SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 2005 Legacy with 77k miles on the struts, and about 35kmiles on oem Springs, and the other 40k miles on H-techs. When i was driving on the northern state/grand central parkway in NY yesterday i felt like everytime there was a bump in the road, or uneven pavement it felt like the car would seesaw for a second or two after th car would hit the bump, or if one wheel hit the bump it felt and sounded like a hammer was hitting that wheel. whats wrong with my suspension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbs Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Sounds like you are hitting the bump stops and from your description of see sawing, it may be time for new shocks. If you are using stock struts, then do yourself a favor and get some Konis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinlsb Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 bad shock! "Belief does not make truth. Evidence makes truth. And belief does not make evidence." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 bad shock! +1 Check the shocks and see if any are leaking. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 how do i check for leaking? i assume taking the wheel(s) off is a necessary aspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.T.Subie Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Htech blew my stockers in 20k on the roads around here. I started to bounce down the highway. Denial is your best friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 hypothetical question... my car feels rock solid when the road is perfectly flat, it feels like i can swing the wheel left and right a good 20 degrees and the car is driving on rails (like a mini cooper), but on the northern parkway there are sections where the highway ashpalt changes into the material they use for the bridges, and it happens about 5 times in about a 1 mile long stretch, and when the road surface materials change there is a def. "speed bump" that occurs where they meet. -->when it goes highway/road to bridge surface material; the bridge surface is lower so the car nose dives immeditaly and then the nose shoots back up, and causes the car to seesaw momenterally...on the other hand --> when it goes back from bridge surface material to highway/road; is when you really CRINGE. the meeting point of these two surfaces is even more like one of those mall speed bumps so you hear a crazy hammering thud and feels like my headunit is going to shoot out, and my subwoofer is going to rip off its mounts and my passengers usually yelp that something went wrong like a rim ripped off or a tire blew, or my suspension exploded. (for any NY-ers out there im talking about right after the cross island parkway heading to queens(westbound), and right before the clearview expressway. and the same occurs going eastbound, but in my opinion its worse westbound) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.T.Subie Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I noticed the same thing the dips are the worst part. The OEM stuts do not handle lowering springs very well. Denial is your best friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 Yea thats an understatment. G.T.Subie...i see your location, i would assume u are a NJ or NY guy as well? Where at? And If so, may i ask what your current suspension set up is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.T.Subie Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I'm in Hoboken and drive some terrible roads I went with the JDM GT (USDM Spec-b)struts with wagon springs. The have been great and a major improvement all around. The ride height is about stock maybe a couple mm lower. Denial is your best friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 spawngt, if you already have springs, get koni struts. you wont have to buy any extra hardeware, and you wont have any ride height issues and it will fix all you ride quality issus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 Koni struts interesting i assume they will be more ideal for the H-techs...any suggestions on which vendor has the best price whitetiger or anyone else for that matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I think crucial is selling them for around $500, there is a thread here somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 awesome thank you. oh i forgot to ask, what is a bump stop? does the front and rear OEM struts have them? and does the koni set have them as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 ^yes, you put the stock ones on the koni's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridandy Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 hypothetical question... my car feels rock solid when the road is perfectly flat, it feels like i can swing the wheel left and right a good 20 degrees and the car is driving on rails (like a mini cooper), but on the northern parkway there are sections where the highway ashpalt changes into the material they use for the bridges, and it happens about 5 times in about a 1 mile long stretch, and when the road surface materials change there is a def. "speed bump" that occurs where they meet. -->when it goes highway/road to bridge surface material; the bridge surface is lower so the car nose dives immeditaly and then the nose shoots back up, and causes the car to seesaw momenterally...on the other hand --> when it goes back from bridge surface material to highway/road; is when you really CRINGE. the meeting point of these two surfaces is even more like one of those mall speed bumps so you hear a crazy hammering thud and feels like my headunit is going to shoot out, and my subwoofer is going to rip off its mounts and my passengers usually yelp that something went wrong like a rim ripped off or a tire blew, or my suspension exploded. (for any NY-ers out there im talking about right after the cross island parkway heading to queens(westbound), and right before the clearview expressway. and the same occurs going eastbound, but in my opinion its worse westbound) To put this post in perspective, you need to understand what "shocks" actually do. Shock is actually a poor name as they don't actually do any shock absorption, that's the springs job, but actually dampen the springs movement. If you hit a bump, the tire is going to pushed up into the wheel well as the spring is compressed, if there is no dampening, the spring will fire the wheel back down into the pavement (picture compressing a small spring in your fingers and then let go) and the spring will then oscillate or seesaw until it returns back to it's normal state, resulting in the bouncing ride your describing. The OE dampers will wear with time, especially if matched with stiffer, more aggressive springs, and you will get the ride you are describing. A new set of dampers will correct the problem and most aftermarket units are designed to work with stiffer aftermarket springs and will hold up longer than a new set of OE units. I don't have any experience with aftermarket setups for Legacies but Koni is a pretty popular brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.