Riverton, Utah
Shocks and Struts in Riverton
3311 W 12600 S, Riverton, UT 84065
Shocks and Struts at our Riverton shop
Shocks and struts are the parts that keep the tires in contact with the road, and they fail slowly enough that most drivers adapt to it without noticing. At McNeil's Auto Care in Riverton they get inspected and measured rather than judged by how the car feels on the way in.
The two are not the same thing. A shock damps the movement of the suspension. A strut does that as well, but is also a structural part of the suspension assembly, which is why replacing struts usually means an alignment afterwards and replacing shocks often does not.
Nose dive under braking, a floating or wallowing ride, body roll in corners, cupped or uneven tire wear, or visible fluid running down the body of a damper are the signs worth acting on. Worn dampers also lengthen stopping distances, which is the part that rarely gets mentioned.
Riverton runs five service bays, and this is lift work with an alignment commonly following it, so the time is there. Loaner vehicles and a local shuttle are available while the vehicle is with us.
We show you what the inspection found and quote before anything is authorized. The shop is NAPA Gold certified with ASE certified technicians, and qualifying work carries a 36 month, 36,000 mile nationwide warranty. Open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Questions
Shocks and Struts in Riverton, answered
- Do all four have to be replaced at once?
- In pairs at minimum. A new damper on one side of an axle and a worn one on the other makes the vehicle behave differently left to right, which is worse to drive than two tired ones that at least match. Front and rear do not have to be done together.
- Will the ride feel firmer afterwards?
- It will feel more controlled, which some drivers read as firmer for the first week. A worn damper lets the body carry on moving after a bump, so the car feels soft and vague. New units stop that movement where the manufacturer intended, and the difference shows most on a rough road.
- How long does the job take at the Riverton shop?
- Most vehicles are a half day, and with five service bays the Riverton shop is rarely the bottleneck on booking one in. Seized hardware on something that has seen a lot of winter road salt adds time, and a loaner or the shuttle covers the wait if the work runs long.
- Should the springs be replaced with the struts?
- Not always, though a complete assembly that includes the spring and the upper mount is sometimes the better buy. Mounts and bearings wear on the same timescale as the damper, and a clunk over bumps or a notchy feel through the wheel when parking is often the mount rather than the strut.
Speak to the Riverton shop