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2003 Aero body sway

2K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  RMinNJ 
#1 ·
I drive a '05 9-3 Aero Sport Sedan. Wife drives a '03 9-5 Aero Wagon.

About a month ago, I had tires replaced with ContiExtreme Contact tires. Right after, I hit a bump at highway speed that I honestly thought was going to give me 4 flat tires and a few bent rims. Luckily, all held up with seemingly no damage.

Recently, I had occasion to drive her car for a week, and the suspension seems very sloppy. Emergency maneuvers do not inspire confidence. When I make a move that would feel solid in my 9-3 Aero, I feel body roll and the ESP start to kick in. The dealer looked at the suspension and sway bars, tightened everything up, didn't really see anything.

The tires are supposed to be great according to both Consumer Reports and Tire Rack on many levels, including stability.

Can anyone else tell me if this is just the nature of the vehicle? Or does anyone have experience with these tires? I recognize that I could just be used to driving my vehicle, but with it being an Aero, it seems (and I seem to recall) everything should be feeling very solid (or even a bit harsh).

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2 ·
Its difficult to say without driving it but I would suggest that the chassis on the SS is a lot better and the two year difference will make a difference too.
 
#3 ·
The newer 9-3 Aero has much better body control than the 9-5 Aero. Sway bars, suspension etc are all set up for less body roll. I found the 9-3 Aeros' suspension better stock.

My 9-5 felt sloppy until i placed some new struts in there. Still not as good as i like so im getting bigger sway bars. Also don't forget the 9-5 is a bit bigger/heavier than your 9-3 and that'll have an effect as well.

The age thing is important too, the aero is on a platform from 97 whilst the 9-3 was 2003?
 
#4 ·
The 9-5 is notoriously underdamped, and the stock shocks don't usually last very long either. I replaced my shocks with Bilstein HD parts (retaining stock Aero springs). MUCH!!! MUCH!!! better. Then I replaced the anti-roll bars with ones from the later model Aeros as well... also a decent improvement. The handling is quite confident now.
 
#5 ·
agreed with stipud on the shocks. the sloppiness you mentioned is also a sign of shocks going bad. i have an '03 aero sedan and my rear shocks were on their last leg about two years ago with the fronts following shortly after. can't imagine a wagon would be any easier on them...

one thing you can do to test this theory is to try bouncing each corner of the vehicle up and down. there should be very little up and down motion at each corner and it should settle almost right away. if you get some residual bouncing or body motion then your shocks definitely need to be replaced.
 
#6 ·
B~P said:
agreed with stipud on the shocks. the sloppiness you mentioned is also a sign of shocks going bad. i have an '03 aero sedan and my rear shocks were on their last leg about two years ago with the fronts following shortly after. can't imagine a wagon would be any easier on them...

one thing you can do to test this theory is to try bouncing each corner of the vehicle up and down. there should be very little up and down motion at each corner and it should settle almost right away. if you get some residual bouncing or body motion then your shocks definitely need to be replaced.
So your shocks went after about three years? How many miles was it?
 
#8 ·
B~P said:
yep. had around 40K on them.
Hmmmm... I would expect 60k or more until they go. My '03 Aero is approaching 50k and the shocks seem fine - though I'm sure if I replaced them the car would be tighter. No leaks, firm when I push the car down.

The rule of thumb I hear is 1% wear per 1k miles and replace at 60k unless something tells you otherwsie. Also depends on driving style and condition of roads in your area.
 
#9 ·
The car is the biggest factor in terms of how hard it is on it's shocks. The rear shocks on this car are beaten to death. I also went the Bilstein HD route and cannot believe I waited as long as I did. Body roll is reduced SIGNIFICANTLY and the ride is more comfortable and less tiresome because there is less bouncing after bumps. Oh, plus the Bilstein's come with a lifetime warrenty! ;)
 
#10 ·
tmg19103 said:
Hmmmm... I would expect 60k or more until they go. My '03 Aero is approaching 50k and the shocks seem fine - though I'm sure if I replaced them the car would be tighter. No leaks, firm when I push the car down.

The rule of thumb I hear is 1% wear per 1k miles and replace at 60k unless something tells you otherwsie. Also depends on driving style and condition of roads in your area.
my left rear shock started leaking somewhere between the 40-50k mark. at that point i decided to replace both rears at the same time. did the fronts with konis later on. about 20K later i switched to the bilsteins at all corners when my right rear koni failed. maybe i've just had bad luck with shocks, but the 9-5 seems to eat the rear shocks. having had both the koni's and the bilsteins, the billys are without a doubt the superior shock in terms of ride control and comfort. i'm on the stock aero springs.

at your mileage you should probably consider replacing the rears at the very least. pretty sure you'd see a difference.
 
