When is it time to change shocks? [Archive] - MINI Cooper Forum - MINI2 Mini Cooper Forums

: When is it time to change shocks?


Applellial
Mar 7th, 2011, 07:38 AM
I'm thinking of buying a set of Koni FSD but before I spend the cash, how do I know if my shocks are shot?

I have about 98K miles on my stock shocks and the car drives fine - no bouncing around, no unusual feel in turns, good control on braking and no unusual wearing of the tires. Besides basing it on mileage or inspecting the shock after removal, is there another way to tell?

Thanks in advance.

SteveM3
Mar 9th, 2011, 10:58 PM
Well don't trust the "bounce test". That is where you push down and check the dampers stop the movement on the first downward cycle. I had a damper on an Audi fail such that driving felt dangerous even at slow speeds, there was an oil leak from it and yet it still passed the bounce test. The Koni FSD's are great dampers, I'd fit them in an instant if my originals have covered 50k+.