New suspension, still rides hard

[Vatchy]

I have new Steeda springs, Koni orange shocks/struts, k-member, tubular control arms, and new Steeda upper and lower rears. New suspension bushings for all. The car still rides rock hard - I feel every pebble and ripple. What am I missing here? 1985 Mustang GT.

Thanks.

[BaconB8]

Isn’t that the point of adding those components?

[85GTGuy]

The parts you swapped in are certainly not the best choice if a stock-type ride is what you wanted. They are all designed to give a better handling car, at the expense of ride comfort.

The rear control arms are going to have firmer (ie, poly) bushings in them, and I would assume the tubular fronts would also. The springs are going to have an increased spring rate versus OE ones. The Koni's are a sportier damper than stock, and they may also have firmer mounting bushings. Every single one of those are going to contribute to a less compliant ride. Unfortunately, none of those would be my choice if I was trying to improve ride quality.

[fgross2006]

I have new Steeda springs, Koni orange shocks/struts, k-member, tubular control arms, and new Steeda upper and lower rears. New suspension bushings for all. The car still rides rock hard - I feel every pebble and ripple. What am I missing here? 1985 Mustang GT.

Thanks.

I did my 84 LX convertible with all Moog front end and suspension and replaced all bushings with the exception of using Maximum Motor Sports rear control arms and motor mounts from Autozone. I love how my car drives. Its smooth as silk.

[Vatchy]

Before this upgrade my car had all of the original rubber suspension bushings. I expected it to drive better with all the new ones, even if they are poly.

[Two86fiveoh's]

Poly will transfer ALOT more NVH through the chassis. If a smoother ride is what you want, stay with rubber bushings on the front LCA's and rear upper control arms. If SFC's aren't installed already, install them ASAP!

[wraithracing]

The big question is did you tighten all of the suspension bolts with the vehicle weight on the suspension or was the suspension unloaded.

Even with poly bushings it has been my experience to lightly snug all the suspension bolts and hardware, but not tighten fully. Then I drive the vehicle around the block a few times at low speeds (generally 30 MPH MAX). Then I bring it back into the garage and put the entire car up on jack stands (stands placed correctly under front control arms and under rear axle so full vehicle weight is on suspension at ride height) and then I torque all the suspension hardware to the correct setting.

If you tighten all the suspension bolts with the vehicle up in the air and suspension drooping you can often get a rougher ride and handling as well as a ride height that is too tall. Hope this helps and good luck! Oh and as others have mentioned the ride will be firm and should handle very well, but definitely will be stiffer or rougher than a stock Fox.

[85GTGuy]

Before this upgrade my car had all of the original rubber suspension bushings. I expected it to drive better with all the new ones, even if they are poly.

Yes, drive better, as in handle better.... but not smoother.

The poly bushings are a big part of the issue.... the shocks, struts and springs all being stiffer are another part.

For an original type ride, I would have recommended oe or oe-ride-quality shocks and struts, and rubber bushed control arms, front and rear. The springs aren't helping things, but I don't think that's where most of your problem is. I'd guess the control arms you have probably don't even have the capability of using rubber bushings.

[qtrracer]

The Fox chassis suspension is a hot mess compromise on all acounts - espcially the rear converging 4-link. Ford designed the suspension with soft rubber to address the ride quality component. As noted above replacing all those soft stock rubber bushed components with harder less compliant poly increases NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness). There are some tricks that many have used to soften the H and V parts of the equasion, but those that you picked aren't them.

Usually, myself included, we read about these upgrades in a vacuum not knowing what the intended outcome was meant to address. A drag car is set up much differently than a corner-carver and a cruiser is different still. Moreover, trying to get our DD to do multiple tasks generally leads to disappointment on some trask.

[Chuck W]

That's a long list of parts and no mention of any chassis stiffening.

As mentioned, all of the parts you added are not going to make the car ride "stock" in regards to NVH.

Are you using the adjustable Koni orange struts/shocks? What do you have them set at? What are the specs of the springs?

Is there any chassis stiffening on the car? If not, whatever suspension on there isn't going to be able to properly do its job. No matter how much you spent.