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The Garage 277

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Welcome with Dave Gregory<br />

Hello<br />

Welcome to this issue of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Garage</strong>.<br />

Welcome to this issue of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Garage</strong><br />

We’re getting underneath cars<br />

in this issue and looking at<br />

steering and suspension and,<br />

in a separate feature, shock<br />

absorbers.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re’s no getting away from the parlous<br />

state of the roads, and after the winter that<br />

just didn’t seem to go away, they’re in an<br />

even worse state than ever: You know it’s<br />

getting bad when the outside lane of a motorway<br />

has potholes. But it’s not just motorways<br />

and trunk roads.<br />

Roads of all types are throwing their worst<br />

at every car’s steering and suspension and<br />

as the AA has recently shown, the number of<br />

insurance claims for road-related damage<br />

were greater in the first four months of this<br />

year than in all of 2017! It’s a terrible figure,<br />

and it also means there are too many cars<br />

out there with worn – and in some cases<br />

dangerous – steering and suspension components.<br />

Yes, they come under the watchful eye of<br />

the MoT test inspector, but between tests<br />

how much steering and suspension work do<br />

you do? And how much do you do to promote<br />

it to your customers? <strong>The</strong>re’s a safety<br />

aspect to these parts of the car and it’s impossible<br />

to over-estimate their importance.<br />

When talking about steering and suspension,<br />

it’s all too easy to focus on shock<br />

absorbers, to the detriment of coils, top<br />

mounts, ball joints and track rod ends.<br />

Yes, shock absorbers are vitally important,<br />

but they work with the other parts of the<br />

steering and suspension to keep a car firmly<br />

planted on the road, and responsive to<br />

steering and acceleration.<br />

<strong>The</strong> problem is, of course, the gradual<br />

wear that occurs with shock absorbers.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re’s no sudden, lightbulb-style it works/<br />

it doesn’t work, so carrying out regular<br />

shock absorber checks is something you<br />

should be doing every time a car’s in for a<br />

major or intermediate service.<br />

Carrying out checks on the steering and<br />

suspension components doesn’t take long,<br />

and it makes the roads that little bit safer.<br />

But, on top of that, it might just make some<br />

more money for your business.<br />

Enjoy the issue!<br />

Dave Gregory<br />

Editor<br />

PS. If you agree, disagree or have anything to<br />

add to my comments please email me at:<br />

dave.gregory@ppmedia.co.uk<br />

Editorial<br />

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