The expert named the most vulnerable components of the car in the spring

Car owners should pay special attention to the condition of the suspension after winter, as a number of car elements are subjected to increased loads during this period. In an interview with Izvestia on April 4, Roman Kartuzov, General director of the Russian representative office of the Korean automotive components manufacturer CTR, named three categories of parts that fail first in the spring.

According to him, stabilizer bars are the undisputed leader in the frequency of replacement in Russian conditions. Their average resource is 40-50 thousand km, however, due to aggressive operation, pits and regular temperature fluctuations, they often have to be changed after 20-30 thousand km of mileage.

Shock absorbers occupy the second place in terms of wear. In winter, this suspension part works in the cold, in spring — in conditions of constant temperature fluctuations. Because of this, the rubber seals lose their elasticity, microcracks increase, and oil begins to leak.

"In most cases, it is during the spring period that shock absorbers reach a critical point. The influence of moisture and reagents is affected, and roads that are broken after the winter become a "finishing" factor. When entering the pit, the car is suspended for several fractions of a second, the wheel drops sharply down, the shock absorber instantly opens to its full length, followed by a sharp impact. The force of such an impact, especially at a speed of 60 km/h, is calculated in tons and is transmitted through the wheel to other parts — levers, struts, ball bearings," the expert noted.

Rubber-metal elements (silent blocks) complete the top three in terms of the number of breakdowns in spring. Due to the fact that the temperature, especially in the regions, repeatedly passes through zero, moisture penetrates into microcracks, freezes and expands, tearing the rubber from the inside. One freezing cycle can increase the crack several times.

"There are dozens of such cycles over the winter. As a result, even a small tear turns into a continuous destruction. When the thaw comes, the snow and ice melt, all this aggressive sludge ends up inside the damaged silent block, and the deformation process accelerates," the specialist said.

To improve safety and prevent car wear, the expert advised that in the spring, not a spot replacement of the "rattled" part, but a comprehensive diagnosis of the entire suspension. A timely replacement part will help to avoid many times more expensive repairs in the future, he added.

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Earlier, on April 30, experts said that last winter, the share of Chinese car owners in Russia who repaired a car no more than twice decreased from 38.5% to 35%, and 54% did not encounter any problems at once. 38% of car owners under the age of three said they had never had any repairs done.