For over 30 years, Spring Works has been the trusted source for complete suspension and steering service in Santa Rosa, CA. We specialize in repairing, designing, and supplying suspension components for all types of vehicles, from cars and trucks to RVs and heavy-duty applications.

Whether you need to replace worn ball joints, tie rods, control arms, shocks, struts, or bushings, our expert technicians can diagnose the problem and provide you with the best repair options. We offer:

Expert Diagnostics: Accurately pinpoint suspension and steering issues.
Quality Parts: OEM, aftermarket, and custom suspension components.
Comprehensive Repairs: From minor fixes to complete system overhauls.
Custom Solutions: Design and fabrication for specialized needs.

The suspension system in your vehicle serves a crucial role that goes beyond its name. This system acts as the link between your vehicle and its wheels, enabling a smooth and comfortable ride, even on uneven and bumpy roads. Additionally, it plays a vital role in maintaining traction by keeping the vehicle's wheels firmly on the ground.

Achieving precise tuning is essential for the suspension system's optimal performance. To accomplish this, we utilize a combination of shock absorbers and springs. These components work together to enhance both comfort and safety for drivers and passengers, ensuring a stable and enjoyable driving experience.

By expertly balancing shock absorption and support, the suspension system allows your vehicle to maintain excellent road grip and stability, regardless of the terrain. This results in a safer and more comfortable ride for you and your passengers, making it an indispensable aspect of your vehicle's overall performance.

With decades of experience working with specialized suspension and supplying and servicing suspension products, you’ll find that the expertise we have here at Spring Works is unparalleled. Get prices and make a suspension appointment today. Get it done right

When you drive a car on the road, the tires constantly absorb the force of impact from potholes and uneven road surfaces. The effect is multiplied when the vehicle is moving fast. But the tires alone do not possess the ability to soak up all of that energy. The remainder has to go somewhere! In the case of an automobile, the force travels up to the suspension that protects the chassis from feeling the impact. As a result, the car becomes smoother and more comfortable to drive. Imagine, what would happen without an intervening structure. The chassis would feel the full force of the impact, leading to damage in the form of cracks and kinks.  Fortunately, modern suspension systems do not allow something like this to happen. They have evolved over time and they are now capable of absorbing unbelievable amounts of force.
The modern suspension system performs such miracles with the help of its various components.

Let’s take a look at the major suspension parts and the role they play in making your riding experience more comfortable.

The Major Suspension Components. The suspension system comprises three main components: The spring, damper, and sway bar. When these three come together and work in harmony, the vehicle feels no bumps and you get a smooth driving experience.

These springs are the most popular. Not only in cars, but in many other machines as well. That's mostly because of their simple design and impenetrable construction. When force is applied to the coil spring, the metal compresses and absorbs all of the energy, transferring only a minuscule amount to the frame.

Torsion bars are a concept that engineers have been employing for quite some time to absorb force in vehicle suspension systems. In this design, a steel bar is utilized, with one end attached to the vehicle's frame and the other linked with a wishbone, running parallel to the tire. When the wheel encounters a bump or uneven road surface, the wishbone transfers the force to the torsion bar. The bar undergoes twisting or torsion in response to the applied force, and once the road levels out, it returns to its original position.

Torsion bars offer a unique and effective method of suspension, providing a smooth ride by effectively absorbing shocks and vibrations. However, despite their ingenuity, torsion bar suspension systems are not as commonly used in modern vehicles compared to other suspension technologies. While they can be found in certain applications and specific vehicle models, advancements in suspension design have led to the prevalence of other systems that offer comparable or even superior performance in terms of comfort and handling.

The springs soak up the energy from the impact, but when they try to return to their original state, the release is unpredictable. This can result in bouncing and loss of traction. So, to control the erratic nature of a spring, the suspension system has dampers.

The dampers or shock absorbers, as they are commonly called, further dampen the vibrations and control the release of energy that goes back to the wheels. If you remove the shock absorber from the equation, the car will become unstable and its erratic movement would cause you to lose control of the vehicle. The damping mechanism is easy to understand. Inside the cylindrical shell, there is a piston, oil, pressure tube, and a reserve cylinder. When the car goes over a bump, the piston rod pushes down on the oil into the pressure tube. The oil naturally restricts this compression, which is how the damper absorbs force. Once the impact passes through, the piston moves back to its original state slowly and gradually. Meanwhile, it makes sure the spring is also moving in tandem with the internal damper piston to its original state.

The suspension system not only controls vertical movement, but the system also has a solution for lateral movement. This comes into play when you turn the car around corners. When you turn the steering wheel, all the weight is transferred over to the outer wheel, which absorbs the weight of the vehicle, using the damper and spring. However, the suspension has its limits and it can only absorb a certain amount of force before failing. If that happens, the vehicle rolls over and crashes. Luckily, engineers found a way to prevent that from happening. They introduced sway bars into the equation, to stabilize the car against such episodes. The sway bar attaches to the lower end of both suspension struts, and it distributes the weight from one end of the suspension to the other. This way, when you turn, the inner strut absorbs more energy than before. The car doesn’t sway too much in corners, which allows you to attack the turn with much more confidence.