Do New Shock Absorbers Come With Bump Stops?

ytareh

I got shock absorbers at a great price from UK and a local mechanic fitted them yesterday -long established -he's even got good references on here.Now the top mount could be rotated freely on one side but the other was locked tight.I rung him about this and he reassured me it was ok .But the 'loose' side just looks 'wrong'...the shock clearly doesnt 'fit' right compared with the other .The ride height is about a half inch to an inch inch different to other side!(Strangely the 'bad side' is HIGHER)The car pulls to one side under hard braking with abs engaging very easily .And then when I looked at the old shocks (which he kindly left me in back of car ) there was a bump stop attached to one ...Advice please ? (Beyond , 'Bring it back to him'!)

A guy I was getting tyres fitted by after suggested the spring could have been worn on the bad side but this was before I found the bumpstop in my wheelie bin...!

Wibbs

that just sounds wrong. The pulling to one side clinches it. Were these shocks new or used? Maybe I'm wrong here, but I can't see how the addition or subtraction of a bump stop would give you the problem you have.

ytareh

New shocks in sealed box which i didnt open .Im curious if theyre likely to have had bump stops.The old shocks I was returned had just one bump stop between the two .

Wibbs

IMH anyway the bump stop has little if anything to do with your problem. As their name suggests they only* come into play when the shock absorber is near fully compressed, say when you hit a pothole or somesuch. They stop the shock bottoming out. So ride height and suspension imbalance like you describe shouldn't be coming into play in your case.








*IIRC they can be "tuned" for certain applications, but I'm guessing this isn't one of them.

Nissan doctor

The bump stops on their own will have nothing to do with the ride height or any issue with the top mounts.

What car is it and are they front or rear shocks?

ytareh

Thanks for reply.Fiat Panda fronts .Driver side seems to fit snuggly in the tower and is rock solid.Passenger side one the top mount is rotating freely much higher up and the strut seems to be about an inch further back than youd expect .Car drives generally ok but under braking ABS activates on that side way too easily.

ytareh

Good side/strut



'Bad' side

Mar4ix

i think bad side strut is not properly fitted, if you look on good side, shock thread is good bit longer than bad side, which thread is short.

EDIT: go to other garage to get inspected, and if that bad fitting, you shall consider change your mechanic.

2nd edit: usually new shock absorbers comes with brand new bolts, me think , you've got your old ones fitted.
.... could be spring alright, but bad side has to be lower.

eirator

The top rubber bumper is missing or the fittings on the top of the strut assembly are put on in the wrong order or even upside down. Anyone saying its OK is not to be trusted.

I'm not sure if their should be a locating nut and bolt in each of those empty holes? The bolts would be part of the top strut mount and you'd have to put it on upside down if you can't see the bolts or there is a separate bolt now missing that should be there.

jca

Bring the car to someone who knows what they're doing!! Thats shocking workmanship. It looks so obviously wrong.

derry

My father one time bought one year old BMW in South Africa in very good nick at good price.
I drove it and it pulled to the left all the time .
My father one day driving slowly drifted into ditch in heavy rain and the car had to be repaired . They found the car was previously bent and wasn't fixed properly so the wheels were not square footprints.They stretched and pulled the car and made the cars wheels and system square .Car drove perfect after that .

Proves get mechanic check before you buy ev en a new one year old car .If the car isn't steering straight or braking in straight way or funny shudders etc these are often important and sometimes make the car lethal in high speed braking

Derry

Wibbs

eirator wrote: »

The top rubber bumper is missing or the fittings on the top of the strut assembly are put on in the wrong order or even upside down. Anyone saying its OK is not to be trusted.

+1000. that is all kinds of wrong ytareh and I'm no nervous nelly, but it also looks unsafe. I'd be looking for a damn good explanation from your mechanic.

ytareh

Just to let posters know I got this sorted today .The mechanic said he had tightened up the shock without the weight of vehicle on it and it hadnt sat properly over some spline /groove /hole ...Anyway all sorted now .