Sooner or later, every owner of a VAZ 2110 car will be faced with the need to replace both front and rear shock absorber struts. Because any part wears out over time, and racks in this sense are no exception. Is it possible to replace the struts on my own or will I have to contact a car service center to do this? Can. We will tell the reader how to do this in this article.
Features of shock absorber struts on the VAZ-2110
Where is that shock absorber strut hidden in the shadow of the wheel?
Depending on the intensity of use of the vehicle and the quality of this suspension unit, the struts need to be replaced. The procedure for replacing this suspension part is familiar to most VAZ-2110 owners. The standard period for maintenance of “tens” shock absorbers is about 35,000 km . This depends on the care of the driver, the manufacturer of the part and the operating conditions. In rural areas, the replacement interval is much shorter.
How to determine when it's time to change the struts? Signs of wear
Oil leaks on the strut housing.
Since disassembling a car's suspension is quite a labor-intensive task, before you undertake repairs, you need to determine whether the problem is really in the strut. To do this, you need to focus on the following indirect signs:
- A strong beating is felt on the steering wheel of the car.
- Body vibration increases significantly. Particularly strong vibration comes from the side of the faulty rack.
- The car begins to stop worse when braking.
- When turning, the car starts to skid.
- If you let go of the steering wheel on a flat road, the car will drift strongly to the side.
- Even with a visual inspection, you can notice oil leaks on the shock absorber.
- If you ask someone to drive slowly and listen yourself, you can hear strange knocks and noises in the shock absorber, which is under suspicion.
Checking the racks
Checking racks at the diagnostic center.
It is clear that these problems do not always indicate a malfunction of the racks , so in order to make sure, you can do the following.
Vibration stand
The easiest way is to take the car to a service station, where the condition of the shock absorbers will be checked on a stand. The car owner should know that a vibration stand can show 75% of the service life even on completely new shock absorbers . But if the indicator is less than 50%, it is worth addressing the problem.
Diagnostics at a service station are inexpensive, so many recommend doing diagnostics there, and then eliminating the consequences yourself.
With your own hands
The beginning of the strut shock absorber leakage can be seen if you look under the boot.
Since service stations will charge money for diagnostics, many owners make do with the more popular method of checking.
This method consists of manually rocking the car yourself . The “ten” needs to be strongly shaken, and then the hands must be sharply removed. If the rocking of the body does not stop immediately, then most likely they have exhausted their service life.
We determine that the element has failed
There are several signs by which a malfunction can be identified:
- The body vibrates intensely on the comb on the side of the damaged shock absorber;
- There is a beating sensation in the steering wheel;
- The braking distance becomes longer;
- When turning, the car skids;
- Traces of oil leaks;
- When driving in a straight line, the car drifts to the side;
- There are knocks and extraneous noises in the rack.
Device diagram
If you do not repair the front struts in a timely manner at a service station or with your own hands, this can lead to dire consequences:
- The support bearings will be destroyed;
- Tires will wear unevenly, jump, and form bumps on the rubber surface;
- The wheel bearings will fail;
- The braking distance will become longer, which is dangerous on any section of the road;
- The brake pads will malfunction and their service life will be significantly reduced.
There are two main ways to check elements for malfunction. One is professional, the other is artisanal, but also quite effective.
- Special vibration stand. A car is driven onto it, and the computer calculates the efficiency of the shock absorbers. It should be noted that new racks may show a result of about 75%, but this is quite normal. If the percentage is less than 50, then it’s time to change the part.
- Manual rocking. You need to grab the front of the car, its wing, and start swinging. Try to achieve the maximum amplitude that your body weight allows. If anything, ask a friend to help. The point is to suddenly remove your hands after swinging and look at the car. If it immediately returns to its original position and does not fluctuate anymore, then everything is fine. If even a slight vibration is detected, you can assume that it is advisable to replace the racks in the near future.
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The danger of worn struts
Some car owners believe that failure of the front shock absorbers is not a problem, especially if the car does not even tilt to one side. In fact, problems with the front suspension can lead to the following troubles:
- The support bearings will fall apart , which can lead to an accident.
- The tires will begin to wear unevenly , and you can forget about wheel alignment. In addition, so-called “bumps” may appear on the tires.
- Wheel bearings won't last long either.
- Brake performance will become unsatisfactory because the pads will wear unevenly.
It turns out that one problem that is not corrected in time can lead to serious damage to the car.
How VAZ 2110, 2111, 2112 shock absorbers are arranged + diagram
Front suspension. It is a classic for front-wheel drive cars - MacPherson struts.
- The design has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is fairly high levels of comfort and controllability at low production costs. In addition, MacPherson has a compact design, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the front part of passenger cars. The main feature is the absence of an upper suspension arm. The elastic element (spring) and the shock absorber are combined on one axis, which is rotary. The upper part of the strut rests on a reinforced bowl in the wing mudguard using a slewing bearing.
