Shocks & springs

No. Check your caliper slider pins.

Not necessary. Springs don't wear out.

"Eric Baber" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

Shocks have nothing to do with the car pulling to the right. THat's your brakes.

Shocks may or may not be trashed at that mileage. If you push down on a corner of the car and then let up does it come back up and stop or keep bouncing? Springs are definitely not even close to sacked at that mileage. Plenty of OEM springs with 155,000 that are still fine. Get your brakes fixed!

FYI, that test doesn't work on a Miata. It won't bounce no matter how bad the shocks are. If the rear bottoms in dips, the shocks are wasted.

And it certainly does that!! Glad to hear I don't have to replace the springs though.

Eric

I have 80,000 miles on my '96. It doesn't seem to bottom in dips. So why have my shocks lasted so much longer then they should accordiong to the conventional wisdom? I remember reading here that they're toast after about 40,000 miles. Is there a more rigorous method of testing the shocks on a Miata?

Does it perhaps depend on the type of driving you do? I would expect city driving (with more potholes etc) to be rougher on shocks than, say, lots of motorway driving - could that be the case? What type of driving do you usually do?

Eric

Mixed. Maybe my shocks are worn and I just don't realize it.

When I had the shocks replaced on my Miata,the difference in handling was amazing . It was also kind of an eye-opener when I got out of her the first time - she sat at least an inch higher off the ground!

Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata

You must have replaced the shocks with new ones that didn't have the same geometry as the stock ones. Normally, shock replacement shouldn't change ride height.

It's common for new gas-pressurized shocks to ride high for awhile until they settle. Unfortunately, it's also common for installers to torque down the suspension bolts with the car still in the air, rather than with its normal weight on the tires; this preloads the bushings, adding to the effective spring rate.

I hadn't thought about that last point -- though I should have after the contortions I had to go through to get a torque wrench on those bolts with the car down off the jack stands.