Ever since I bought my car in April of 2012, I can feel every little thing in the road. Does anybody have any ideas on how to make a smoother ride? Shocks maybe? I'm not very experienced with suspension components. I know I do need new sway bar bushings though.

 

Struts and shocks will be the biggest improvement. Old tires tend to ride stiffer as well.

 

I think bushings are also important.
There are rubber, poly, and derlin bushings out there,
but for a smooth and soft ride rubber ones are the best.
IMO front A arm bushings have a great influence on the ride.

 

I know I need to get new shocks, I'll look into struts as well. The tires are newer so I'll rule out the tires. I'll make a list of all the bushings I think will need replaces. Thanks guys.

 

I had the same problem with my '87 IROC and I read somewhere "if you want a good smooth ride...dont buy a sports car"..Ya know..It rides pretty good now..

 

Rear control arms made a big difference for me as well.

Set a budget, buy the best shocks and struts you can afford. New stock moog springs, new a arm bushings, strut mounts, replace rear control arms with aftermarket. A new ta bushing as well.

Car will feel light years better.

 

Same here. I had a lot of squeaks and pops coming from my stock rear lower control arms with polyurethane bushings. I went to the delsphere set up from spohn and the ride feels much better.

 

Keep in mind that tires make a huge difference in ride quality - 15" all seasons will ride much better than an 18" summer street tire.

But also realize that changing suspension parts can also have a huge effect on ride quality. I noticed a drop in RQ when moving from stock rubber to poly swaybar bushings and endlinks on my Camaro over 20 years ago. Other items improved ride quality - subframe connectors and an STB make my car ride a bit better, plus it had no rattles of squeaks too.

 

I plan on putting sub frame connectors on after I graduate from college and start building a powerhouse for it. So a change of bushings, struts, and shocks should have me riding pretty smooth?