When your customer comes in with a broken spring, a damaged strut, should you get him back on the road as soon as possible, or should you do the job the right way? It doesn’t have to be an either-or scenario.
With the convenience of loaded struts, you can get your customers back on the road with a minimum of hassle. These preassembled parts include the coil spring, the strut mount, and all the hardware needed to do the job. They’ll save your technician valuable installation time. And, from the right supplier, the assemblies will be tuned to restore your customer’s vehicle to OE performance.
But should you recommend replacing only the damaged unit, two assemblies side to side or all four? That’s where your professional expertise comes into play.
A customer may expect that you can replace only the damaged corner, but for safety’s sake that’s unlikely to be a good solution. Yes, they’ll save money, but you’re letting them drive an unstable vehicle. The new corner will have a different spring than the other corners and the components are not engineered together.
You CAN replace the damaged unit along with its counterpart on the other side – this evens things out side to side but always check to be sure that the ride height of the older components still meets OE specifications. Otherwise, your customer may end up with a squatting back end, or a hunching front end.
The best solution for your customer’s safety and handling, is to restore all four corners with a strut assembly that’s been designed to OE specifications, and one that’s been designed and TUNED specifically for that vehicle model. This ensures that you’ll have matching spring rates on all four corners.
The quality of the components within that assembly and especially the quality of the coil spring. If a replacement loaded strut assembly has springs made of poor-quality steel, or springs that don’t match the rate of the OE springs, it could have an adverse impact on ride height, which affects wheel alignment, tire wear and handling. Weak springs can affect both camber and caster, which could result in a steering pull, a change in steering effort, or return or uneven tire wear. Poor-quality, improperly coated steel springs are also at increased risk of breakage and spring failure.
When you restore the vehicle to its factory specifications, you’ll create a very stable ride, thanks to consistent engineering and quality components. It’ll be a win-win for both of you – Your customer will drive away with a brand-new suspension, and you’ll sleep easy knowing you gave them and their family a safe ride. This video is sponsored by The Network Academy.
