96 Ride Control working?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: Riverside County Southern California
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It works, just give it time for you to learn the car. Drive around the mountains/curvy roads and you will notice a difference between the three.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: East Stroudsburg PA
I was doing about 40 - going over a few bumpy patches of street. I expected to sport setting to be very stiff over the bumps - but there was no difference. The car has almost 70K miles on it - anything I should check?
Drifting
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 1,874
Likes: 1
From: Garden Grove CA
I'm fairly sure your F45 suspension has a yaw meter, or something that is a close proxy like steering angle vs. speed. If you are driving straight down a street at 40 mph you won't really notice any difference. You need corners, and you need more speed. When I am driving mountain roads at ~ 80 mph - that is when the settings on my FX3 are markedly different. Definitely the faster you go around corners, not in a straight line, the more different the settings will feel.
Thomas
Thomas
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
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From: Texas
14 year old shocks. What are the chances they're actually still good? Not a lot.
The bad news is that the shocks are no longer available. When they were available, they were a few hundred dollars.....each. Unlike FX3 shocks, no one rebuilds them.
Even when new, the differences between the F45 settings were subtle. You didn't have to corner to notice. Just drive on a rough road and then a smooth one. The damping level was adjusted based on pre-programmed settings using feedback from the sensors that are connected to the front a-arms and the rear upper trailing arms.
Want a simple rough order test? Disconnect one of the front shocks from the lower control arm (two 10mm bolts/nuts). If you can compress the shock easily by hand / it doesn't quickly rebound, it's toast.
The bad news is that the shocks are no longer available. When they were available, they were a few hundred dollars.....each. Unlike FX3 shocks, no one rebuilds them.
Even when new, the differences between the F45 settings were subtle. You didn't have to corner to notice. Just drive on a rough road and then a smooth one. The damping level was adjusted based on pre-programmed settings using feedback from the sensors that are connected to the front a-arms and the rear upper trailing arms.
Want a simple rough order test? Disconnect one of the front shocks from the lower control arm (two 10mm bolts/nuts). If you can compress the shock easily by hand / it doesn't quickly rebound, it's toast.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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From: Texas
The only option is aftermarket shocks. Not sure what simulators you're talking about. Never heard of these being sold. If you did a search you probably came across info I wrote which involves sticking some resistors in the shock harnesses. Frankly the easier approach is to just pull the "Service Ride Control" bulb in the DIC and move on with life.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
From: East Stroudsburg PA
For the simulators, someone must have put the necessary resistors into molded housings with harness connectors on them - they looked well made.
What a shame it can't be kept stock. The adjustable suspension seemed like such a good idea.
What a shame it can't be kept stock. The adjustable suspension seemed like such a good idea.
