Why is my car giving me a bumpy ride?

BREI18

MEMBER
2007 TOYOTA YARIS
1.5L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
81,700 MILES

My car went through an accident where I hit the curb of a medium during the winter, it was snowing and raining. I was able to get my suspension fixed, replaced two tires and one rim, balanced them, had an alignment and replaced my spark plugs 3-4 months ago and mechanics said my struts and shocks look fine. What else could it be?

1 Reply

BORIS K

MECHANIC
799 POSTS

Hello,

Why are you mentioning that the spark plugs have been replaced?
Is the engine misfiring?

The hard ride you are experiencing does this happen over bumps or does the vehicle a have a general hard feel to it?
Things to check would be that the correct size and profile tire has been fitted, that the tire pressure is correct for your vehicle.
Low profile tires and over inflated tires can cause a hard driving experience.
A seized shock absorber will cause harshness over bumps.
A bounce test will reveal if you have a seized shock absorber.
Try pushing down on each corner of the vehicle.
You should be able to compress the suspension on that side. When releasing the corner, the vehicle should push back up and bounce once.
If the shock absorber is seized, then you will not be able to compress that corner.

How to carry out a bounce test:
https://youtu.be/m8i-zyDEMCE

Unfortunately, this and other videos show only worn shocks, causing excessive suspension movement/bounce.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Boris