The rear suspension is made in an “H” shaped pattern and is semi-independent. For compactness, shock absorbers are combined with springs on one axis. Good maintainability is ensured by the simplicity of the design and the ability to change the spring and shock absorber separately. Schematic representation of a semi-dependent rack and its components
The design does not provide ideal handling of a sports car, but the low cost outweighs all possible disadvantages.
Which ones to choose (items)
Original VAZ-2110 stand.
In the case of spare parts for the VAZ-2110, original consumables are not always the best choice. As for the most popular shock absorbers, they have the following article numbers:
- The front left shock absorber on the VAZ-2110 has the article number 21100-2905403-30;
- Right - article 21100-2905402-30.
The article number is stamped on the rack body.
Factory analogues can be recommended to those drivers for whom rigidity indicators are important. It is the original A-pillars that do an excellent job of transporting cargo, although for comfortable movement in the city they are clearly inferior to their softer counterparts.
Some drivers install sports struts that are significantly more rigid than even the factory parts. So they are trying to increase the life of this suspension unit. In any case, it is not recommended to install sports spare parts, since they are designed for completely different operating conditions.
Some praise Samara spare parts, which are known as SS-20 . They can be either oil or gas. Oil shock absorbers are much cheaper, but gas shock absorbers can operate over a wider temperature range. For example, in winter the rigidity of cheaper parts will increase significantly, although for some car owners this does not matter.
Front struts SS-20 series “Comfort” assembled.
Analogs
In addition to domestic parts, you can install front struts from other manufacturers, which will cost much more:
- Sachs;
- Monroe;
- Brillstein;
- Kayaba;
- KONI.
Although installing expensive parts on domestic cars is not always economically justified, some people prefer to spend a large sum once, but then do not have to worry about replacement for several years.
Aston racks are another analogue of domestic production.
Replacing rear shock absorbers
Work such as replacing the rear shock absorbers of a VAZ 2110 does not require the involvement of special forces and means; it can be carried out in the car owner’s garage or near it. All you need is a flat area.
The preliminary stage consists of placing the car on the platform, placing locking blocks under the front end and turning on the speed. Next, we hang up the rear and install the blocks, removing the jack. Due to the fact that the stern suspension must be free of load, it is impossible to place blocks under it.
Elements of the main stage:
- Remove the backrest of the stern seat from the replacement side of the product.
- Unscrew the shock absorber strut fasteners from the top from inside the passenger compartment,
- Unscrew from the outside from below and remove the lower fastener of the product.
- Release the edge of the shock absorber strut from the mounting below and remove the spring with the product.
- Remove the insulating type spring gasket from the wheel well.
- Remove the support washer from the interior side.
- Remove the pillow on top from the support hole.
- Release the strut from the spring.
- Remove the bushing and pad from the bottom of the shock absorber rod.
- Remove the protection casing and remove the compression stroke buffer device from it.
- Check the product for functionality.
- Replace the shock absorber bushing "tens" mounting from below.
- Replace all rack components that need to be replaced (pads, casing, insulation pad, and spring).
- The shock absorber strut is assembled in reverse order.
- Tighten the final fasteners of the shock absorber at the top and bottom with the car installed on a flat horizontal platform.
Required tools for DIY replacement
In order for the replacement of the front shock absorber struts to be successful with your own hands, it is recommended that you first prepare the following list of tools.
Table - Tools required to replace the front strut
| Name | Note |
| Socket head | "at 13", "at 14", "at 15", "at 16", "at 17", "at 18" and "at 19" |
| Socket wrench | "at 17", "at 22", "at 19" |
| Vorotok | With ratchet |
| Mount | Can be replaced with any durable metal rod |
| Hammer | Medium size |
| open-end wrench | "at 9" |
| Balloon wrench | For loosening and tightening wheel mounts |
| Penetrating lubricant | For example, Liquid Key or WD-40 |
| Puller | Pair of spring ties |
| Jack | To lift the car |
| Safety stand | Can be replaced with a removed wheel |
How VAZ 2110, 2111, 2112 shock absorbers are arranged + diagram
Front suspension.
It is a classic for front-wheel drive cars - MacPherson struts. MacPherson struts The design has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is fairly high levels of comfort and controllability at low production costs. In addition, MacPherson has a compact design, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the front part of passenger cars. The main feature is the absence of an upper suspension arm. The elastic element (spring) and the shock absorber are combined on one axis, which is rotary. The upper part of the strut rests on a reinforced bowl in the wing mudguard using a slewing bearing. The rear suspension is made in an “H” shaped pattern and is semi-independent. For compactness, shock absorbers are combined with springs on one axis. Good maintainability is ensured by the simplicity of the design and the ability to change the spring and shock absorber separately. Schematic representation of a semi-independent strut and its components. The design does not provide ideal handling of a sports car, but the low cost outweighs all possible disadvantages.
