Mastering steering and suspension is a skill that encompasses more than just a working knowledge of the systems; it involves everything from the initial customer visit to the final procedures and adjustments during an alignment at the end of a job.
In this six-part series, we’re diving into the process from end-to-end to outline a seamless experience between the customer, service advisor and technician, and to ensure you provide an expert level of steering and suspension diagnosis and repair on every vehicle.
The importance of proper diagnosis and repair cannot be overlooked. First and foremost, vehicle safety is number one. Safety needs no explanation, but it’s one of the most important factors to your customer, and ultimately one of the biggest reasons they continue to bring their vehicle to you. They want the peace of mind that it is properly maintained for their safety, the safety of their family and everyone else on the road.
With that in mind, when do you inspect steering and suspension? The simple answer should be every time you service a vehicle for any reason, and while situational factors may determine the depth of the inspection, it’s the overall consistency of your service approach that sets you up for success every time.
The prevailing reason behind an in-depth inspection comes from customer concerns about unusual noises, vibrations, shaking, poor or sloppy handling or uneven tire wear, all of which are common complaints. Poor handling and tire wear point immediately to steering or suspension issues, but anytime there’s a concern about any noise or vibration, even when it may seem like it could be an unrelated problem, the steering and suspension should be thoroughly inspected. Keep in mind that we all perceive and often describe things in different manners, and it’s your job as a professional to determine the ultimate source of a problem.
Even when a vehicle is only in for routine maintenance, a thorough inspection should be performed. To begin with, think of how many times you have performed routine maintenance, such as an oil change, and when your customer picks up the vehicle, the first thing they ask is “does everything else look ok?” Standard service should always include a multi-point inspection, and if you didn’t do it, how are you going to say “yes?” Some customers like to surprise you afterward with a comment such as, “I’m leaving tomorrow on a 3,000-mile trip, and just wanted to make sure everything was ok.”
Don’t get blindsided by this. Remember, you are their peace of mind. Yet another reason for a thorough inspection with any service is that quite often your customers simply don’t recognize issues that are developing with their car. You’re the expert, and it’s your job to identify problems, whether they’re aware of them or not.
When you have the initial conversation with your customer, even if it’s just a maintenance appointment, ask them if there are any other concerns they have, such as noises, handling or vibration concerns. Sometimes they simply forget and if you “jog” their memory, it can help with diagnosis, and they’re also likely to tell you about that upcoming trip, instead of surprising you with it at vehicle pick up.
When they do mention a concern that may be related to steering or suspension, this is the time when you want to ask as many questions as possible and document their answers.
1. When does the noise occur?
2. When does the vibration occur?
3. How long has it been doing it?
4. Does it occur when accelerating or braking?
5. At what speed does it occur?
6. Where do you hear it?
7. Where do you feel it?
8. Does it happen over bumps?
9. Does it happen going uphill or downhill?
10. Does it happen while turning?
11. How many people are in the car?
12. Do you pull a trailer?
13. Has the car ever been in an accident?
14. Has any other work been performed recently?
15. Is the steering wheel centered when driving straight?
Your main goal is to get them to be as specific as possible as to the factors surrounding the noise. It can often be difficult to duplicate a symptom until you can almost exactly replicate the conditions under which it occurs. Don’t be afraid to keep this written list and reference it when you’re talking to your customer. Add to it with other questions you think of and ask them every time. It will prevent an extra call to ask for more information.
Now it’s time to make an initial assessment of the problem, and as a technician, when you begin to focus on this job, it’s important to review the work order to form an idea in your mind as to the diagnostic aspects you’ll be looking to perform on the test drive. You’ll want to know the speeds you’ll need to travel, where to listen for noises, and what you’ll need to do to duplicate the symptom.
It's also a valuable resource to review service information and identify any technical service bulletins (TSBs) that may be available, and it’s just as important to identify the type of steering and suspension, so it can help you understand the handling characteristics of a vehicle, allowing you to develop a diagnostic strategy. Certain types of suspension or steering systems have specific telltale sounds and symptoms as their components wear, and you’ll get used to these as you get more experienced.
You can identify how any vehicle is equipped through service information, but this is often an inefficient use of time. Strut suspensions and rack and pinion steering are so popular today that it’s a relatively safe assumption that’s what you’ll be dealing with, especially in the front, however that’s not the case with much older vehicles. As a technician, you’ll be familiar with how most of the mainstream vehicles are equipped, but rear suspension systems are more likely to differ, as well as the front suspension on high-end or luxury vehicles.
Knowing the type of drivetrain is important too, because front-wheel drive versus all-wheel drive can affect the driving characteristics of a vehicle and change the nature of the symptoms you’re likely to experience. If you’re not sure of how the vehicle is equipped, regarding either the suspension, steering or drivetrain, the easiest thing is to take a quick look under the back of the car to identify the suspension and look for rear drivetrain components, then glance above the front tires to confirm it’s a typical strut suspension.
Understanding the vehicle is how you get the most out of the information you gather on a test drive, and this is where your knowledge of steering and suspension begins to play a part.
Coming up in part 2: Identifying steering and suspension systems
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