive problems because the torque will not be transmitted to the wheels.

Also, you should know about loose axle nut symptoms, and ways to diagnose this part on your own, and also you shouldn't ignore any symptoms of the CV axle problems. Otherwise, you may get stranded really easily.

Drive shaft problems highlights:

• Level of importance:high
• Common reasons:old drive shaft, accidents, broken rubber protection
• DIY inspection:possible
• DIY repair:impossible
• Average price in shops:$250 - $500
• Average time:2 - 3.5 hours
• If ignored: no-drive, unpleasant sounds, hub wear

Suspension anomalies

While professional mechanics won't be surprised by almost any suspension system issues and symptoms, drivers sometimes may be shocked. For example, one of my acquaintances once jacked up his car and found the wheel moving from side to side pretty unnaturally. He was surprised, to say the least.

Also, a lot of drivers don't know about the symptoms of the broken shock mount and they are surprised to see their vehicles being not even on the road.

You may decide to make a suspension upgrade but be ready for even more anomalies once you decide to change something in the OEM suspension system.

Suspension anomalies highlights:

• Level of importance:medium
• Common reasons:all kinds of suspension problems
• DIY inspection:possible but complicated
• DIY repair:impossible
• Average price in shops:$250 - $800
• Average time:1 - 8 hours
• If ignored:suspension fatal failure, no-drive

Air suspension problems

Air suspension is the next-generation suspension type that doesn't use normal coils and shock absorbers. It uses special air coils that are pumped by a powerful pump and your car is actually holding up on air.

Unfortunately, there are tons of common air suspension problems. Among modern manufacturers, Ram is known for absolutely poor air strut issues.

One of the common reasons for the problems is the valve block. There are several types of valves in the system including the leveling valve. The valves control the flow of air under pressure and may just block it from going into the airbag when needed. This is one of the common reasons why your car may drop overnight.

Also, there are issues with the compressors. In most cases, the compressors just stop pumping air and require repair or replacement. But before you invest money in this, you should also check the compressor relay as it's one of the common reasons things are going south.

Of course, in some cases, suspension system reset will help. But, in most vehicles, this is just a temporary solution to the problem.

Air suspension problems highlights:

• Level of importance:medium
• Common reasons:internal suspension failure, electronic problem
• DIY inspection:impossible
• DIY repair:impossible
• Average price in shops:$550 - $1,900
• Average time:5 - 20 hours
• If ignored:fatal failure, car drops, hard driving