Suspension Parts
It’s already Christmas time and many of us are hitting the road with our families in tow. A part of your vehicle which should not be neglected is it’s suspension. Suspension set up on your car, van or truck will be integral to deciding many of your car’s characteristics, such as handling, ride comfort, ride height and towing capabilities. If it’s suspension components you need to get you back on the road – the Dodson’s team is the crowd to talk to.
Springs and Shock Absorbers
Suspension springs come in many shapes and sizes. They may vary a fair bit from one vehicle to the next. There are also different types of springs such as coil springs and leaf springs. If you drive a traditional commercial vehicle such as a van or a older style ute, or even an older car pre-1980s, chances are that it will have leaf springs. Modern Japanese passenger cars predominantly use coil springs mounted to a strut, like Mitsubishi Legnum and Subaru Outback. Another spring type is called a Torsion Spring or Torsion Beam, such as the one seen on Nissan Terrano and Pathfinder. You can view your springs as a device which essentially holds your car up from bottoming out. Springs will vary in thickness, diameter, material and number of coils, all of which determine softness, spring rate, weight transfer and height properties of your vehicle. If you are not sure what the right spring for your application is – give us a call at Dodson’s Japanese Partsworld and we can point you in the right direction.
The spring’s counterpart and the other main half of the suspension is the shock absorber. You can think of these as ‘the part which holds the vehicle down’ when bouncing up and down on the car’s springs.
Shock absorbers (or ‘dampers’ as they are also known), are usually gas-filled or oil-filled tubes which compress down with the spring and then, gradually, decompress up as the compressed spring expands. A popular type of shock absorber used today in the motorsport community is called a ‘coilover’. This is a gas absorber which has had the spring mounted directly to it. They offer greater reduction in a vehicle’s ride height and other performance benefits. There are very tight restrictions around the manufacturing methods of coilovers, as well as getting them installed correctly for the right application. Dodson’s Performance team can offer you the great advice you need if you need so squeeze that extra performance out of your daily or track car, check out some examples at www.dodsonperformance.co.nz.
Accessories
Your car’s suspension is made up of many smaller components beside your springs and shock absorbers. There are other important aspects relating to both your suspension and steering which you will need to maintain and replace from time to time. These are rubber bushings, tie rods and ball joints. They all use rubber compound materials which perish over time, thus affecting your steering responsiveness, ride comfort and can generally make your ride quality feel ‘sloppy’ and even fail you the next time you visit your mechanic for a Warrant of Fitness. Check in with us if you need any original components for your car today. You may also want to consider polyurethane components as well, a popular polymer replacement for rubber.
Suspension parts are quite often a project most drivers and car enthusiasts can attempt at home. Some suspension set ups make it a breeze to work on, while others can be much more challenging. For instance, if you have a work ute with a solid rear axle and separate shock absorbers in the rear, it could take you as little as 15 minutes to replace an absorber. Make sure you are very careful when removing and replacing springs of any description – these are compressed under a load while installed on the vehicle and may suddenly ‘pop’ out of its mounting causing serious injury. We always advise using a spring compressor or a similar tool when removing springs.
If you have any questions about what the right suspension type for your car is, or looking for that exact suspension part – give Dodson’s a call today on 09 441-3152.