1990 Firebird Formula, KYB AGX shocks and struts, eibach prokit and polyurethane bushings. I put these in this Christmas hoping that it would help my car feel a little less like a rattle trap but the only difference was less bounce.

 

you made the suspension stiffer, so you will feel more of the bumps. Not that 3rd gens are a soft riding car to begin with.

 

True, I just wanted a ride similar to my friend's 91 RS. I mean every little bump feels like it's ruining my car.

 

are the shocks adjustable? what wheels and tires are you using

 

My truck was like that. After changing out a blown shock, it stopped bottoming out over bumps.

Providing your shocks are new, I'd rule out having a bad shock.

Is the suspension lowered?

 

i didn't notice you saying that you changed the strut mounts..... with the new shocks they will cause the old rotten strut mounts to flex a whole 1" up and down with no dampning.... what size wheel and tire/ air pressure are you running?

 

Your nuts.....New struts CANNOT suddenly cause strut mounts to flex 2". I doubt they even have the ability to stretch that far, under any circumstances.

 

Did not change strut mounts (and to be honest, I have no idea what their importance is), car is lowered an inch, I have BFG G force sports at about 37 PSI, with the gold wheels that it came with . I don't think lowering it has anything to do with it considering I felt barely any change in ride comfort after putting the eibachs in, only the occasional scrape of the air dam. My shocks are adjustable but even after playing with them I did not feel any change, just more/less bounce. I guess the best way to explain it is every change in the road surface is very obvious physically and acoustically(right use?) and I feel even the smallest stick or god forbid I drive on a road that has that black tar looking stuff to seal cracks.

 

The door placard for my IROC and its 16" wheels calls for 30 pounds. Thirty-seven is probably contributing to the problem.

JamesC

 

yea I feel your pain,but thats a 3rd gen,especially with upgraded suspention components,but they handle great!

 

My car with the monroes rides rough, but it handles great.

 

it's the nature of the beast . you want a soft ride get a caddy sedan or a town car . if you like the handling etc. of a 3rd gen. , its a situation you must live with . i'm pushing 71 yrs and my r/s is my daily driver . true my p/u truck rides softer , but i enjoy my camaro each time i get behind the wheel . good luck .

 

I found my KYBs to be a bit stiff..they hit potholes hard but perform well
Check your tire pressure, as JamesC states
Seems a bit hi...even resellers recommend factory pressure for your tires

 

As a original owner of 1987 IROC-Z28, I can say that the ride quality was ALWAYS on the firm side (which I knew) and any rough road jared your teeth. I still own that car and recently updated the struts/shocks to KYB's and the ride is still as firm as it was new. The Sport Coupe/ RS models always had the softer ride due to the sales pitch of sports look & comfort of soft ride.

So you want a soft ride, buy a import

Additional note: I use 35 PSI in my 245/45/17 tires and most Florida roads are little more forgiving then some Northern ones

 

its not a caddy man its a sports car but i would say if you could adjust the shocks and put only 32 lbs of pressure in the tires it would soften it up a little i was having a really rough ride then i changed the tire size to a 215/70 and it made it much more comfortable.

 

it's a sports car you gotta look out for those bumps they'll get you every time.

 

LMAO...... dude i said 1"..... the new shocks are much stiffer and with the rotten rubber mounts they flex, when i installed my konis i installed them in in the original mounts and with the caps offf the mounts. I could push down on the nose of the car and the rubber part in the mount comes straight up and slowly the shock starts to compress. i bet you tried this too thats how you know they can't flex right?

once again stephen, you're running your mouth and have no idea what you're talking about, but then again whats new......

 

I KNEW you'd misunderstand & "call me out" on 2".....You said "flex a whole 1" up and down with no dampning". 1" up AND 1" down equals what? 2" of travel!


Abusive posts will not be tolerated......

 

I think you misunderstood i said 1" in the up and down motion. that means 1" total if i said it could flex 1" down and 1" up that would equal 2" total, your welcome, anyway i think the total flex mine had was probably closer to 1.5" anyways we'll split the difference.

I noticed that you doubted my post, but gave no reason or evidence why, why would you say you doubt that could happen but gave no reasons why???????clearly you have no experience with the issue, if your gonna doubt me give a reason why, or else i just think your trying to argue, make any since..........

i know your not trying to argue just to hear yourself talk, so why do you doubt me? what observation have you made regarding the stock strut mounts that makes you think otherwise........


BS all you want........

 

Stephen he did say a WHOLE 1". Meaning total, but who cares. Lets just answer why he most likely has a worse ride than he should have.

 

No....He never said WHOLE or TOTAL, or I would have taken it as 1/2" up, 1/2" down. He said 1" up and down.

Apparently *I* care, because of the possibility of a misundersting, which has obviously already happened here.

