Suspension and Steering Repair Norwich

Suspension does not usually fail suddenly. It gets a little worse every time you cross the speed cushions on Eaton's estate roads or hit the crater on the B1108, until one day the car clonks over every bump, wanders on the A47 and has eaten the inside edge of a front tyre. The parts involved are mostly small and inexpensive; the damage they cause when ignored, to tyres, to other components and to an MOT certificate, is not. At Ber Street we put the car on the ramp, find the worn part rather than guessing, and quote before we touch it.

Diagnosed firstthe fault found before it is quoted

Quoted before worknothing added without your say so

3-month guaranteeor 3,000 miles on workmanship

Open 7 daysfree parking on site

The Noises and What They Usually Mean

• A clonk or knock over bumps, especially at low speed: drop links, anti-roll bar bushes, a top mount or a worn shock absorber.
• A creak or groan when turning or braking: ball joints or wishbone bushes.
• A droning hum that changes when you steer left or right: a wheel bearing.
• A click when turning at low speed: a CV joint, usually because its rubber boot split and let the grease out.
• A clunk from the steering: track rod ends, the steering rack or its mounts.

Our knocking over bumps guide goes through these in more detail, but nothing beats a ramp and a lever bar for finding the play.

Shock Absorbers and Springs

Shock absorbers wear so gradually that most drivers never notice until the car fails the MOT on a leaking damper or bounces after a bump. Worn dampers lengthen stopping distances, unsettle the car on rough roads and wear tyres in a scalloped pattern. Coil springs snap, often on a frosty morning, and a broken spring is an immediate MOT fail and a tyre-shredding hazard. We replace both in axle pairs so the car stays balanced, check top mounts and bump stops at the same time, and follow up with an alignment check because a new spring changes the ride height.

Steering: Pulling, Wandering and Heavy Steering

A car that pulls on a flat road is usually alignment, sometimes a sticking brake, and occasionally a tyre. A car that wanders or feels vague has play somewhere, in track rod ends, ball joints or the rack. Heavy or noisy power steering points to the pump, the fluid or on newer cars the electric assistance motor. We diagnose all of them, and because alignment cannot be set accurately on worn parts, we replace the worn part first and then set the geometry with laser alignment.

Good to know

How do I know if my shock absorbers are worn? The car bounces more than once after a bump, feels floaty at speed, nose-dives under braking, shows scalloped tyre wear, or a damper is visibly leaking. Most drivers only find out at the MOT, so ask us to check them at the service.

Wheel Bearings and Driveshafts

A wheel bearing that hums at speed and changes note on a bend will eventually seize, and on many cars it comes as a hub assembly rather than a pressed bearing, which affects the quote. Driveshaft CV joints fail because the boot splits; caught early it is a boot and grease, caught late it is a joint or a whole shaft. Both are routine work for us and both are checked during any suspension inspection.

How We Work

Tell us the noise or the symptom on the phone, we inspect on the ramp and road test, then quote in writing part by part so you can see what is urgent and what can wait. Parts are quality OEM specification, fitted in pairs where the car needs balance, torqued to specification and followed by an alignment check where the geometry has been disturbed. Call 07933 900901; open seven days, free parking at 100-106 Ber Street, 3-month / 3,000-mile workmanship guarantee.

How a Repair Works Here