The symptoms of bad leaf springs will tell you about the problems with your vehicle. It’s risky to continue driving your vehicle with the faulty leaf springs.
These indicators may be potential or easy to detect and repair.
Thus, knowing them is helpful in identifying if your leaf springs are bad.
Also, this helps you seek the proper solution to fix the malfunctioning part and keep your drive safe and comfortable.
Let’s review each tellable sign in this article and get more useful information about this component.
What Are Leaf Springs?
Leaf springs are an essential component of suspension found in various vehicles, such as passenger cars, buses, semi-trailers, trucks, and trailers.
They consist of leaves or metal plates attached to the vehicle’s frame to the axles of another car.
Their leaves help the suspension system absorb shocks and maintain control and stability.
Also, they support the vehicle’s payload and weight to move power to the wheels through the drivetrain. Two common kinds of this part are multi and single-leaf springs.
What Are Symptoms of Bad Leaf Springs?
The signs of faulty leaf springs are hard steering and sagging with a squeaking or rattling noise under the vehicle’s hood.
Besides, leaves cracks, truck sways, hauling capabilities, or leaning may be the clear bad leaf spring symptoms.
Hard Steering
If you have trouble steering your car, you may determine the problem with your car’s leaf springs.
This sign can be turned right or left already seems a hard task for a vehicle, even at low speeds.
Leaf springs are responsible for supplying maximum steering comfort for your vehicle.
If this is not possible, this car’s components may be damaged, eventually leading to wear and tear of the parts.
Besides, if your vehicle is using more force to complete this easy task, you need the right replacement leaf springs with the support of an expert mechanic.
In addition, get your vehicle serviced immediately to prevent the potential risk of accidents from this failure.
Sagging
Sagging is one of the broken leaf spring symptoms that you may detect when conducting truck technical inspections and wheel alignment.
Leaf springs are usually at a certain level with a new installation. It may be due to bending or wearing out from weighty loads if it is lower than necessary.
Frequently Bouncing
If your vehicle frequently bounces more than necessary, the leaves may get cracked or damaged.
This is one of the signs of bad leaf springs, rendering your car unable to withstand the pressure adjacent to the shock absorber system.
Also, it’s hard for your vehicle to move on terrains and mitigate the bumping effects on its wheels. It is possible to make your car more sensitive to slight bumps in the road.
Don’t wait for this failure to worsen. Take your vehicle to a professional mechanic for the proper inspection and repair for further effect prevention.
Leaf Cracks
Fractures or cracks are another serious sign that the bad leaf springs need repair or a proper replacement. Yet, you will have to get your hand dirty when you want to inspect this yourself.
A crack may be visible, but if you are unsure, it is advisable to consult an expert mechanic to check if the gap poses a hazard to the truck’s handling.
Truck Sways
If your truck’s rear becomes unstable while driving and starts to shake when hitting bumps or other obstacles, you must inspect the leaf spring’s condition.
Healthy leaf springs absorb energy from uneven terrain and bumps, preventing your vehicle from swaying, bouncing, and vibrating through the floor.
Therefore, if you notice the truck shaking, the leaf spring will be the first part to look for potential stresses.
This is common to help you know how to tell if rear leaf springs are bad when you’re driving your truck.
Hauling Capabilities
If your truck has trouble hauling your load, it can be a problem with the leaf springs responsible for supporting the load capacity during transportation.
It’s best to perform a test if you are unsure. You should notice its overall performance at the start of your drive and its current status once completely loaded.
The bad news is the performance deterioration only worsens over time. Thus, replace the failing leaf springs if they cannot support the extra weight as expected.
Leaning Vehicle
I recommend inspecting the leaf springs when you see your truck leaning to one side. You may observe the vehicle’s overall structure when you park it on a flat surface.
This inspection is necessary if you don’t know how to tell if your leaf springs are bad.
It will help you determine whether leaf springs have buckled due to huge loads transported over long periods.
Strange Noises
Damaged leaf springs may produce a rattling or squeaking noise in several cases.
Driving my car through potholes or small bumps, I sometimes hear an annoying squeak that never seems to go away.
If you experience such problems, it is recommended to have a complete visual inspection of the leaf springs to identify the root cause and repair it to preserve other suspension components of your car.
The squeak is often due to small rocks or debris between the leaf spring leaves. Also, this indicates that the part is wearing with increasing friction between leaves.
If you don’t know how to clean your dirty leaf springs, bringing your vehicle to an auto shop for a thorough service is best.
Tear & Wear
How to know if leaf springs are bad? Another symptom is the wear and tear condition.
The leaf springs easily become worn over time due to various factors, such as corrosion, impact extensive damage, or usual wear and tear.
This problem will reduce the supportive abilities of leaf springs to the axles and make them hard to absorb the shocks when your vehicle moves through rough terrains or many bumps.
Also, worn leaf springs may cause vehicle problems, such as poor handling, rough ride, or increased corrosion on other parts of the leaf spring suspension.
Why Do Leaf Springs Go Bad?
Loose U-Bolts
The U-bolts attaching the leaf springs in your suspension to the rear axle housing may loosen over time and cause problems if they aren’t properly tightened once installed.
Checking the U-bolts for looseness about every 500 miles will help you avoid problems.
Corrosion
The main material of leaf springs is steel, so it can get corrosion due to environmental impact, like any other metal. Leaf springs may also fatigue and corrode over their lifespan.
Corrosion primarily originates from elements like salt, water, general wear and tear from towing heavy loads, and other chemicals.
When exposed to corrosive factors, leaf springs deteriorate faster and require more frequent repairs.
Thus, regularly clean vital components, most in winter months, to help extend your leaf springs’ lifespan and avoid overstressing your vehicle.
Overloading
Vehicle overloading or uneven loading may also affect the lifespan and performance of leaf springs.
To avoid excessive wear on leaf springs, always carry the correct load for your trailer or truck type, or upgrade to your leaf springs to allow them to withstand higher loads.
When welding or attaching accessories to the trailer or truck’s bodies, beware of weld spatter ruining leaf springs. Also, it is necessary not to try to fuse the leaf springs.
FAQs
How to Replace Your Leaf Spring?
Follow these simple steps to replace your leaf springs with new ones:
- Raise and secure your vehicle with a jack stand. Take the vehicle’s tire out to access the suspension.
- Loosen and remove the washers and nuts on the old U-bolts. Keep loosening and removing the old spring bolts or pins.
- Pull the old leaf springs out and install the new ones.
- Install a new spring pin, screw, and tighten it.
- Install and secure new U-bolts and reassemble the tire.
- Lower your vehicle to double-check the alignment and your drive.
Can You Drive With a Damaged Leaf Spring?
Yes, you can. Yet, driving with a damaged leaf spring is not advisable due to problems with your safety or your vehicle’s performance.
Thus, repair the bad leaf spring if it gets broken to protect yourself and your vehicle alike.
How Long Does Leaf Spring Last?
It may last for about several years. Yet, its lifespan also depends on many factors, including exposure to the factors causing additional corrosion and stress, and overloading.
Conclusion
It’s not always simple to determine symptoms of bad leaf springs, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the components in your vehicle.
The common signs of defective leaf springs often include hard steering, sagging, squeaking, strange noise, and leaning vehicles.
These problems may originate from various causes, such as loose U-Bolts, corrosion, and overloading.
Therefore, it’s best to give your vehicle proper and frequent maintenance. This may help prevent this failure with your leaf springs and ensure a safe and smooth ride.
Also, immediately take the car to an auto shop for expert mechanics to repair the faulty leaf springs.