Symptoms of Bad Struts

• Struts function as part of your vehicle's suspension system. Ashley Jouhar/Pixland/Getty Images

  Placed at the front end of most front-wheel-drive vehicles, struts support the vehicle's weight while absorbing the shock from bumps and other abnormalities in the road. You cannot depend on a vehicle with bad struts to function properly in an emergency. If you notice any bad strut symptoms, take your vehicle in for evaluation and repair.

Bouncing and Rocking

• If you notice that your vehicle no longer drives smoothly and bounces excessively when driving over bumps in the road or braking, your struts many be going bad. You may also notice abnormal rocking and sway in your vehicle while you drive. To test your struts, perform a bounce test by pushing down one corner of your car and letting it bounce back up. If the vehicle bounces a lot, that corner of the vehicle has a bad shock or strut.

Worn Tires

• Uneven tread wear on your tires may be a result of bad struts. The excessive bouncing caused by bad struts could result in balding spots, wear channels or cupping patterns on your tires.

Bottoming Out

• When your struts need replacement, your car will bottom out when driving over dips in the road, especially when carrying extra passengers. Bottoming out occurs when the struts or shock absorbers fail to support the frame of the car, and your car lands "hard" after going over a bump. You may notice this phenomenon happening in the front of your car. When you brake, your car tends to nose dive when your struts fail.

Leaks

• Your struts consist of shock oil, dampening valves, a piston, main seal and a main body. When your struts fail, the internal dampening value or main shaft seal stops working. This results in the shock oil leaking out.

Rattling

• When your struts give out, you'll notice loose rattling sounds in your car while driving, especially when you go over bumps in the road. This happens when the inside parts of the struts strike the outside of the struts.