Harsh Ride

[Ben565]

Hi All,

Quite a general question really, but in this case it applies to my 2008 Avensis 2.0 D4D

The suspension seems to be excessivley soft, I know it's not a sports car and it's quite a soft set up anyway, but it really seems to pitch excessivley nose down under braking and lifts up on acceleration. At the same time the ride seems quite harsh, it bangs and crashes over rough roads, bizzarly if you hit a bump in the road slowley it bangs over it, if you hit one at speed it soaks it up fine.

I dont understand the dynamics of suspension setup, I know it's possible to have a soft setup that still crashes and bangs over small bumps but fine over big ones so maybe it's normal?

I wondered if the springs had started to go weak? or dampers? bushings wearning out? It's just over 3 years old and 80,000 miles

[acetip]

How many miles has the car done. sounds like worn shock absorbers.

[Druid Boy]

80k miles isn't high for an Avensis however if it has been driven hard or used for a lot of towing or heavy load carrying the suspension system may have taken a hammering. Sounds like you may have wear throughout the suspension. if you can't live with it ask an independant specialist have a look and provide a report on estimated repair costs.

[Ben565]

It's been driven hard, mostly motorway though and no towing or heavy loads.

[Druid Boy]

Yep, that will do it. Big heavy car with a big heavy engine up front. Drive it hard and watch it wear out real quick. A good measure of how hard your whole car is working as a system is how long your tyres last. So, how much milage are you getting from your tyres?

[Auris sr 180]

The way to test your shocks are ok is to bounce each corner of the car . Give each side a press down as hard as u can . If it bounces any more than up and down once your shocks are nackered

[Ben565]

Not sure how many miles I was getting from the tyres, in 30k miles using it as a company car I had two new ones I think, they were Goodyear NCT5. Your right though big heavy car with a big heavy engine up front.

I tried the bounce test but actually found it quite difficult to get it to push down much, certainly didnt notice it bouncing or anything, seemed to just go down and come straight back up again.