Rep Power: 290

I am only asking this question on here cuz I'm not about to sign up for a toyota corolla forum for a one question thing....

MY girl has a 92 Dx 4-door...this is probably a universal car question...but if the dampers fail substantailly, will the springs be able to provide any control at all? I drove it the other day and about shat(past-tense go look it up) myself because the car had so much roll in a lane adjustment(where they dig up part of the lane and shift it into another) ...feels like the springs are doing the hard part...I know its not possible for them to carry load of vehicle perse,as in providing shock absorption...but I duno i'm gonna look under the car tomorrow...just wanted a heads up I guess as to what might be happening....

 
Rep Power: 340

mmm.... Corolla's naturally have a lot of body roll..... if the car is bobbing up and down constantly over a bump or if you push down on the bumper, then the shocks are gone.... and you will know if it's completely gone if the car bottoms out when you semi-load it up.

 
Rep Power: 425

If the shocks are gone (most tend to be 13 years later) then yes, the car will basically feel like an *** monster. The dampers keep the springs from wallowing out of control by settling the car back to a neutral state. With no shocks, the car keeps bouncing along.

 
Rep Power: 290

I figured as much...thanks for the reassurance...I actaully talked to her while we were in it and she asked me if the springs broke...I told her sorry but I couldn't hold it back I laughed...but I told her this way: if the spring were to break it would cause the shocks to drop completely thusly blowing them out in most cases,,the car would probably land on the tires and blow them out too...in any case, the car would not be drivable..


like I said earlier I'll probably end up changing out the shocks. I'm not too sure about the springs, if they're looking pretty good there really isn't any way to test the reliabilityis there? I mean aside from putting them on that machine(forgot the name) that checks the strength right? I'm figuring that's how it'd be done...but in any case I'll probably just break down and grab an Eibach Prokit, it shouldn't rub the upsized tire that much (175/70r13 to 195/60r15). I doubt I'll get a rub anyworse than the wheel lock rub I get right now

I know a little about the suspension world but not enough to order a beer...

 
Rep Power: 425

You can put them on a spring dyno, but it would be pretty unlikely the springs are broken. If they are, they'd be in 2 pieces. So if they're still 1 piece, then they're not broken.

 
Rep Power: 413

That took a lot of brain power captain obvious...

Shroomster, change the shocks, keep the springs, get new upper mounts/bearings, and look at bushings to see if they are worn. You also might look into getting new tie rod ends as the boots are probably worn down. I am sure you get a set of tokicos for cheaper than OEM, but get all the OEM extra parts (mount/bearing/tie rod ends). Look at all these parts before you buy to see if you need to replace them. However the car is 13-14years old, and all these parts should probably be replaced. I am sure she will a drastic increase in ride quality.

 
Rep Power: 290

alright...thanks for the input...

 
Rep Power: 382

ya the springs are fine... its a common misconception about shock absorbers... thanks to their name. Since Shock absorbers dont really absorb shocks, but rather dampen the occlations of the springs (keeps them from bouncing). Calling them a Damper would be more allong the lines of what they do. The springs them selves absorb the shock from bumps and such, as well as support the car off the ground. So it could be said that you can drive a car with out Dampers, but you cant drive one with out springs.... though driving with out dampers would make for a bouncy and dangerous ride.

 
Rep Power: 279

LoL, my uncle had one of those old corollas, n man can that thing bounce.