MOT testing gap?

[nimbusgb]

Driving down the road the other day there was a Zafira in front of me. The right rear wheel had obviously either lost it's shock absorber or it was completely shot. The wheel was bouncing so badly I could see light under the wheel frequently.

If there's anything that's guaranteed to completely destroy a cars handling it's one or more blown shocks, they will make a car positively dangerous.

It struck me that I usually watch my cars get MOT'd and I can't recall ever seeing any knd of shock absorber testing. In South Africa they had a machine that jacked an axle up and tested the struts/shocks. It strikes me as a big gap in the MOT test.

I did manage to pull up next to the woman and tell he to get her car checked, from the look she gave me I reckon I wasted my time though.

I know that the MOT does require a visual inspection of shocks but a shock does not need to be leaking or broken to be completely shot!

 

[balge]

MOT UK car and vehicle MOT information equipment car servicing parts and spares - suspension

Relevant section -

b.
a suspension unit so weak that the body or other part of the vehicle fouls a road wheel or would do so if the vehicle was laden.

Note: a missing bump stop rubber is not a reason for rejection.

Easy enough to test shocks by bouncing them?

 

[renault12ts]

Driving down the road the other day there was a Zafira in front of me. The right rear wheel had obviously either lost it's shock absorber or it was completely shot. The wheel was bouncing so badly I could see light under the wheel frequently.

If there's anything that's guaranteed to completely destroy a cars handling it's one or more blown shocks, they will make a car positively dangerous.

It struck me that I usually watch my cars get MOT'd and I can't recall ever seeing any knd of shock absorber testing. In South Africa they had a machine that jacked an axle up and tested the struts/shocks. It strikes me as a big gap in the MOT test.

I did manage to pull up next to the woman and tell he to get her car checked, from the look she gave me I reckon I wasted my time though.

I know that the MOT does require a visual inspection of shocks but a shock does not need to be leaking or broken to be completely shot!

Closer to home, in Northern Ireland, the centralised DVA mot centres test all four corners of a car's suspension, by bouncing each in turn. This produces a graph...each side of an axle is tested and the graph laid one on top of the pother...too great a difference between the two = fail.

 

[Dieselman]

It struck me that I usually watch my cars get MOT'd and I can't recall ever seeing any knd of shock absorber testing. In South Africa they had a machine that jacked an axle up and tested the struts/shocks. It strikes me as a big gap in the MOT test.

It was deemed too expensive to add to the test.