G
#11 ·
I have konis on eibach lowering springs. I would not say that they transformed the car. The suspension still feels the same, although a bit stiffer. The 9-5 has a good suspension design (eons better than the newgen900 og9-3 that had the rear axle behind the wheels) You should feel confident that your wife is safer in the larger car. I'm sure she doesn't notice as much as you do.

You should drive a classic 900, they'll make your 9-3 feel sloppy.
 
#12 ·
Stupid question, but did you purchase the Bilstein HD shocks and take them to your local mechanic to install? Where do you purchase them? Locally? Internet? And what's a set of 4 installed run (ballpark)?

GTO47 is probably right -- I don't think she ever noticed!
 
#13 ·
I bought mine at shox.com. Great service when I called them up, and they even gave me a package deal for some other parts I was getting for friend's vehicles. I also got a shipping rebate, and they even delcared it so I didn't have to pay duty charges!

Install I did with a friend in his shop. I would guesstimate to pay maybe 2-3 hours for labor.

If you don't have an Aero, this is the time to get better springs. I got my used Aero springs for the cost of shipping! The HDs would probably be too hard for base model springs, so I would caution against that setup.
 
#14 ·
gto47 said:
I have konis on eibach lowering springs. I would not say that they transformed the car. The suspension still feels the same, although a bit stiffer. The 9-5 has a good suspension design (eons better than the newgen900 og9-3 that had the rear axle behind the wheels) You should feel confident that your wife is safer in the larger car. I'm sure she doesn't notice as much as you do.

You should drive a classic 900, they'll make your 9-3 feel sloppy.
Really? I feel that just the shocks that I did actually did completely transform the car. It handles much more confidently now, also got rid of some of the massive amounts of understeer which was nice (probably party because of the other upgrades to the front end I've done as well).

Also got mine from shox.com, set of four was around $550 IIRC. I also installed them myself, you'll need spring compressors if you do decide to do it yourself, they run about $35 bucks or so.
 
#17 ·
cleveland_saab said:
Thank's everyone for your replies. FYI, shox.com wants roughly $660 for 4. I'm very much NOT looking forward to replacing them.
What?! Shox.com is $519 for a set of 4 Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks for a Saab 9-5 on their website... Who quoted you $660?
 
#19 ·
cleveland_saab said:
I misspoke. It's $639. I went to shox.com, searched by vehicle, entered my 2003 9-5, and there it was.

Where/how are you finding the lower price?
Oh very weird! I just was going off the fact that no matter what year you select, it said "9-5 98-06" in the drop down. Apparently it's lying, and when you put in 2003, your getting a different list. I have no clue why the newer 9-5's would be over $100 more expensive... :confused:

My bad... ;oops:
 
#20 ·
With the 02 facelift, Saab raised the strut mount for the anti-roll bar end links, in order to clear the newly revised and stiffer hubs. They shouldn't cost more, but it might just be a supply and demand thing.

Try calling them to see if they can reduce the cost a bit. I found they were VERY flexible with their pricing. :cheesy:
 
#21 ·
Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I seem to have solved the mystery, so I thought I'd share it with you all (and in case anyone else ever stumbles upon this thread in the archives).

The tires on my 9-3 are about done, and while I love the snow performance from the ContiExtremeContacts, I was still skeptical that they might be contributing to the 9-5's recent body roll problem. So before I ordered up a set for the 9-3, I took advantage of the 9-5 and 9-3 having the exact same wheel and tire size, and I swapped them. Instantly, my tight 9-3 became sloppy, and my 9-5 felt like it was on rails again.

The ContiExtremeContact must just have that soft of a sidewall. While they're great in the snow, they kill the responsive and sport handling of the car. The wife loves the snow traction, but I have to believe that there is a better compromise out there. I won't be ordering them for my 9-3, and I hope she never tries to get me to permanently switch cars before the Conti's wear out!
 
#22 ·
Thanks...

Thanks for letting us know about the tires. Good to have another set of wheels+tires to test.

One of the biggest fears I have when buying tires is that it will make the car all
squirmy or sway from soft sidewalls. I saw posts here recently about the Dunlop Signatures.. good reviews on Tirerack. My father in law had them on his
infiniti..the sidewalls didn't seem stiff/thick for a 215/55/16?? Still I guess I would go with the tirerack reviews... if a tire is introduces sway..someone should mention it there.
 
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