JhnRX7 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Every little bump I hit in my S130 makes me feel like the car is going to fall apart. Whenever I hit small pot holes, changing road surfaces, cracks or any imperfections in the road it feels like my suspension is bottoming out. I just got new tires and that has not helped any. I'm almost positive this is due to the shocks, however the rears have been replaced somewhat recently and the car seems to handle good (as good as you would expect a stock S130 to handle). If I push down on any of the corners the suspension responds without any bouncing. Is there anything else that could be causing this poor ride quality, or is it definately worn shocks. I am planning on putting coilovers on the car in the future and if this problem is not shock related then I'm afraid the coilovers will amplify the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarang Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 It's time to change out the stock 25 yr old bushings. It is really not that hard to do, just time consuming. If money is tight, you don't need to do it all at once. I would do the front first. Makes a NIGHT AND DAY difference. It certainly did on my car. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nsm0l3m4n Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 It's time to change out the stock 25 yr old bushings. It is really not that hard to do, just time consuming. If money is tight, you don't need to do it all at once. I would do the front first. Makes a NIGHT AND DAY difference. It certainly did on my car. Definitely. My car used to sound and feel like it was going to rattle itself apart even on relatively flat roads. I made the upgrade and it feels very smooth almost like a "new" car. I dont know how it would difficult it would be on an s130 but I had a machine shop press out my old bushings after I gave them all my suspension bits and pieces to save time. Then I just popped the new ones in myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JhnRX7 Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 This is good to hear, and definately a worthwile upgrade for me to do even if it does not fix the problem. As for the front bushings there are: control arm, sway bar mount, sway bar endlinks. There are also the tension rods, however I have read that they should be replaced with stock rubber bushings as opposed to the poly bushings because of possible snapping issues. Am I missing any for the front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h4nsm0l3m4n Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 There are also the tension rods, however I have read that they should be replaced with stock rubber bushings as opposed to the poly bushings because of possible snapping issues. Am I missing any for the front? I dont know whether this applies to the s130, but for the s30s that is generally the case. Using urethane bushings on both sides of the tension rod has caused some snapping failures, though I ran mine this way for an autocross or two and had no problems. Eventually I bought a set of new rubber bushings for them and use 1 urethane and 1 rubber bushing per tension rod just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 It is most definately the shocks. Shocks that don't damp will make for a horribly harsh ride while you can drive on hogged out bushings and worn ball joints and tie rod ends with very little effect on ride quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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