 

No bs.....I have a stock set of strut mounts sitting on a shelf & I see NO way they could flex a full inch in either direction. I don't even see a full 1/4" between the 2 metal walls, then there are the rivets through the rubber. I just don't see how they could possibly flex that far, before rubber ripping started.

 

Stephen Stop, please.

He did and without editing.
Your strut mounts are probably the main problem Mr. Froman. Check them out, have someone push the car down and see what happens with each.

And Stephen its okay. I just had it over with five7kid (moderator), because I have threads all over with questions that were never answered, so when I go on and see no correction I think my information that was never corrected in the year they have been posted I figure I did something right, but found out my H/C/I setup was completely and utterly wrong. It P'd me off that not one moderator or person corrected me in the year it was posted, thus giving wrongful information for any newbies trying to do a search. So when I relayed this (now found to be wrong) information to another member I get told your wrong, that will never work, in which how could I have known that without an answer to my questions. Which were finally straight forwardly answered for me by five7kid.

 

Whatever....

I made MY statement BEFORE he said that. Why are YOU so intent in defending HIM, cluttering up this thread & dragging it out?

If HE has a problem with something I said to HIM, not you), let HIM say it. Quit holding his hand, OK?

 

*sigh*


Anywho....does it seem to be hitting harder in the front or the rear. Could be something very simple. Have someone that knows cars ride with you sometime.

 

I just put on new struts and shocks and the ride is no better than it was before. Oh sure it doesn't have the bouncy bounce bounce bounce but it's still stiff. Nature of the beast I think. I like it!! Even my '10 has a pretty stiff ride but it's smoother only because the suspension technology is better.

My strut towers flex 4 inches or so... just kidding. Not trying to flame the thread. In all seriousness, I was surprised at the travel in the strut mount. Didn't expect that. Actually thought something was wrong but it appears to be working as designed.

SIDEBAR from a Newb: Correct information in threads is important to newbs like me. I've had to ask a few questions since joining but for the most part the SEARCH function provides most of what I need to know/learn and the reponses I've received have been extremely helpful. I've tinkered with cars my whole life (check out my current garage.. I'm a car freak)... even rebuilt rotary engines... and I'm always learning something new. This site is great and has been very helpful but dis-information isn't a good thing... so spirited debate and opinion is good... but consensus is even better!! Sorry to hijack here but you guys have hundreds ... thousands of posts and when you state something I figure you know what you're talking about. Keep the good info coming, politely correct when you absolutely know what you're talking about and understand a lot of us rely on your expertise and knowledge for guidance. Much appreciated!!

 

Thanks for the help so far. Are these what I need?
http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...59999+2999999#

 

Check your link

 

Works for me, tried it like 20 times before posting. It's probably got something to do with cookies since I had to select the specific store. It's "Strut Bearing Plate w/ Bearing - Front "

 

Yes, it is your cookies. The link will only work on your PC.

 

Strut Bearing Plate w/ Bearing - Front
Product Line: NAPA Chassis Parts
Part # : NCP 2613044

 

worked good for me just clicked the link for ship to me yeah thats what you want for a factory replacement I've heard of different aftermarket ones but don't know much about them.

 

There have been a few posts about using solid mounts. Some say solid are better without much noticeable difference in ride.

 

Since there's no rubber there's no deflection. I've noticed no difference in ride quality with my Spohn version. Here's what Vetruck (Dean) has to say about solid mounts (and STB's):

"You need good solid aftermarket strut mounts first before you will aid in any perfomance gain from a STB. Good solid strut mounts are a far better bang for the buck in performance handling. Without them, the STB is basicallly useless."

JamesC

 

Hmmm that's pretty interesting. I never knew there was anything to them.

 

i didn't think there was anything to the solid strut mounts until i saw how much deflection there was with the factory setup ..... before this every bump felt like a pothole. after the install way better/tighter handling and even a better ride seing as now the shock is able to do it's job, not just slamming around inside the mount.......

 

BTW, if you have an 82-86 car, the stock replacement mounts won't fit unless you swap in 87+ retainers. These can be found in the bone yards or from Spohn, IIRC.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...elp-quick.html

JamesC

 

Edit: Forgot to check that thread, just skimmed through it. I have a 90 Formula, so if I was looking to get the solid strut mounts I'd be better off going with the 87-92 Spohns?

 

or the ones from HOTPART, or umi, both the same design really, and both offer more adjustment, and HOTPARTS has a lifetime warentee

 

While I have zero complaints about the Spohn version, if I were buying again I'd go with HotParts or UMI--I like their adjustment features.

JamesC

 

http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...roducts_id=402

That it? I'm really confused how these work. They seem to be the same as any other ones I've looked at. Thanks for all the help by the way, I'm learning a s--- load.

 

There's no rubber to deflect.

 

I just noticed that you don't have SFC, they help alot with rattles and ands improve ride quality. They did for me at least