bud40oz

do all these C4's ride rough as a tank, The rpo code says soft ride suspension. i don't know what gm's idea of soft is but wow, this thing is supposed to have new shocks on it according the the paper work i found in the glove box . is there a good afer market shock that helps the ride? i know the shocks they put on were not the bilsteins or whatever it probably had new. i think there were a gabriel brand i would have too look at the paper work again to find out exact model. it's pretty bad when my 4 wheel drive truck rides smoother than my corvette. i admit the roads here in michigan are wrecked after a winter but i certainly was expecting a much better ride than this

confab

Mine is an 85, and it rides very well. Better than my Mustang did.

I did do a transmission repair on one other C4 from the era once, and I remember just driving it around the building was a horrible experience and I swore I would never own such a log wagon of an automobile.

Shocks? Z51 option? Tires?

I don't know what the difference was, but there certainly was one!!

pacoW

yeah, it's a stiff ride. I think the 80's C4's are stiffer than the 90's cars. Some people, myself included, like it. And I even put 19" rims all the way around so it would be even stiffer. Don't like it, buy a C5 or 6.

Kevova

Michigan roads and a Corvette lol. I took FE1 off and installed z51, I share your pain. LOL The LT1s have softer springs the 96 FE1 is the softest ride. The roads are terrible in some areas flat out aweful. It's not the car it's where you are.

CorvetteRules

My 91 rides very stiff, but some of it is probably from the shocks needing to be replaced. Although even after replacing some of the suspension parts I'm not expecting much of an improvement. and will probably still feel every highway expansion joint.

Tom400CFI

You just identified your problem. Or a large part of it. Gariel shocks are garbage, shocks. GAR-BAGE.

Get new shocks. Get KYB's, Bilstein, or Koni (adjustable). Ensure your suspension is in good condition, and run ~25 PSI in your tires. It's a performance car, so it'll never be "smooth" or "soft" over bumps, but good shocks and less tire pressure will help...a lot.

bud40oz

okay i was wrong, the bill i found in the glove box says sensa trac shock front and rear, poor guy. i am looking at his bill here, 1600 dollars at the shop, 500 of it was for intake manifold gasket set R&R.. that bill is from july of 14, the car had a fuel rail leak in july of 15 and burned, That's why he had his buddy take all the tuned port stuff off and put a carb on it. paid some shop 500 bucks to ruin his car for him. i would of sued the **** out of that place if i was him, maybe he didn't think about it, or even know what all they did there.

but regardless i am guessing sensa trac shocks are GARBAGE also from the feel of it. what shocks are supposed to be on a 91 convertible with rpo code FE1 soft ride?

95LT1ZF

Unless you have new bushings all around and good tires. Shocks will only do so much for the ride if a 25 year old car.

Tom400CFI

You guessed right. They are GARBAGE. Car came with Bilstein shocks. They are pretty darn good.

BillDurant

My 89 6 speed rides rough I feel like I'm, driving a NASCAR, not a smooth ride at all but I love it fun ride

rblakeney

My 89 seems to be sensitive to tire pressures. I agree with the previous post: set yours starting at 30 and go down from there.

Mine also has the FX3 adjustable suspension but it just makes the car more floaty on the softest setting, not more comfortable. Im sure all the bushings need replacing since they are original. This could be part of the cars feel.

BillDurant

25 PSI for real ? I do 35

92ragtop

KYB Gas-A-Just shocks provide a softer ride than the Bilsteins, and are a reasonable price.

How old are the tires? If more than 6 years, replace them.

Tom400CFI

For real. Look at the size of the tire compared to the weight of the car. You got a 275 or wider tire under a 3300 lb car...you don't need 35 psi to support that load. And when you run 35 lbs (at least when I have on all of my sports cars), you wear out the middle of the tire first. It's over inflated for the load.

cv67

Had an 89 with std springsHad KYBs on an 89 it was way too stiff mother of god..lol Firmed up every other car I had it was a mistake on this one. non z51 too.
old shocks/tires as said can do this..some of the early cars still rode stiff as hell. Try an 84 Z51.

Krusty84

I put KYBs on my '84. It rides great until it doesn't. It seems really smooth at low speeds but it will literally leave the road at highway+ speeds on the bigger dips and bumps.

jpipx

I replaced the original shocks in my 95 coupe with Bilstein's when rebuilding the suspension... along with new poly bushings, bearings, etc... The ride was always somewhat stiff but since the car is so low to the ground a tighter ride to me means better cornering and overall handling. My 95 vert still has the adjustable suspension and I definitely notice a difference in the handling. But neither is a really soft ride.

449er

Unfortunately, You may have to get into a C5 or newer model year, there is only so much that you can do with tire pressures & shocks

bud40oz

when the day comes that i can buy a c5 for 500 dollars, i will jump on that one also. until i will be a c4 man lol. i now have 1500 in it though with the rims and tires i bought and the 100 dollar holley fuel pressure regulator with bypass and gauge hurst shifter i installed. i am sure i will have 3500 or more into it after i do some things with it engine wise. it will be a nice ride though, i havn't had a fun hot rod in a long time. here it is sitting at 1500 bucks..



i am sure i will end up have 4500 or even more into it after i do some engine work, not really sure how good of a deal i got now. i would never be able to get my money back out of it with 5 grand into it. but i guess it isn't about that, it's my ride and i can make it how i want and that's for my own personal enjoyment i guess. i never have been a materialistic type of person anyway, i do not care what i "could" sell it for if it isn't for sale, what's it matter right.

back to topic though, as for the tires. i think they are probably 4-5 years old maybe, i don't know i bought em used from the guy i got the car from. he bought them brand new and maybe didn't put many miles on it after, they are ryker raptor tires, proper sizes for the car on 9.5 inch rims just like the factory ones, what are those anyway, the zr1 replica's for a 91? was a decent set for 500 bucks, rims n tires i think i got a fair deal on em. i will check tire pressures and set em to about 32 for starters. i will probably end up buying 4 new bilstiens if not this year maybe next year. it doesn't ride that horrid, on a smooth road it's fine

92ragtop

The date code on the tires is found on the side-wall in an oval marking. The code is the week # and year #. E.g. 1018 = 10th week of 2018.