Hello, I have an older Accord and I was wondering if anyone has had any other complaints about how rough the car rides. I have a set of rr tracks that I have to cross everyday. They are set at an odd angle and are pretty big. Anyway, when going over them at below 15 it feels fine except for the front end noise. Anything over 15 and the car just bounces very rough. Is it time for a shock replacement or is that just old technology? Could it be the springs?

 

After doing some recent reading on a tire website talking about tire wear, it was brought up that shocks really dont last that long, the internals take a real beating and you dont see any signs of a leak so you think they are still good.

Replace all four corners with some name brands and plan on more frequent changes than expected, its also not difficult to do once you have done the first set with a friend.

 

With the car parked, bounce the car 1 corner at a time. When you stop, the car should finish the bounce, go about half way down then stop. If the bounce continues, you need shocks.

 

I have worked on vehicles and know basically how to change out shocks, the most expensive parts are the shocks then the $30 sping compressor. Not all that difficult.

I tried boucing each corner like you said. The rear looked fine, started bouncing came up and settled right away. The front, after bouncing went up, down, up then down. I wans't quite sure what you ment by the second part "go half way down then stop". It's probably a long needed repair. I'm pretty sure the last owner hot-rodded the car and tore it up (driveways at 20 mph...)

ps: the rockguard has taken a couple hits even though it's 9-10 inches from the ground.

 

Well, it looks like you found your own answer. I agree that you need new front shocks. There may be something else needed to correct the front end noise, but it could also just be from the bad shocks. Start with the known problem and go from there. Let us know if the noise is gone after you put new front shocks on.

When you bounce the corner and let go, the spring is going to finish that bounce, compress then settle as noted on your rears.