ride problem- questioning shop
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Warwick MD
ride problem- questioning shop
I had my 98 lowered on stock bolts. The ride turned out to be horrible. I have seen on many other threads that stated the ride should not have been affected by the lowering. I asked the shop to check on it and raise it if the lowering was the problem. They have come back and stated that the ride height adjusters on the front springs (rubber) have deteriorated and now have metal to metal contact on the springs and A-arm. To remedy the problem was to buy springs from GM that have the rubber or find the rubber parts as GM does not sell them alone. Can anyone shed some light on this potential problem? Hitting a bump currently would knock out fillings in my mouth, it's that bad.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 16,477
Likes: 26
From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
Even if the bushing is completely gone, it won't affect the ride quality that much.
The spring bolt/bushing is always in contact and under tension on the control arm...that little pc of rubber does nothing to cushion or dampen the ride. If it was metal-on-metal, worst case scenario is you might experience a little noise during suspension movement.
If your ride really is that jarring, it sounds to me like the shocks are bottoming out. The combination of a sagging stock spring and stock shocks that surely aren't as pressurized as they once were could possibly cause your ride to be low enough for this to happen.
Did they adjust it back up for you? If so, is the problem still there?
The spring bolt/bushing is always in contact and under tension on the control arm...that little pc of rubber does nothing to cushion or dampen the ride. If it was metal-on-metal, worst case scenario is you might experience a little noise during suspension movement.
If your ride really is that jarring, it sounds to me like the shocks are bottoming out. The combination of a sagging stock spring and stock shocks that surely aren't as pressurized as they once were could possibly cause your ride to be low enough for this to happen.
Did they adjust it back up for you? If so, is the problem still there?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Warwick MD
They have not raised it back up at this point. Claiming that they wanted to install this part before going any further. Would just raising the car back to stock height alleviate the problem? Eventhought it's a 98 and has 30k on it, I wouldn't think that the springs or shocks would be out that bad. It looks like it's a possiblity in this case.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 16,477
Likes: 26
From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
Originally Posted by bluecray
They have not raised it back up at this point. Claiming that they wanted to install this part before going any further. Would just raising the car back to stock height alleviate the problem?
They are correct in that GM only sells new front bolts/bushing with the purchase of a new spring. I'm sure they also quoted you a $500 price ballpark + labor for a new spring too. It does sound to me like they want to cash in a little here.
And yes, these springs are well-known to sag over time. My 01 drops a little more every year all on its own.
