Suspension arms, bushes and ball joints are replaced in the workshop every day. Every time a vehicle’s wheel moves up or down, and when the steering wheel is turned, these components are in use and as a result, start to wear. These components are used to connect the wheel to the chassis and suspension components, like the coil or leaf springs.

Suspension arms need to allow up and down movement of the wheel but still hold the wheel central inside the wheel arch (not allowing forward and backwards movement). So, they need to be strong, but pivot both ends. To allow the arm to pivot, ball joints and/or bushes are used.

Ball joints wear because of constant use and leads to excessive movement in the suspension components. This will lead to a rattle or knocking noise within the cabin.
Bushes also knock when perished, worn or become unbonded from their housing. They commonly fail the MOT due to excessive wear or free play which, if not rectified promptly, can cause uneven tyre wear and handling issues.

Like CV Joints, Ball joints have a rubber boot covering them to retain the lubricating grease. If this boot is split, damaged or insecure, they can fail the MOT.

Common Mot Failures

• Excessive movement and free play
• Ball joint boot split
• Bushes perished, split or worn

 
The reason these are considered an MOT failure is because the vehicle’s handling can be seriously affected and cause the car to pull left or right. So, it is vital to keep the suspension in good working order.

In addition, premature and uneven tyre wear are caused by play in the suspension and steering joints. Whenever a steering or suspension joint is replaced, the alignment must be checked/adjusted.
 
Some vehicles, particularly larger German manufactured ones, have several suspension arms on each wheel. They may fail on upper, lower, upper rear most etc. 

At Okee we love retrofitting electrical add-ons, like; spot lights, reversing sensors, and dash cams. When the work is completed correctly these upgrades can be a good addition to your pride and joy. However sometimes we come across a poor installation and in this case, a potentially dangerous one.

Our Client was at her local supermarket when smoke started to pour out from under the bonnet and dashboard of her vehicle. She quickly exited her vehicle and called the RAC for recovery services. Once the vehicle had been towed to Okee it didn’t take long for us to find the cause - a poorly routed live feed wire had been trapped between a front spot light and its mounting bracket. Over time the wire had become exposed and shorted, and this in turn allowed excessive current to flow - melting all the relating wiring (see picture).

The original technician installed these lights without fitting a fuse, which is not recommended and something we would never do at Okee. We removed all the existing wiring and started again, making sure wires were routed safely and the system was fused correctly. Back on the road in no time!

If you have any electrical issues give us ring today

We are fully qualified, and have a wealth of experience, when it comes to working with air bag and safety restraint systems (SRS), which is vital when dealing with components that are critical to your safety, the safety of your family, and other road users.

Here at Okee we have seen some terrifying air bag and SRS repairs over recent months and would urge all vehicle owners not to settle for any cheap vehicle repairs, but to give particular consideration to safety related components like your air bags, SRS and braking systems.

Recently, a new customer came to us with the air bag warning light on (an MOT failure) requesting we find and rectify the fault. After scanning the ECU and looking at live data, we found a high resistance value at the passenger front air bag igniter. So, with the system powered down we began our investigations…

First, we gained access to the air bag itself. A quick removal of the glovebox and a couple panels revealed everything we needed to see. The wiring loom had been damaged previously and someone had made a poor job of fixing it. The wires feeding the Air Bag had been re-connected by crudely twisting the two together, and they had neglected to apply any insulation to the join with nothing physically holding the wires together.

We also found the igniter wires on the passenger front seat belt retractor to have had the same sub-standard repair. They had been poorly soldered together and then taped to the seat belt to stop them falling off, obviously not a good enough repair and the result of poor workmanship.

You don’t need to be a master technician to know that this is not good enough. We professionally replaced the wiring loom and checked the resistances using the scan tool and everything had returned to normal. Best practice dictates that you should never repair air bag wiring, but replace with the correct wiring loom, supplied by the vehicle manufacturer. Also, it is important to use the scan tool to check resistances, as multi-meters could deploy the Air Bag.
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These systems are so important and do need highly trained technicians with experience and knowledge to repair them. At Okee we can repair any electrical system fitted to your vehicle. Modern systems are so complex and need people with good understanding to work on them. Cheap repairs often cause other faults to appear, costing you more in the long run.