Hey guys. Just been having some problems with the car lately and its time to start upgrading suspension. Just got new rear shocks and springs,and i know for sure i need new front struts due to the fact that my passenger one is very jacked up. But i was wondering how Control arms sway bars A arms and all that stuff works, Torque arms,you name it.Im so new to it. Feels like the whole rear end of my car needs new parts. Just wanted some light shined on this so i can begin to buy parts. Thanks guys. Youre the best.

 

The stickies at the top of the page may shed some insight.

JamesC

 

Yeah, someone could write for hours.

If your car feels like junk, I would throw some symptoms out with the best description you can, and get a good look underneath. Look for dry/cracked/brittle rubber bushings, leaking shocks/struts, excessively rusty or sagging springs. Then post back and try to prioritize it all

 

Ah alright thanks guys.I didnt even think about the stickies. And yeah ill go diagnose
Ill try to explain what its like right now. Well i got new rear shocks and springs,Those are ok. IM getting new struts for the front today. And well while youre driving its just very rough.It feels like a go cart. Every time you hit a bump in the road the car hits it so hard that it sounds like the glass will shatter. It just makes the biggest BOOM like someone dropped a 2 ton truck from 40 feet in the air. Certain times when you turn a corner it creaks. And if the cars just sitting and you go to the back and you push it,it creaks and squeaks. Its just very uncomfortable.It feels like theres absolutely no suspension on it at all.

 

9 times out of 10, what you're describing is the car hitting the bumpstops due to worn out struts/shocks. The bumpstops give a very jarring feeling. Like a "bam" when you hit a bump. Even when driving on the highway over a gritty part of the road, it won't really dampen the ride much, if you have worn out struts/shocks.

New struts and shocks are an excellent way to start and should give the most benefit (assuming nothing else is bent/broken etc)

Control arms are mostly for controlling how the rear twists. They move in all directions. Aftermarket ones are mostly for preventing wheel hop and just planting the tires better.

Sway bars are like a giant lever that keeps your car level when turning. Most find that a bigger set and/or a new set of bushings go a long ways in regards to handling. Bushings are cheap.

A-arms control how the front of the car turns. New A-arm bushings can decrease the response time between when you turn the steering wheel and when the car turns. These are hard to replace.

Torque arms control the weight of the car from front to back (accelerating) and back to front (slowing down). Handy for the drag strip when you want to put as much power to the rear axle. This would be one of the last things to replace.

 

Thanks Reid.

Agree as above, this is a pretty broad topic!

ramey