ASE T5 practice test: suspension and steering

Incorrect: An out-of-balance assembly causes a speed-related vibration, but so does excessive radial runout, so Technician B is right too.

Incorrect: Radial runout causes a speed-related vibration, but an out-of-balance assembly does as well, so Technician A is also right.

Correct: A vibration that rises with road speed comes from the rotating tire and wheel; imbalance and radial runout both cause one.

Incorrect: Both are common causes of a vibration that increases with road speed: imbalance and radial runout.

Correct: A diamond frame has one rail pushed back; matching diagonal measurements between the same points on each rail will differ.

Incorrect: Rail height above a level floor shows sag or twist, not diamond.

Incorrect: Flange thickness shows corrosion or wear, not frame alignment.

Incorrect: Rail-to-rail width at each crossmember shows a frame that is pinched or spread, not one shifted into a diamond.

Correct: With the ground clamp right next to the weld, the welding current stays out of bearings, wiring and electronic modules.

Incorrect: Clamping to a battery cable puts welding current through the electrical system and its modules.

Incorrect: Clamping to an axle housing sends current through wheel bearings and springs, which can arc and pit them.

Incorrect: An engine ground stud sends the welding current through the engine, its bearings and the electronics.

Correct: Pulling the tractor forward against a set trailer brake loads the jaws on the kingpin; backing slightly eases that load so the handle pulls freely.

Incorrect: Top plate grease reduces friction between the plates; it does not make the release handle hard to pull, so Technician B is wrong.

Incorrect: Only Technician A is right; grease on the top plate does not load the locking jaws.

Incorrect: Technician A is right: backing slightly against the trailer takes the load off the jaws and the handle.

Incorrect: A lockbolt collar is swaged once and cannot be re-swaged to restore clamp load, so Technician A is wrong.

Correct: A swaged lockbolt cannot be retightened, so a loose one is cut out and replaced with the fastener the manufacturer specifies.

Incorrect: Only Technician B is right; re-swaging a loose collar does not restore the clamp load.

Incorrect: Technician B is right: the loose lockbolt is removed and replaced with the specified fastener.

Incorrect: 1/16 in is half the measured difference; the full difference of 1/8 in is the toe.

Incorrect: 1/4 in toe-in doubles the actual difference between front and rear.

Incorrect: Toe-out would need the front measurement to be larger than the rear.

Correct: The tires are closer at the front (70 in) than at the rear (70-1/8 in), so they point inward: 1/8 in toe-in.

Incorrect: Caster affects steering return and stability and causes little tire wear on its own.

Correct: With toe in spec, wear on the outer shoulder of one tire points to too much positive camber, which rides the tire on its outer edge.

Incorrect: Toe-out on turns depends on the steering arms and scuffs the tread only in corners, leaving a feathered pattern rather than one smooth outer shoulder.

Incorrect: Too much negative camber wears the inner shoulder, not the outer one.

Incorrect: A restricted pressure hose makes steering heavy and the pump strain, but it does not put air into the fluid.

Correct: A leak at the suction hose pulls air into the pump, which foams the fluid and makes it whine more as steering load increases.

Incorrect: Internal gear leakage makes steering heavy to one or both sides, but it does not foam the fluid.

Incorrect: Sector lash causes free play in the steering wheel, not foamy fluid.

Correct: 0.85 mm is about 0.033 in, over the 0.030 in limit, so the tie-rod end is replaced.

Incorrect: Once the reading is converted, it is over the limit; the joint cannot go back into service.

Incorrect: A typical tie-rod end has no preload shims to adjust; worn ends are replaced.

Incorrect: Grease does not take up wear, and the end is already over the limit.

Incorrect: Welding the sheared pins defeats the crash design, which depends on those pins shearing.

Correct: A collapsible column is designed to crush in a crash; it is measured against the maker's specs and replaced if it has collapsed.

Incorrect: A collapsed column cannot be stretched back and keep its crash design.

Incorrect: Lubricating it does nothing for a column that has to be measured for collapse first.

Incorrect: A tape measure at the treads cannot read an angle of turn accurately.

Correct: Turn plates under the steer tires have degree scales that read how far each wheel turns.

Incorrect: A trammel bar measures distances such as toe, not angles of turn.

Incorrect: A dial indicator measures small movement or runout, not the steering angle.

Incorrect: Balancing does not correct runout; the out-of-round assembly would still hop.

Incorrect: The wheel itself is within its limit, so replacing it would not remove the tire's runout.

Incorrect: Raising tire pressure does not fix an out-of-round tire.

Correct: Since the bare wheel is in spec, the extra runout comes from the tire, so it is remounted (match-mounted) or replaced.