reasons for tire skip on bumpy roads?

[treebonker]

I started to notice my tires skipping on bumpy roads & going over pot holes. The rpm would suddenly blip up 2~300rpm going 10mph when I hit a small bump and it got worse pretty fast. I didn't overinflate the tires so I assumed my front shock were dying and the wheels were bouncing. I finally got to check the shocks(KYB gr-2's) as I didnt really care as the car was non-mobile for a while. I found no sign of oil leaks. Could the shocks go bad without leaking? Are there any other possible cause for the tires to skip in this manner?

Thanks

 

[kronus]

They could've already leaked everything out. Sounds like they already did. Happened to me that way. You probably won't really know until you pull them and compress them by hand. No rebound = Dead.

 

[Defiant]

And yes, the internal valving can wear beyond utility without losing any fluid.

 

[jtmcinder]

This is all very interesting, but dead shocks cause wallowing while reducing "skipping." Skipping is caused by springs that are too stiff and/or excessive compression damping.

- Jtoby

 

[treebonker]

There's no wallowing. When going over rough surfaces while the car rattles to death it would abruptly feel loosing forward movement and jerks forward when regripping the road. Thought this was a good sign for the dealers to sell you new shocks.

It has stock springs / KYB gr-2s. I can rule out over sprung. It definately felt over dampened but the skipping wasn't there for the first year or so(BTW, I despise all people here that said gr-2's felt like stock!). Motor mounts are only 2 year old. Got no slack on the control arms. The rack/pinion wouldn't have anything to do with it would it? The car did ride the road a bit excessively(even before the shock change) which was diagnosed later that the inner tie rods were bad. Any opinions as to what may cause this if it isnt the shocks?

Damn car only has 45000miles. Maybe it sat too long. Ignite it and call insurance?

 

[jtmcinder]

Then it's more likely that one or more shocks are sticking for some reason, such as a bent shaft. When off the car, GR-2s are easy to compress by hand and re-extend in about one and a half to two seconds. Pull the one that is most likely to be the culprit and test it.

- Jtoby