rough ride wanna make smoother

[cromero]

My 91 900, NA seems to ride rough. i have replaced the shocks but still rough ride. i seem to feel every little bump on the road and batoon rouge, la has lots of big road bumps.
so where do i start after shocks and tires? i've looked at the benltly for several suspension items and feel i can do most of them. i just want do get the most for my buck and not sure what parts make the biggest impact.
thanks for any help,
chris

[dasander]

Welcome to driving a C900. It is not a bad ride, it handles well. Enjoy it, tell your passengers to suck it up.

[TheRedBaron]

Yeah, either get used to it, or buy a Cadillac

[Jezzadee]

What shocks did you put on? Some brands are stiffer than others. New springs would help as well. And tyre size of 190/65/15 (from what I remember). Bear in mind the turbo / sports suspension is firmer and lower. You could always replace with n/a springs and shocks.

[ejenner]

I would go for spring seat cushions, bushes where the rear link arms connect to the chassis, bushes where the front upper and lower control arms connect to the chassis and then the shock bushes for each shock on all four corners. Then also the springs themselves. Although I suggest they are less responsible when it comes to asorbing shock. Cheap shock asorbers will also cause a poor ride. As will sports shocks and sports springs.

But most of the c900's I've been in were a bit rough.

Jezza - original tyres would be more like 19'5' / 65 / R15 - I would've though so anyway?

[davidlytle]

Springs control ride height and shocks/dampers do exactly what they are called. When I replaced my ball joints it firmed up the suspension but also going over bumps was much smoother. I will be replacing the springs as I dont like the body roll.


Bushings, balljoints, shocks, tires and tierod ends will make a difference. New tires for me made a HUGE difference. performance and ride quality. Much smoother.

Check the ball joints and the bushings to see if they are warn out. If so change them.

[ejenner]

tyres do make a difference. Soft high quality performance tyres are much smoother to drive with than cheap and hard wearing tyres.

- but -

it is only a temporary effect. After a while when the tyre wears out a bit the ride will start to feel harsh again.

The main cause of uncomfortable vibrations comming into the cabin are all the reacting parts. It is the reaction time and the suppleness of those parts that have an effect.

Springs are less important because they react quite slowly. Low quality shocks won't react as quickly as high quality shocks. Likewise, performance shocks will be valved to react to bigger and more forceful compressions so they won't asorb minor road-surface imperfections.

Basically, the rubber bushings asorb most of the little shock-type vibrations. If the rubber ain't good then you're going to get a bad ride. You've got to isolate the metal components with soft supple rubber or else the shocks will transmit through.

[johnford]

My new 92 c900 vert also rides rough, and makes all sorts of knocking and rattles horribly on Arkansas roads. I just had it thoroughly gone over and it was pronounced in good shape by a local mechanic. I figured it must be good if he didn't try and sell me any ball joints or anything. I don't mind the rough ride, I just wish I could eliminate all the noise. Something must be wrong but we couldn't find it today. We did however take the time to fix my reverse so it doesn't pop out of gear. That is a great plus.... I am still trying to decide if I want to keep this car or not. So far, it has been OK, but everyone in Arkansas seems to think I imported it from a foreign planet or something. Finding responsible people to work on it is tough..... But then, being from Texas my whole life I am still not happy being retired and living in Arkansas.... jf

[ejenner]

Convertibles are like that. I wouldn't worry about it. My convertible had only 34k on the clock and used to rattle like a pig at the slaughter house.