I dont understand why my car rides so rough. Hotchkis said it is a firm ride but not harsh it feels realy harsh to me. I have Kyb struts but it just feel like everytime i even hit a lil imperfection in the road it just feel like i have no springs at all. Its like the body is takin all the poundin.The back doesnt feel bad could it maybe be my strut mounts in the front worn out i just want a better ride it feels like its not good on the car at all.

 

Any1?

 

What exactly are you comparing it to............to how it "used" to ride, or to how you "think" it should ride. it is a sports car, its gonna ride rough.

what mods are done to the suspension.
shocks and struts are gonna give a crappy ride if they are shot......

you didnt give much info to go on here, maybe thats why you havent gotten many replies? elaborate

 

no way it suppose to ride as rough as it does it know its a sports car but i rode in many lowered cars none never as rough as mine. It has new kybs.

 

ok so are you comparing it to, its former self or to something a hundred percent different? your being pretty vague here. Im not trying to be an *******, but your not telling us much here.


all third gens ride rough, my 90 iroc does, and every one ive owned did. you are gonna sacrifice ride quality for performance........

 

its like 10 times rougher than an iroc i just wanna know what can be done to fix it possibly. My sisters car has the f41 package i think that what its called hers rides like a caddy compared to mine.

 

could the strut mounts cause a bad ride.

 

lots of things cause a bad ride, mainly shocks/struts.

bad bushings can, worn suspension parts, etc but if ya have a "BAD" ride and you have new shocks, then it might be a normal ride that YOU think is bad....thats the point ive been trying to get to (no offense)

strut mounts would cause a noise not a bad ride, unless they were really bad. plus older cars like ours get loose. stuff like SFC's and various braces help a lot

 

i was thinkin sfc's would help alot all my bushings are new i have the poly a-arm bushings also.I just know it cant be good on the car. cause i feel the body takin almost all of thebumps and it sound like a hard hit.

 

ok, well lets go down a different road here. the KYB shocks/struts you have on your car........are they stock valving, or "performance" type shocks/struts. if they are different valving from stock that could cause a rougher ride

 

i just ordered the stock kybs for a 90 camaro

 

do you feel that its worse when going over bumps at high speed? Sometimes cheaper struts (gabriels, KYB's) come with poor high speed damping due to there lower cost design. They will feel "wallowy" over rises and dips, and like they are locked solid over sharp edged bumps.

 

hmm maybe so it def worse on higher speeds

 

Im getting new monroe shocks tommorrow ill let you know how it rides soon.

 

no offense but i think most monroes are in the "cheap" catagory. I think the formula GP's are decent, i have heard good reviews abouth them but not recently.

 

its lowered isn't it?

 

What springs are you using?

 

hotchkis in sig

 

If I read your posts right, you have poly bushings installed, right? Poly bushings will take away from the complieance built in to the suspension, causing a harsher ride.
You also say you have lowering springs. When you install lowering springs, you take away the wheel travel available to soak up bumps. Lowering springs are usually higher rate, in order to keep the suspension from bottoming out.
Installing SFCs will cut down on the flex in the chassis, but that flex also helps absorb impacts.

If you think the ride is harsh now, wait untill you get that 36mm swaybar installed. It will tie the front wheels toghether like no other, but it makes the ride pretty brutal.

All of that aside, it is good to note that Thirdgens, and other MacPherson-strut suspensions are very sensitive to the charicteristics of the front struts. Laiky has a good point about the damping characteristics of less expensive shocks/struts, and how they effect the ride. Because of the really bad roads around here, I'm looking in to adjustable shocks, like Tokico [sp] or Koni, so that I can loosen up the ride for driving back and forth to work, and then really screw them down when it's time to rock.

 

the 36 mm bar is installed i didnt notice a difference really. I was thinkin the poly bushings might of been why also and all know alot of the other posibilitys i just didnt think it should of been as harsh as it is . Plus i want to get 18's and im afraid its gonna ride really bad then.

 

Any more detail on the springs?

 

nah i really dont know much else about them like the rate or nething. I was wondering if maybe a pro kit from eibach would ride better. Ill waste some more money oh well lol.I heard alot of people say the pro kit rides great i wish i would of got it. If it does ill get it cause mine is to stiff for the roads around here and im not racing on the weekends or nething just want looks of the drop and a smooth ride if possible.

 

if ne1 knew the rate of a front pro kit spring and a front hotchkis spring that would be great.

 

does ne1 know i was wondering if it would be worth it to buy the eibach and just sell my hotchkis springs.

 

If I'm not mistaken the Hotchkis front springs are 600lbs. Thats what I have. Not sure about any others.
Mine rides a harsh as well, got kyb's also, but the roads around here aren't all that great.

Later, Mike

 

thanx man

 

My car rides nice and rough. Pretty stiff and I feel every little bump in the road. I actually prefer this feel when I am driving my car since I feel connected to the road.

 

yeh its nice but like mike said the roads around here suck also there isnt 1 smooth road hardly.

