98 Camaro Z28 SS LS1 A4 196K (mi)
Not many upgrades to talk about. UMI pan hard bar and lower control arms (rear). Shock tower stabilizer. I replaced the shocks and shock mounts hoping that would fix the ride, no joy. It rides fairly smooth on the highway unless I hit a big bump then I get air and at times will end up in the other lane. I feel like I am riding with no shocks or springs. I don't here any squeaks or pops from the suspension. I do feel a pop when I stop and have check all the brake calipers, all are tight. Riding at 25-45 hitting pot holes, here in northern VA, the car sounds like its going to fall apart. Not sure what else to change. I am planning on installing weld in sub-frame connectors to help tighten things up. Any suggestion or if you have the same experience or have had this issue and fixed it your help would be greatly appreciated. The engine it top notch, so I don't want to see it go, but it has to become a better ride. I drive it 70 miles daily.

 

What tires are you running? What pressure do you run in the tires?

 

275 40 17 Sumitomo HTR Z Pressure is set at 32psi When I bought it the guy had it set at 51psi, I felt every pebble.

 

he had it set at 51 because he looked at the max psi on the tire you can usually find what the recommended tire psi on he inside of the door if its still there. which is around what you have it at.

 

Stock springs and bushings?

 

Stock spring, monroe sensa trac shocks for now, I didn't want to pay a lot and end up braking one or all due to something being worn. All the bushings in the rear, minus sway bar, were replaced when I installed the UMI pan hard bar and lower control arms, up front most likely still stock. I have looked at getting a new K member with new upper and lower control arms, but again the money versus does this fix is or am I putting money into a money pit. Thanks for your help so far guys.

 

all the bushings in the rear - stock replacements or some really hard aftermarket bushings?

 

Just a guess, but do you still have bump stops in the car?

 

Energy Suspension Fluted Polyurethane grease able Bushings is the bushing that came with the UMI lower control arms and pan hard bar. I know this is harder than stock, but from what I read on this forum it shouldn't kill the ride.

 

I replaced the stock with energy suspension (red to match the car). The stock ones had fallen apart.

 

There are a few threads on the pros/cons of poly bump stops that you can dig up here by a search. Basically the gist is poly bump stops are sudden stop since they are so stiff versus the factory which is a gradual stop due to greater compressibility of the stock rubber. I recall some suggestions to drill out material from the poly stops to make them softer; suspect amount of material to be removed is trial and error?

 

the ride was bad before I installed the new poly bump stops. This is looking like a rebuild from the ground up.

 

When you did the front shocks and mounts, what was the condition of the front u/l control arm bushings, ball joints, hubs? Its possible with 194K one or more of these could be worn out enough to be your problem, though I suspect it would feel more like shudder in the steering versus chassis rattle.

 

I have just started to feel a pop in the front end that tells me a ball joint or bushing is going more like a ball joint. This rattle/poor ride is more from the right rear corner. Like something is loose. The spare/jack etc are out. I have been under the car and checked all the bolts. The shock is tight as it has been replaced. I have even checked the rear hatch.

 

I'm also having the same problem with the suspension feeling like im going on a roller coaster but I'm still saving up to buy all the suspension & chasis parts to tighten up the car a little and see if it fixes. have you found the reason to such a bad ride?