Make Automotive Performance & Chassis your first stop for suspension and steering work.
Worn inner or outer tie rod ends, ball joints, sway bar end links, and deteriorated rubber bushings on suspension arms are typical maintenance items that we service to restore proper handling for our customer’s daily drivers.
Replacing worn shocks and struts, especially after 100K miles can make a dramatic improvement in the way your vehicle rides and handles. As these components tend to degrade slowly over time, it isn’t always obvious that they are worn out, but you can check for common tell tales.
Check the rubber bushings at the ends of your shock absorbers (often on the read) for cracking or looseness. Check the shock absorber or strut cartridge for oil leaks, and signs of scoring or wear on the shaft. Often, the foam bump stops found on top of the strut, and under the rubber boot, will deteriorate and crumble away, leaking to thumping or clunking sounds when driving over speed bumps in parking lots, or when making tight turns.
Power steering hoses are another source of leaks on high mileage vehicles, and are an easily replaced item to put an end to those annoying drips on your driveway or garage floor. Power steering pumps that whine may be low of fluid, or may need replacement. Power steering racks that make noise or bind when turning to one side or the other are another somewhat common maintenance item for higher mileage vehicles, especially performance vehicles with tight steering ratios.
In addition to routine diagnosis and service of OEM suspension and steering components, we also install performance upgrades for our customers.
We frequently install coil over suspension conversions with adjustable ride height settings, camber plates, lowering springs, shocks and struts with remote reservoirs, urethane suspension and sway bar bushings, upsized sway bars and mounts, strut tower braces, subframe connectors and body bracing. We install bump steer correction kits for lowered vehicles, that restore correct steering geometry. We recommend this to customers who are making substantial changes to ride height.
Following suspension and steering component replacements, we typically perform a factory correct alignment, or spec alignment depending on customer needs and the application. We can also provide ride height adjustment and corner balancing that includes driver weight to ensure the car handles consistently whether turning left or right on the street or track.
A proper track alignment can turn a so-so suspension into a far more responsive one. We have the experience to get the most out of the suspension geometry your vehicle has when it is time to take it off road and onto the road racing track.