Undercover: Why Shocks And Struts Fade And Fail
Most shocks and struts today are “gas-pressurized” with nitrogen to minimize fluid foaming when the piston is pumping back and forth.
Undercover: Lessons In Off-Road Suspension Systems
There’s a lot more to building a rugged off-road vehicle than just raising the suspension height and installing big tires and wheels.
Periodic Undercar Inspections Are A Valuable Service For Your Mazda Customers
Brake and suspension problems will surface in a couple of ways, the most common of which are noise-related.
Proper Rotor Service Prevents Comebacks
Uneven rotor wear often produces variations in thickness that can be felt as pedal pulsations when the brakes are applied.
Diagnosing Flood-Damaged Vehicles
While minor flooding at intersections often doesn’t cause many problems other than rusted brakes, major flooding can damage most of the mechanical and electrical components found in the engine and passenger compartments.
Brake Service Case Study: Nissan Frontier
Bob Dowie looks at some of the undercar issues he has faced with Nissan vehicles over the years and discusses how to deal with some common issues you may see with them.
Spring Is Pothole And Bearing Season
The classic symptom of a bad wheel bearing is typically a cyclic chirping, squealing or growling noise that changes in proportion to vehicle speed. The sound may only appear or disappear at certain speeds. The noise may get worse when turning, or it may disappear momentarily. So, it’s difficult to make a diagnosis based on noise alone.
Brake Assist: Diagnosing Low And Hard Brake Pedals
Brake pedal assist complaints are often subjective in nature and, for that reason, can be difficult to solve. Grandma, with her arthritic feet, might be highly sensitive to a slight loss of pedal assist, but her lead-footed grandson not so much. But on-going technology is bringing a certain degree of objectivity into brake-assist diagnosis.
VW Rear Disc Brake Piston Retraction And Pad Replacement
With Volkswagen (VW) rear disc brakes, the parking brake is integrated into the caliper. A ratchet mechanism inside the caliper is supposed to automatically adjust the travel of the caliper to maintain the proper clearance between the pad and rotor.
Tracking Down Honda Chassis-Related Noise Complaints
For this article, we find ourselves under a high-mileage V6 Honda Accord looking for what should be an easy-to-find knocking noise. When the car was written up at dropoff, notes were added for the tech to look for loose sway bar links and bushings based on the customer’s description of a knocking noise over bumps.
