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rayandnor

I took my 1998 Nissan Pulsar to a specialist in Hastings to have the dampers checked and was told that 3 out of 4 required replacement. Do AA workshops have facilities for testing dampers? I live in Napier and would like a second opinion on the performance of these dampers. Thank you.

Anon

Hi there,
It would mostly be suspension shops who would have specific test equipment for shock absorber assessment.
General workshops would look for leaks and carryout a bounce test and/or a road test to determine correct shock operation.
For the bounce test, the tech would push down on the corner of the vehicle and release to simulate a large bump, then look to see if the vehicle rises once and settles. If the vehicle continues to bounce then that is a pretty good indication that the damper is not performing correctly and it is just the spring taking the impact.