Patent ID: 7191637

Claim:
A method of testing a vibration damper mounted between a body and a wheel in a motor vehicle, the wheel being mounted on an axle and carrying a tire, the method comprising: storing a parameter which is related to the damping force of a new vibration damper in a memory unit, wherein the parameter is the cushioning work of a tire relative to a defined excitation of a new vibration damper; subjecting, by a support surface, the wheel to reciprocating excitation which causes the vibration damper to generate a damping force; determining a tire force acting on the tire during the reciprocating excitation; determining an elastic vertical travel of the wheel relative to the support surface during the reciprocating excitation; determining the cushioning work of the tire during the reciprocating excitation based on the tire force and the elastic vertical travel of the wheel relative to the support surface; comparing the cushioning work of the tire during the reciprocating excitation with the parameter stored in the memory unit; and determining that the damper is defective when the cushioning work during the reciprocating excitation differs from the stored parameter by more than a predetermined amount.