Rough Ride | completely rebuilt suspension

[kiltedrunner]

Rough Ride | completely rebuilt suspension - HELP!

Hi Guys,
I'm looking for some advice. I just rebuilt my entire car and went with the following parts to allow my car to turn corners really well. I'm running into an issue where the ride is jarring when the tires run over the joints in the road.

Hotchkis front & rear swaybar
Hotchkis rear leaf springs
Hotchkis 1.0" torsion bars
Firm Feel upper control arms
Welded lower control arms
Firm Feel steering box (stage III)
Bilstein shocks (all around)
Polyurethane bushings (all around)
Lowered front spindle (2" drop)


The sound seems to be coming from the front end more than the rear of the car. I swear its the shocks... but I can't tell for sure.

What can I do to make this noise go away?

 

[Coronet 14]

Is it aligned and at the correct ride height. This is just my opinion but I would return the front end to stock height. Are your Shocks Heavy Duty

 

[mopar 3 B]

Hi Guys,
I'm looking for some advice. I just rebuilt my entire car and went with the following parts to allow my car to turn corners really well. I'm running into an issue where the ride is jarring when the tires run over the joints in the road.

Hotchkis front & rear swaybar
Hotchkis rear leaf springs
Hotchkis 1.0" torsion bars
Firm Feel upper control arms
Welded lower control arms
Firm Feel steering box (stage III)
Bilstein shocks (all around)
Polyurethane bushings (all around)
Lowered front spindle (2" drop)


The sound seems to be coming from the front end more than the rear of the car. I swear its the shocks... but I can't tell for sure.

What can I do to make this noise go away?

Suppose the sidewalls on the tires are 2" tall also. You have built it to preform either live with it or change some bushings and possibly tires. Just wait till it starts squeaking every bump you hit in the road.

 

[kiltedrunner]

Thank you for your responses guys.

I still have 15" wheels with 28" tall tires on the car - so there's lots of sidewall to take up the impact on our roads.

I do have the car pretty low, but I can't imagine that would affect much. The front lower control arm is sitting in the middle of the available travel while sitting static. I'm sure I'm not bottoming out on these bumps. I even had someone bounce the car while I watched the front suspension move and it still had an inch of travel left but was clunking.

 

[Coronet 14]

Did you grease the Torsion Bar ends. Did you torque the lower control pivot nut while the car was at ride height

 

[kiltedrunner]

I didn't actually grease the torsion bar ends - I didn't think this was necessary with polyurethane bushings.

Hmm... I'm afraid I torqued the lower control pivot nut while the car was on jack-stands.

Could this be it?

 

[Dennis H]

Further describe the jarring. Road surface? Speed, turns, braking. Post a picture showing stance and tires.

 

[miller]

I didn't actually grease the torsion bar ends - I didn't think this was necessary with polyurethane bushings.

Hmm... I'm afraid I torqued the lower control pivot nut while the car was on jack-stands.

Could this be it?

Probably not going to like this...but highly recommend you pull your torsion bars, and grease both ends. Suppose you got the right and left bars in right, and not backwards. I'd also set the ride height to stock, by the torsion bar adjusters.
Most likely, if it's set too low, not enough 'torque' on the bars, so they are not doing anything, and your suspension is bottoming out on those bumps.
No grease on the bars ends is just going to help them wear out.

 

[kiltedrunner]

As you can see, it's not excessively low, and I have big tires (15" rims) on it that should take up some of the impact on the road. The sound seems to be coming from the front end rather than the rear.

I'll grease the front swaybar and monkey around with the front end a bit to see if I can fix it.

 

[Dennis H]

Beautiful car. Love the stance. Keep us posted.

 

[BeeSuper70]

My researh has told me that the squeakng is most likely the lower control arm bushings. Mancini Racing recommended using Moog rubber bushings. The rubber compounds of today are much better than the old stuff.

 

[kiltedrunner]

I should point out that the bumps I'm talking about are less than 1" deep and 2" wide at best. They're just seams in the road.

Interestingly, I just found out that while I'm riding my brakes over these bumps, they're not as harsh.



More to come once I get under the car and tweak a bit.

 

[Coronet 14]

Put the car on jackstands Loosen the lower control arm nuts, Loosen the Torsion bar adj bolts then slide the bars back and grease the ends. When you put it back together. Let the car sit at ride height for a bit before torqeing lower control arm piviot nuts. Did you change the bumpstops

 

[lewtot184]

my 65 coronet big block has .92 t-bars, 1.125" firm feel sway bar, cheapo monroe gas shocks, and 28" tall 70series t/radials up front. thing handles great. i can't imagine needing a 1" t-bar, just my 2 cents.

 

[Coronet 14]

i put .096 bars on my 72 Coronet. Can't wait to get mine back on the road.

 

[kiltedrunner]

Put the car on jackstands Loosen the lower control arm nuts, Loosen the Torsion bar adj bolts then slide the bars back and grease the ends. When you put it back together. Let the car sit at ride height for a bit before torqeing lower control arm piviot nuts. Did you change the bumpstops

I'll give that a try. Thanks!

Yes, I put in new bump stops. I'm sure the suspension is not bottoming out for what it's worth.

 

[Coronet 14]

Could the tires be hitting the inside of the fender wells

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Unfortunately none of us can experience what you are feeling. If you feel its the shocks, take them off and drive it. The problem will either be gone, worse or the same

 

[coloradodave]

When you bought your shocks did you get them shorter to compensate for the reduced height? Could be bottoming the shock. Do as Hemi Rebel suggested and try a ride down a pretty straight road without the front shocks.

 

[kiltedrunner]

When you bought your shocks did you get them shorter to compensate for the reduced height? Could be bottoming the shock. Do as Hemi Rebel suggested and try a ride down a pretty straight road without the front shocks.

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. The bumps that are causing this are the seams in the roads not big potholes. I bounced on car while it sat statically and it moved at least 4-5 inches without issue so I'm not bottoming out, nor is it the tires hitting the fenders because this all happened after I did the suspension.

I hope to get the car up on stands late tonight, loosen off things and then re-adjust with the suspension under load. It might be as simple as that. Hopefully!

I'll let you know how I make out!