how do i tell if my shocks are blown ?

[dorifuto.boi]

hey guys,

I am in the process of transferring my tokico shocks from my old camry to my new camry and putting the stock suspension back on my old camry.

a year ago, a shop had told me that two of my shocks are blown. I then checked afterwards to see if they are leaking but i could not find any leaks (whether that be they weren't actually leaking or i just didn't know where to look for the leaks)

i would like to claim warranty on the blown shocks before i install them on my new camry. I would really appreciate it if somebody could teach me how to check FOR SURE which of my shocks are blown. (i was told by my distributer that tokico "scrutinizes" them while checking to make sure that it IS in fact blown AND that it was not because of misinstalation or damage to the chrome shaft) -lol im so scared. i hope they won't reject them saying i damaged them =[

thanks a lot,
d

[EEngineer]

do a bounce test. just press your car up and down in all four corners see how bouncy it is.
there shouldn't be more than 6 inches of give.

[dorifuto.boi]

i did the bounce test and every corner that i pushed down, the car just went right back up to normal height. it didn't even seem to have gone up above normal and then come back down. I went out for a rough drive and the car seemed to provide great dampening. Im quite confident that my shocks aren't blown.

i dunno why the shop told me that two of them were. (maybe to get my money?) It was goodyear tire shop. They told me that two of my shocks are bad and that my new set of tires won't be able to qualify for warranty when they wear out because of it.

my suspension clunks have been getting louder and louder and i have always thought that it was because of my shocks going bad. but i guess its because of something else. maybe sway bar bushings or the control arm bushings. but i'll leave that clunking problem for next week.

thanks a lot =]

[73sport]

Pull up the boots and check the shaft where it enters the strut top/cartridge top ect. There should be no oil there. Slide your fingers up the shaft {hmm . . .} it should be dry.

Thing is, its not below some places to actually squirt oil in there for a sale! Shock oil IS NOT like any other fluid in your car. So it should not resemble any of them like for example ATF, PWR STR, engine oil, brake fluid, ect. . . It won't smell like any of them either.

If the seals are good, it passes the bounce test, and braking test nose dive; you should be good.

[dorifuto.boi]

bounce test seemed good.

under hard braking, it nose dives then when the car stops, the nose comes right back up to normal (it does not go up then down again)

there is no oil leaking and the shaft is dry =p

how do i go about checking the seals ?

[73sport]

Originally Posted by dorifuto.boi

bounce test seemed good.

under hard braking, it nose dives then when the car stops, the nose comes right back up to normal (it does not go up then down again)

there is no oil leaking and the shaft is dry =p

how do i go about checking the seals ?

1) fact that nose drops then levels off without doing the "rocking chair" =
2) You checked the seals and found no oil =

That's about all you can do unless they're adjustable and you test other settings. . . not typical until you reach the coil over class tho. . .

Done!

[93celicaconv]

If I were you, I would get at least one more opinion, best to get a couple. If you get responses back that your shocks/struts are just fine, I would march right back to your Goodyear dealer (although you said that was a year ago) and demand that you have a warranty validated for your tires, because no one could find any fault in your shocks/struts.

The only real way to tell is when the shocks are removed and (if struts) are separated from the suspension spring. However, the bounce test others suggested is just about as good of a test as there is, when combined with the check of oil weepage from the seal at the top of the strut/shock cartridge.

[dorifuto.boi]

thanks a lot guys =]

yet another problem fixed for me (out of the many many i still have left)
yuu guys are a great help~ really appreciate it~

[LynchburgCSI]

FYI, Tokicos have a free lifetime replacement warranty.

[dorifuto.boi]

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

FYI, Tokicos have a free lifetime replacement warranty.

haha yeah !!
so when they DO blow, i can get them replaced =]]

BUT the dude told me that i'd better be REAL careful with them cause when they do the warranty investigation and they see that the chrome shaft has ANY marks on it or if theres ANY indications that i broke the shocks, then they will reject the warranty =[

so i'd better be REAL careful puttin them on my new camry so when they do blow, i can get them replaced =]

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by dorifuto.boi

haha yeah !!
so when they DO blow, i can get them replaced =]]

BUT the dude told me that i'd better be REAL careful with them cause when they do the warranty investigation and they see that the chrome shaft has ANY marks on it or if theres ANY indications that i broke the shocks, then they will reject the warranty =[

so i'd better be REAL careful puttin them on my new camry so when they do blow, i can get them replaced =]

Yeah, there's a HUGE orange sticker on the shocks that basically says "marks on shaft will VOID WARRANTY". Other than that, Tokico customer service is GREAT. You also may want to track down your receipt. Or just complain that they havent been abused.

[73sport]

Originally Posted by Hmm. . . .

do a bounce test. just press your car up and down in all four corners see how bouncy it is.
there shouldn't be more than 6 inches of give.

I'm not big on the wording on this one (blue section only). . .

How far the nose or tail drops is more of a "what is the spring rate or how much force can you apply". How far, has little to do with "how effective is the dampening system". The is question is, does it control the motion?

Push it down like three times in succession to get the car in motion. Effective dampening should allow only one oscillation after you stop pushing. i.e. once it comes up, it goes down to ride height and stops (Assuming 50/50 compression vs rebound dampening rates).

[dorifuto.boi]

Originally Posted by 73sport

I'm not big on the wording on this one (blue section only). . .

How far the nose or tail drops is more of a "what is the spring rate or how much force can you apply". How far, has little to do with "how effective is the dampening system". The is question is, does it control the motion?

Push it down like three times in succession to get the car in motion. Effective dampening should allow only one oscillation after you stop pushing. i.e. once it comes up, it goes down to ride height and stops (Assuming 50/50 compression vs rebound dampening rates).

haha yeah i caught that. after i get the car going up and down and i push down one last time and release, it just goes right back up to equalibrium. it doesn't even bounce above equalibrium before comming back down. it just goes straight up and stays there haha. i guess my shocks are good (thumbs up)

[EEngineer]

Originally Posted by 73sport

I'm not big on the wording on this one (blue section only). . .

How far the nose or tail drops is more of a "what is the spring rate or how much force can you apply". How far, has little to do with "how effective is the dampening system". The is question is, does it control the motion?

Push it down like three times in succession to get the car in motion. Effective dampening should allow only one oscillation after you stop pushing. i.e. once it comes up, it goes down to ride height and stops (Assuming 50/50 compression vs rebound dampening rates).

just my rule of thumb estimate

if there's so much give an average man can induce on the suspension...shocks are no good