I’m sure each one of you out there must have felt the need to adjust your suspension at least once. Infact I’m sure that you will be thinking to change it often unless you have a sedan. Anyways the point is not that whether you have a sedan or a hatch back or any other car. The point I’m trying to make here is that why do you take your car to the mechanic every time you need to adjust the suspension and pay him while you can really do it yourself. So today lets make to a point that why to give our beloved cars to mechanic for the simplest of task like suspension adjustment and all the other chassis settings, lets do it ourselves. You don’t know how to do it? Oh boy, that is a big trouble, but anyway I know how to do it so just follow this article and then even you will know how to do it. And trust me it is really simple just a matter of couple of minutes. Now let’s get it started.
Chassis Lubrication:
Listen this is the easiest part. You don’t have to do much in regards to the other thing you are soon going to deal with. Purchase a good lubricant from your nearest garage. Sometimes you will find that the chassis parts of your car are not fitted in with the grease fitting. So, in that condition you can easily install them in any of the components just by removing the screwing plug. Apply the grease in all the parts of your chassis especially the suspension and steering joints. If any part is not accepting grease then, twist that part a bit and even if that doesn’t help, then I guess you have to change the grease nozzle. Remember you have to pump in the grease until and unless the dust covers on the suspension joints doesn’t swell in. Don’t forget to check the level of the transmission oil and differential oil.
In order to check the level of both of these oils mentioned above, you should remove the plug from the side unit. Usually you will find it there only. Majority of the cars also use the hypoid oil at for the rear end especially if your car is a rear-driven one. Besides the information I have already provided you with, also check whether you car really requires the under chassis lubrication because usually the new cars even Maruti for that matter doesn’t require to be lubricated under chassis.
Under chassis checking:
Even though your car might not be in need for an under chassis lubrication, it is really important that you inspect your car chassis, at least the basic inspection. Check for all the possible leaks and especially check the exhaust system components. The hangers must be in a good shape (not literally), check for any fallen under coating. Try and remove all the dirt and rust and then repaint the area if possible. Make sure that the dust boots and the rubber bushing aren’t deteriorated. Special attention should be paid to the bushing at each rear sway bar and front sway bar. Why I said you have to pay a special attention to them is because these are the most problematic areas. If any of the bushing have shrunk then your car is tend to make lots of noise.
Ball Joints:
Make sure that you check your car after every 20 km your car has travelled. At least check its suspension and steering settings and their components. Firstly, start checking the condition of the ball joint. See if you go to a mechanic, he will only check the condition of your loaded joints while your car has both the loaded joints as well as the unloaded joints. Anyways if your cars loaded joints are in good condition then for sure the unloaded joints are also in good condition. Now to make it even simpler for you, you can easily figure out the difference between the loaded joints and the unloaded joints. If the spring is mounted over the upper control arm then they are loaded joints but if the spring is on the on the lower side than it is the unloaded joints. Besides the joints you can also check the axial movement. Just insert a screw driver in the bottom of the tyre and floor and then lift the wheel.
FWD:
If you have a front wheel drive car then you can also check the CV joint boots for any visible damage. The joint have to be replaced along with the boot immediately if any torn or damaged boot is discovered. The way I check for an improper CV joint is by driving my car at a slow speed of 20 kmph and then taking a u turn. If you heard the clicking sound, then you also heard its replacement plea. Also, make sure that if you heard any metallic sort of noise while accelerating and decelerating then again, you heard the replacement plea. Since the replacement or repair is not recommended, the thing you had to do is to replace the whole assembly.
Spring and Shock Absorbers:
First and foremost it is really important to know why I’m paying so much attention to the shock absorbers and the springs used in your car is because of the reason that both of them can lead to an erratical handling of the car. If your car springs and shocks are worn out then I would suggest you to go and change them as they are really uncomfortable and also can pose to be really dangerous as well. Make sure that your cars frame and body are higher than the front spindles and rear axle. Now what to change and what not to? So if your spring and shocks are really worn out then what you can do is that you can change the coil spring while you can recamber the leaf spring. Make sure that the ride height is correct and also check the wheel alignment.
