The most obvious sign is excessive bounce after hitting a bump. A healthy shock absorbs the impact and settles. A worn one lets the car rock through multiple oscillations. On I-240, where the road surface transitions abruptly at every overpass, this shows up clearly.
A second symptom is the "cupped tire" — a scalloped, wavy wear pattern across the tread. This happens because the bouncing wheel literally lifts off the road between impacts, wearing the tread unevenly. If you see this pattern, the tire is showing you worn shocks even if you haven't felt it yet.
Body roll in corners is another sign. When you take an on-ramp at speed and the car leans noticeably into the turn — more than it used to — the struts are no longer controlling lateral weight transfer. This isn't just uncomfortable. It's a handling safety issue.
Nose dive under braking is a shock/strut failure that becomes a braking failure. When you brake hard and the front of the car dips sharply, weight has transferred faster than the suspension can manage. Rear tire grip is momentarily reduced. Stopping distance increases.
Squatting under acceleration — the rear sinking when you accelerate — is the rear shock equivalent. The rear axle isn't being controlled properly, so the engine torque causes the body to pitch.
