Ive got an 89 Firebird formula, with the WS6 package.. ive only had it for a few months now
Ive read a ton of posts on this subject already but ive just got a couple more questions..
The car has tokiko shocks/struts, non adjustable, they dont look very old.. the thing is the car sat for about a year and a half, do they... go bad?
They arent loose at all thats for sure, and id think if they were bad they would get looser not stiffer.. I live in a very hilly/windy area so I would like the performance, but I have trouble believing the ride is supposed to be this harsh.
I have to brace myself for the smallest of potholes, and they recently put a water pipe down all the roads around here.... and a bad job of covering it back up ... *shiver* its a horrible expeirence
I mean if thats the way its supposed to be, to keep your car in control, I would think any benefits of that would be lost the minute you hit a rough patch of road and cant keep your own body in control and start jerking the wheel.
To make it worse im kind of tall, 6'1"ish so its already an awkward fit but im use to it, some of the weird bumps in the road have almost put my head thru the ttops, im actually starting to worry about that
Is this everyone elses expeirence as well?? Or is my suspension junk, thanks for any help in advance

 

Am currently searching threads about rough ride. These things really ride rough. Came across your thread and believe you deserve a response. I agree that firm ride is great for handling, but yeah, can cause car to break loose on rough surface. Also seems like it's going to shake that cheap Camaro plastic apart. I'm curious if anyone has actually softened the suspension of their IROC for Firebird. Seems everyone goes the other way.

 

I spoke too soon. Finding a ton of threads on rough ride. Search for rough ride and your answers are there.

 

Alot of the IROC WS6 packages come with severe duty springs that are rediculusly hard. I actually had a set of IROC springs in and put back my Z28 springs because the IROC set was too hard
Take the car to a spring shop and they will be able to tell you what the spring rate is in your car.

 

I have to agree it's probably the springs not the shocks and struts. I know one guy thought his had gone too soft and went and bought brand new replacement WS6 springs. After a couple thousand miles he put the old ones back in.

 

I have the stock v-6 firebird shock's struts springs whatever.... and even the smallest bump will send stuff flying and knock my radio loose from the mounting cage... and the trim bezel will pop loose... I feel like I'm destroying my car.... but I have also noticed that if I go like 5 mph over certain speed bumps that its better than if I go like 2-3 mph... sometimes if I go the wrong speed my car will pop up, then come back down right on the speed bump and bottom out...

Sometimes I think my springs are bad... but the ride is so damn rough, I find it impossible! I also have new "struts" in the front, and old-*** shocks in the rear, but the rear has no problems bouncing or anything... just so rough!

Do shops ever accidentally put the wrong springs in our cars, because I'm thinking that maybe the previous owner had the wrong ones put in... Hell, my 300lb brother can sit in my car and it will move, maybe half an inch, then he can get in my friend's truck with a towing package and it will move way more... really crazy...

 

What tire [pressure are you running?

 

Welcome to GM's performance supension of the 80's. What you have is a standard ride, if you wanted soft you should have bought a different type of car.

 

Part of the problem too is that the chassis is flexing...you need to stiffen it up with a Wonderbar...SFC's and check all the rubber bushings as well...rubber should be replaced every 7 or so years....think about that....

 

The hard ride is normal. More so if the suspension has been modified.

I'm running KYB struts and shocks with Jamex Sport springs and on a bad road the car will darn near shake your teeth loose. On a good surface the car handles like it's on rails.

It's just the price you gotta pay for performance.

 

I always keep the tires at 32 all around...

Would having bad *anything* make my rear seem more "rough" than the front?

It seems that if I maintain a constant speed over a bad speed bump, that its much worse over the rear wheels...

Maybe its a mismatched spring or something, and the engine weight makes the front more bouncy... don't know... all I have replace are my front struts...

 

Check your rear shocks . the ones on the base camaro's were not the best.

 

there is no weight in the rear that is why if you maintain constant speed the rear is going to rebound alot more and seem rough. you have to slow more for the rear I hate speed bumps because I have to crawl over them.

 

then it seems that you would want to compensate by putting weaker springs proportionate to the weight in the rear... Are all 4 springs the same?

 

i've got a 87 ta w ws6 package and when i bought it the springs were worn out. i repaced em and it was such a rough ride that i went back to the worn out springs. you can always go to third gen reasource and get a set of used springs(link is @ top of page) but this is just the caricteristics of the f body. and no the front springs r different than the rears.

 

that was kindof my point, since 90% of the roads around here are junk, this stiff ride I have to say is killing performance

everyone drives faster then me around here, whether thats because there car grips the road better, or it just seems like its gripping the road better I dont know.. I notice the noises of things rattling around is usually whats keeping me from going as fast as them.. everyone who gets in my car is like, omg this is terrible you gotta fix this.. and i say, its not broke this is what its like, tire pressure is at 32 front and back

i dunno though around turns with all these bumps Im sure it must be pretty easy to break loose with the way the back end loves to fly up into the air, my fathers 99 dodge intrepid feels like more of a performance vehicle then my formula

a little late on the reply, sorry, thought this had faded away :P

 

tire pressure has alot to do with ride too alot of cars today don't have the old standard of 32 psi if you look at most manuals for cars these days the pressure is around 27psi and those 4 or 5 pounds make a big difference in the ride of the car. ...
Just a little somthing Ive learned from working at a dealership

 

That 27 PSI pressure is for cars of today not the ones of yesteryear.

 

Which cars are being referenced here? Most of the newer cars that I have seen are using tires with higher PSI which equals less rolling resistance for better mileage.

Also, the sticker on the door ONLY applies to the tires that came with the car from the factory. You need to check the actual tire max psi inflation and go about 5 psi under that...depending on time of year, temp, etc.

 

what i mean by newer cars is by the tires no car in specific
most of the tires have a maximum psi written on them but factory specifications are usually between 25-35 which is the suggested pressure of the tires. I worked at a Chevy dealership mounting tires, I learned this tidbit of information when customers started to come back complaining about the sudden harshness of their cars ride.
I had posted earlier in this post but never thought about the tires until it was brought up.

 

if your springs are worn, will it be bumpier, or will it be sloppy up and down motion? Like a rollercoaster?

I am thinking that my springs are so worn (I like the way the car sits), that my car bottoms out on the bushings, or whatever keeps the body from moving too far down... and that's why its almost back-breaking when you go over the smallest little bumps...

I don't want new springs if they are gonna raise my ride more than one inch...

I'm seriously thinking of putting bags in there, you can get them cheap, its about $25-50 for a bag that is 7" diameter, 3" compressed, and 7-9" extended... ride height is usually around 5" extended...

 

What you have is a combination of worn springs and worn out struts/shocks...

If you like the ride height, get an Eibach Pro-kit and KYB struts/shocks...

Don't band-aid the problem was air bags

 

Well honestly, I also need the ability to raise the ride heigth on my car... my friend lives in the middle of ****sville... and his road is worse than any I have ever seen... some reason my oil pan has the drain plug really low.. I'm talkin this plug is honestly the lowest single thing on my entire car, and the first to scrape on the ground. On his road, I scrape my tranny crossmember, cat, oil pan, random floorpans, and my muffler...

I was just pondering, that since it could be less than 400 dollars for an entire airbag setup.... maybe it would be worth a thought. Others have told me that you can get better cornering, handling etc out of air bags, while still able to get a baby-smooth ride if you want to...

Or at least this is what I've been told, but I won't swear it's the truth... One thing I know is that it would look sick as **** to lower the car to like 2 inch clearance for cruising, but when that occasional crap-*** bump comes along, you can tap the switch and no worries!