Have a 2001 Mazda Protege LX (loaded) with 155,000 miles on it.

Lately have been noticing the ride is getting really rough on bad, or even just slightly bad roads.

The traditional wisdom has always been that if you shove the car fender down, and the car rebounds with no bounce, your struts are OK. Did this to all 4 sides of the car, all seem OK. (and that's 210 pounds of "shove", BTW.

Question:

Can the struts be bad and still pass this test? I can't seem to get an honest answer out of dealers or independent mechs about this.

 

hi, can you describe what you mean by really rough?

lately in my car small potholes, small cracks in the road, etc. in the road create a jarring in-cabin vibration, where as before it would just go over them with a soft bounce. it feels like the car has a suspension made of concrete, the dash sounds is about to shake off. almost like the car is going over massive joints on a highway bridge except this is on normal asphalt roads.

its got under 75,000 miles, any ideas? thanks

 

In my experience tire wear will show bad struts in smaller cars. It will be uneven, bumpy you could say. Also when you accelerate over a rough spot in the road it might vibrate out out of the car.