TheGreek!

I wish it rode better. It rides like a tank. Actually, I think a tank probably rides better. Stiff doesn't begin to describe the ride, it rides like a hard tail Harley. Has anyone out there softened up the ride on their C3's and if so what did you do to make it softer?

lvmyvt76

composit spring in back, shocks, springs, new rubber bushings, the suspension is what you are talking about,?? they don't ride like the new cars or trucks either, no matter what you do! things have changed.

MelWff

what cold tire pressure are you using?

MotorHead

Mine would rattle the fillings out of my teeth. I went with Bistein shocks and was amazed at the difference.

Now 12 or so years they are getting worn out, mine is running like a tank again and will replace the shocks with new Bilsteins

TheGreek!

32 psi. It's gonna take a lot more than running the tire pressure low to soften up the ride on my Sherman tank/Harley hardtail vette. You could damn near flatten the tires and it'll still beat your kidneys to death, it's going to need some serious suspension work to make it softer.

Rescue Rogers

Ive got bilstiens and a composite rear spring and it rides smooth and corners like its on rails with no rear sway bar. I bought it like that and didn't realize most stock setups were so rough

MelWff

How old are the tires?

bud40oz

thanks for all the tips, i will check out the tire pressures, i think they are rated for 44 psi, so probably that's what they are set at. the tires are in good shape, ryker Raptor i think... some thing raptor i know that. never heard of the brand name but they had good reviews. also i am not sure how old they are, 3 or 4 years old anyway i am sure

cv67

Yikes, lets hope they are not at 44, that will certainly cause a problem. Above responses should get you what you want.
my 73 used to ride similar, C4s werent much different either. Oh well its a sports car!

jb78L-82

What kind and age are the tires?

Composite Spring 300/330 lbs, Bilsteins, and new front coils along with fresh modern tires and the car will ride great.

Jebbysan

Swap the shocks out.......the AC Delco gas shocks were tested as the best riding shocks available but cannot vouch for handling.....

Jebby

terrys6t8roadster

My 69 got treated to a 330# composite spring and has Monroe gas shocks. Rides a lot better that the steel spring, kinda wish that I gone with the 300# spring. T

PainfullySlow

Yeah just because they are rated for 44 does not mean that is what you should be running, that is the MAX pressure. I would drop those to 34-36psi and see how it feels.

I would guess that the tires are Riken Raptors and while they are a decent entry-level tire, a harsh ride is one of the things many people mentioned. Here is a comparison video from Tire Rack which mentions stiff ride for that tire.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...es#testResults


in any case, try dropping the pressure a bit and see if that helps but if not, shocks are your next best bet followed by springs if those have not been replaced.

MelWff

this thread was started in 2016 by a user named TheGreek who as of yesterday was still active under that name. Yesterday a user by the name of bud40oz responded to the 2016 responses to TheGreek as if he was the OP. bud40oz has a profile that shows he has a 1991 car so something doesn't make sense to me.

Gale Banks 80'

Bilstien Rebuilds there own shocks here in the USA.

TheGreek!

Bud40oz isn't me even though his first post in this thread does make it sound like he's the OP thanking everybody for the tips in this thread. Maybe he's just thanking people for the tips thinking that they can be applied to his 91? Anyway, my 69 still rides like a tank, lol.

7T1vette

44 psi is the rated maximum the tire can hold without failing!. Run tires at 30 psi for a 'normal' ride. NEVER run over 35 psi in radial tires.

lotsofspareparts

I think what happened to Bud40oz is the same thing that happened to me earlier when I posted on this same thread by accident.

It appears (for some stupid reason) that when you reach the end of a thread, you pop into a thread that could be related to the thread you were just reading. I have a really fast laptop, and it has caught me by surprise a few times as to how quickly the page will change from the thread you were reading, into a totally new thread and you don't even realize it. Bud has a C4 that he claims is riding like a tank, I scrolled down to what I thought was the bottom of the thread and wound up in an entirely different thread and I didn't even realize it and I posted my response to what Buds original post was about. I then scrolled back up to the top of the thread I just posted in (this one) and was like "what the hell"?? I copied my post, deleted it from this thread, and then pasted it in Buds thread.

The thing that I find most odd about this is that the "suggested thread" was in a completely different model of Vettes forum (C3 vs C4).

The page loading doesn't seem to keep up with the scrolling speed when I am running down a page..... which is strange in itself because I have really fast internet as well.

As a member of many different forums, from S10's to VW's to JD Tractors...….. this is the only forum I have ever been apart of that will just dump you into a completely new thread in what could turn out to be a completely different model. That's like trying to post in a JD forums thread and you post it in a Kubota thread...… and you didn't even know you did it.

I am sure someone else has encountered this..... is there a way to turn this feature off?

Jared with a 1988 C4 Convertible......

c3_dk

You need a bigger engine, then all problems are solved :- )

TheGreek!

Funny you should mention that, I just installed this engine in it two weeks ago...