 

Alrighty heres my setup..

polygraphite bushings
lowering springs
Kybs
hotchkis lcas
1 1/4 in front bar
1 in rear bar
subframes
wonderbar..
poly trans and motor mounts
poly torque arm mount..
rides on 275/40 17s

corners like it is on rails..rides harsher than my old quad shocked pickup truck.. some bumps can almost knock the wind out of me.. I like the cornering and knew the tradeoffs before I modded..

That said..the biggest contributors to your ride harshness are:

the bushings, all play is gone, from rubber to polygraphite (essentially nylon) or urethane is the kicker..

The next culprit is the swaybars.. disconnect your front bar and feel the difference.. it is pretty surprising..

the fix is easy, go back to rubber.. nice and cheap to do.. stick with smaller sway bars.. adjustable shocks will help but if you go to soft you simply allow your suspension to get out of "control"..

Thats about it.. everything in our cars is a tradeoff..

 

Thanx i think i should of stuck with rubber a-arms bushings but o well. They need to fix the roads its bs. I guess ill stick with my springs and just except the harsh ride. I might get some adjustable shocks later on also to help a lil. I mean all i really want now is a low car i really wouldnt care if it wasnt the best handlin car. I was thinkin of maybe drop spindels but then i would have to mod them for 1le brakes.

 

you think if i bought some kyb adjustable struts and set them a lil soft would it help the ride any??

 

I actually ame on to post about this and there was already one so i figure i;ll get in on it. well i have a 89 form and i have gabrial pro ryders in the back thatr are new and kyb gr2's in the front that are brand new. I am selling my car and one of the main reasons is the ride, my dads brand new 2003 1500 dodge pickup with the HEMI oh yeaaaa lol ride 5 times better then my car. when i hit tiny bumps the widows sound liek there gonna fall out and the cars gonna break in half. it rides like some1 replaced my springs with wood blocks. now wuts up with these things? I have ws6 so maybe thats why buit still my buddy has a 88 saleen and it rides awsome compared to my wood block

 

Lol!! Thats the way i felt about my car!!When i first got my car it felt like cement blocks instead of shocks where in my car.I have a 89 T/A and i have the performance suspension.I went with softer springs and new monroe shocks and it rides much better.If you get softer rs springs and new shocks you will be much happer!!

 

Well if the Hotchkis springs are linear rate, then that would explain the harsh ride. Eibach springs are progressive, meaning they ride very soft in a straight line, but when you turn and they compress, they get stiffer. Makes for a really smooth ride when you're cruzing and good tradeoff for performance when you push the car around turns. Someone once told me only the rear Eibach springs are progressive, but everyone I've talked to personally (even Eibach) has told me all 4 springs are progressive. I dont know about the springs you have now, but if they aren't progressive, get yourself a set of progressive springs and you'll like the way they ride.

Call me crazy (go ahead!! do it!!) but I think you're a prime candidate for Airbag suspension. Do a search for Airbag or AirRide and read about it. One of our members (LowCamaro) made his own custom Air suspension setup. They even sell kits for our cars now. Air suspension will give you everything you want. Very Very comfortable ride (like a caddy) and adjustable ride height from inside the car with the flip of a switch. Slam it to the ground when you feel like it, and raise it up for bumps and driveways. Did I mention it rides nice? Way nicer than the OEM ride, even the day it rolled off the assembly line. If I wasnt into roadracing, I'd bag my Camaro. No joke.

 

yeh every1 i know says the pro kit gave them a good ride i just hate to waste the money on the hotchkis springs i bought. I hope it will make a big enough difference if i get them.

 

What about the adjustable kyb struts and shocks tho will it make it ride smoother.

 

i have the prokit with standard tokiko's, the ride is pretty good. I also have sfc's which helps some. The tokiko's ride very nicely but i think next time i will go with a bilstein or koni because they do not offer the kind of control i need at higher speed. Otherwise for most of the "daily" driving i do they are pretty nice.

 

I bet you forgot to trim the stock bumpstops and the car is probably riding on them. I didn't have time to read all the replies so forgive me if it was already mentioned.

 

good point iroc but i dunno i actually added a extra isolater to make it a lil higher in the front. I will take it wout when i switch shocks but i dont think that is it. Its a possibility but i dont think it gives that much.

 

get some intrax springs...they ride alot better than eibach

 

well i added some sfc since and it helped some also once i get a stb i think it will help even more so im not to worried about it nemore.

 

Spdfrk1990, Just to let you know man I just replaced everything stock on my suspension, I was gonna do KYB's but the guy at the autostore talked me out of he said for regular driving with MI pot holes not to bother and get a set of monroe sesitraks. Anyway even the stock is kind of harsh compared with the old 83 f-150 I used to drive. P.S. My ride is still better than my friends stock 94 stang... and she just had her suspension redone stock too.

 

with my stiff springs tho u need a stiff shock hotchkis actually recamends getting bilsteins.