When Should You Replace Shock Absorbers?

Video Transcript

"My name is Mark Blocker and in this segment we're going to cover when to replace automotive shock absorbers. Automotive shock absorbers have a recommended service interval and usually that's between three years, thirty-six thousand miles up to five years, sixty thousand miles. It depends on the type and make of your vehicle and what type of shocks or struts that were installed on it. Most of todays automobiles use struts. They operate the same way as a shock absorber. The only difference is the spring and the shock absorber are built together in a combination. They can be replaced individually, they're just referred to as struts. You can check when the recommended service interval for your particular model of vehicle through your owners manual or there's also an easy test that can be performed that will determine when your shocks need to be replaced. Basically what I'm going to do is bounce the car up and down using my body weight a couple of times. And when I stop bouncing and release the car, it should level off after one stroke. After I've released the vehicle, it will bounce one time and should come back to a level position. If it continues to bounce after you let go more than one rebound action, then it indicates the shocks are in need of replacement. So after just a few bounces, I'll let go and as you can see the car came back up, bounced one time and stabilized. That's what we're looking for. If it continues to bounce, that indicates that it's time to replace the shock absorbers. So that's how to tell when automotive shock absorbers should be replaced."