The suspension is an essential part of any car. These parts, which range from the shock absorbers to the leaf springs, are necessary to keep driving smoothly. Regular lubrication and maintenance are required to prevent problems from arising in your car’s suspension. Learn how to grease your suspension system with this comprehensive guide.
The Requirement for Grease
Like most chassis metal parts, suspension components are frequently subject to impurities, corrosion, and weather conditions. These may eventually impair the movement of bushings, ball joints, and other parts, leading to problems with driveability.
The purpose of the suspension grease is to keep impurities, creaking, and friction away from the suspension components for as long as feasible while lubricating them sufficiently to guarantee correct ball stud movement.
Suspension parts from original equipment (OE) are often non-serviceable, indicating that they have a single layer of protection: pre-lubrication. Over time, heat and contamination can cause the grease that came with these parts to become soiled and degrade, so you’ll need to add new grease or appropriate lube.
Applying fresh suspension grease involves a systematic process. This process ensures that all critical regions are adequately lubricated and that contaminated grease is eliminated from the ball, bearing assembly, joints, and other areas. The following sections will guide you through this process.
Additionally, it fills in the dust boot’s voids, forming a seal that keeps water out of crevices and cracks where rust can grow. A good penetrant before greasing helps loosen stubborn or rusted parts for better maintenance results.
Additional Benefits of Lubricating Your Suspension
Poor lubrication accounts for around half of early bearing failures, while lubricants only account for 1% to 3% of a typical maintenance budget. What does this signify? This implies that costly repairs may be necessary if you don’t lubricate your suspension. Because it lowers maintenance needs, lubricating your suspension is practically an investment.
By keeping your suspension, leakages, and dampers well-lubricated, you can significantly reduce the need for costly repairs, saving you substantial money in the long run. With a well-greased suspension, your car will move more smoothly and efficiently, requiring less power and giving you a confident and reassuring driving experience.
Cons of Ungreased Suspension
If your suspension isn’t correctly maintained, you should anticipate hearing groaning sounds when you turn and squeaking sounds as you go over bumps. Overall, you’ll notice that your car’s ride quality isn’t as smooth as it used to be. These are all signs that your suspension system may need attention.
Rubber or silicone bushings and ball joints are the suspension components most likely to wear out quickly due to inadequate lubrication.
Deteriorated Rubber Bushings
Defective or worn-out mounting bushings may produce loud knocking or squeaking noises. When braking or slamming into road bumps, the lower control arm may wobble back and forth due to worn-out strut rod bushings made from rubber or polyurethane.
Deteriorated Ball Joints
The wheels can move side to side and up and down thanks to ball joints. Damaged ball joints can result in loose suspension and significantly impair a car’s handling. Untreated issues may lead to the following matters:
- Driving over curbs and making loud popping and squeaking sounds.
- There is a shimmy-like vibration in the steering wheel.
- The car may veer off course or struggle to stay in a straight line.
- Overly unrestricted movement of the steering wheel due to poor torque transmission.
How to Lubricate Car Suspension
Complete Washing
Properly washing the suspension system before proceeding is necessary. The best method is a high-pressure washer, which can remove even the most firmly entrenched contaminants when used with the right detergent.
To remove contaminants that could harm the system, it is crucial to thoroughly wash them as soon as possible after traveling on muddy or sandy roads, regardless of any other precautions.
Lift the Car Safely
A thorough inspection of the suspension that needs to be serviced is necessary. Elevating the car on a lift is the most comfortable way to accomplish this (and to complete any maintenance). If you don’t already have one, purchase a pair of parking stands to place the car on.
The next step is to block it securely (standing on level ground, gear engaged, hand brake, wheel stop blocks). A car that hasn’t been elevated in complete safety should never be worked on.
Examine the Suspensions
Examine every suspension part to find any potential flaws. If your vehicle is located, take it to the mechanic. Checking for oil leaks on the stem or body of the shock absorber is especially important. If this is the case, your mechanic needs to change it. Next, inspect the rubber seals that reduce vibrations in the other systems.
Suppose you see cracks or missing parts; a professional needs to replace them. If you see greasy areas that survived washing, use Specialist Fast Acting Degreaser to quickly remove oil, grease, and grime without leaving any trace. It is simple to rinse and starts working when it comes into contact.
Connect your grease gun to the zirk fittings typically on serviceable suspension joints to apply new grease. Apply pressure until you see fresh grease push out the old material. This process ensures proper greasing of the system for optimal performance.
Conclusion
Regular maintenance and appropriate lubrication of essential components are necessary to guarantee the durability and seamless operation of your car’s suspension system. If you heed this article’s advice and continue to be proactive with maintenance and inspections, you may drive in comfort and safety for many years. Remember that a well-maintained suspension system improves your car’s performance and increases your general safety when driving.
If you are not confident enough to do it yourself, you can visit DAScenter for car suspension repair in Dubai or one of our other branches.
