gmcman52

Just got my Vette back from the shop after a few months of repairs. I had them replace every thing under the body with new items. Shocks frt and back ,rear leaf spring upper and lower control ,tie rod ends, steering gear and more. I still have a rough ride and then when it hits a small bump in the road or over R/R tracks its bone wrenching time. The only thing not replaced was the body mtg cushions. Not sure where to go from here.

Easy Mike

Take it back to the shop.

Nowhere Man

if they installed OEM springs with OEM replacement rubber bushings everywhere, and your tires are in good shape it should ride very well

grumpy73

Had the same thing done to my 73 plus rebuilt the seats with new foam. Rides great, not like a new luxury car but very smooth.

gmcman52

SMF, I've owned this Vette for 33 years now and I do not remember the ride this rough. I know I'm getting old and maybe my bottom may be getting soft but after all that was replaced I would think it would ride a little nicer. But thanks for taking the time to comment. Maybe after a week or so everything will settle in.

naramlee

best thing for a corvette is to get better seats and new tires...
if your tires are over 6 years old they are hard as a rock now... and the stock seats are church pews that masquerade as seats
if you ignore the seats, it probably rides fairly well, the seats are what ruin the ride, im a young guy and a hour+ trip in the stock seats have me on the ground with my back in knots, I didn't hesitate to upgrade, they are the best single upgrade you can do for ride comfort.


Stock seats VS Mr Mikes Fiero Seats

doorgunner

I prefer a smooth ride. I located a Monroe shock dimension chart on the internet and ordered Monroe Sensatrac shocks to fit my '68. The ride is similar to an SUV now/Not harsh at all. On the interstate it rides much like a family car. You do lose about 20% of high speed cornering ability, but I can live with the trade-off.

kansas123

What kind of spring was put in the rear? And shocks?

gmcman52

I know that the rear leafs are steel and look to have about 9-10 leafs as for shocks not sure and will stop by the shop to find out. I did have the rally wheels replaced with the optional factory alum wheel from 1976-1982. The tire are BF Goodrich and are over 6 years old. Will have to look into new tires. I have been looking for 79 and later seats to replace the poor seats that GM installed. Thanks to all who replied.

naramlee

deff do shocks too, those are a big culprit also, as already mentioned

Priya

I disagree.

I have the Gymkhana heavy duty suspension in my 79 and it too rides like a Mack Truck. The Gymkhana front springs are 550 lb and the rear spring I think is around 300lb. According to the 79 specifications manual the base suspension has front springs in the 300-350 lb range and the rear if I remember correctly around 140-190 lb. I went looking for base suspension springs for my 79 and the corvette vendors sell either 450 or 550 lb C3 front springs, or they don't know what the spring rate is of the springs they sell. Most aftermarket rear fiberglass springs are 300 lb or more. I eventually bought C2 front springs rated at 300 lb because no one sells anything less than 450 lb front spring for a C3. I bought the Hyperco EZ ride rear spring which if I remember correctly is 140 lb.

If you took it to a shop and they just installed "factory replacement" springs you almost certainly got 450-550 lb front springs and a rear spring in the 300 + lb range which is why your car still rides like a Mack Truck.

A lot of guys will claim that a 300lb fiberglass rear spring is smoother than a factory 140-190 lb rear steel spring because its allegedly "more compliant". I don't buy that. The compliance of a spring is measured by how much weight it takes to deflect it - I don't believe a 300 lb fiberglass rear spring rides any softer than a 300 lb rear steel spring. A lot of guys will also tell you that their car with 550 lb front springs and 350 lb rear spring rides very smoothly too - they clearly have a very different concept of smooth than I do.

v2racing

The low mile 1980 L82 F41 Gymkhana I had was running NAPA, rebranded Monroe Matics, on it. I switched over to Bilstein Sport shocks and it totally changed the car. No more brake dive, rear end squat and felt so much better entering a curve at high speed. The thing that really surprised me is it rode so much better. Good shocks make a huge difference.

My current 75 convertible has cut 550 springs and a shortened 360 glass spring. Shortening raises the spring rate on both springs. All rubber is gone and everything is poly or heim ends. I even have poly body bushings. I have an 1 1/8" front bar and 5/8" rear, both in poly. I have Bilstein sports on this too. The car is firm but still rides good, not harsh. I can't imagine wanting a sports car setup softer. Shocks really make the biggest difference.

Now before I get accused of not being able to tell a smooth riding car from a board on steel roller skate wheels, I've owned over 300 cars in my life with a lot of them being big cruisers and luxury cars like Caddies, Olds, Buicks even a Rolls Royce. My current dailey is a Cadillac CTS Coupe, my wifes is a Lincoln MKX and I also have a Chevy Avalanche, all are good riding cars. But everyone has a different idea of what a good ride is, so each to their own. Do what feels good to you.

Priya

That's basically the setup I have on my 79 and its very harsh. I can definitely imagine wanting a sports car set up softer. Much softer.

v2racing

I think you and I probably drive our cars a little differently too. What shocks do you run? As I've said, they make a HUGE difference in ride.

Mike

Priya

I'm sure we drive our cars quite a bit differently. My car is just transportation that looks nice and I think that's probably the case with most people who buy a C3 nowadays. I don't drive the Corvette any more radically than I drove the mini-van I owned before it.

I don't know what kind of shocks are on it.

7T1vette

If the shop installed stiff springs, your shocks need to be good quality items. But, even then you won't get a 'soft' ride. Stiff springs mean little movement when the car hits a bump. But, good gas shocks will keep you from chipping teeth when you hit it.

MelWff

Nobody has asked if you checked if your tires are over inflated?

naramlee

considering his tires are past age, they wont be for long xD

gmcman52

I spoke with the shop and found that they installed Monroe OEspec shocks. I also had them replace the rally wheels with the factory aluminum wheels. I check the tire pressure and found that they all were at 34 lbs of psi . I checked the owners manual and it states that they should be at 20 lbs of psi.? What that can't be right,I though that's to low. I did remove some of the psi dow to 29 lbs for all of the tires and will take it out for a spin.

Priya