99blackbird99

my 1999 firebird doesn't handle well over bumpy surface. The rear seems to swing right and left and gives a very bumpy ride. Any suggestions? thanks

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

What are you running, tires (make and sizes), shocks, springs, any aftermarket control arms? Some of it is the nature of a solid axle car. More composure can be had, but there is a limit.

TheSilverOne

iTrader: (22)

yes need more suspension details. mileage on car?

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

As mentioned above, we will need to know more about you car (mileage, suspension, wheel/tire combo). But this isn't an uncommon thing for cars with worn out shocks or bushings. With some more details, I can give you some pointers on things to check out before moving on to seeing what parts you may want to help you correct your problem.
- Kevin

Christopherpoppa

Check your pan hard bar make sure your bolts are in because my bolt broke or something and my car was everywhere from small bumps and dips

99blackbird99

1999 bird, 160k miles, 285 35 18 rear, 235 40 18 front (michelin sport), original shocks, springs, etc... suspension components original

MeanGreenLT1

iTrader: (4)

I'd say original is your problem there. 13 year old, 160k suspension is well past its life

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

Indeed. What a lot of people never think about is that rubber actually has an expiration date. When you buy a set of tires, they have a sell by date because after a certain point, the rubber properties have changed. Rubber suspension bushings are no different. While you can extend the life by applying some grease to them here and there, you will eventually have to replace them.

Your options are not limited, however. You can either replace your factory bushings with replacements from a company like Moog. Or, you can use this as an excuse to upgrade to tubular performance parts like lower control arms and an adjustable panhard bar.

160,000 miles on DeCarbon shocks is pretty wild. They honestly could have been replaced the day they rolled off the lot because they do nothing for the cars performance, they simply let the car bounce around over the bumps - giving you that feeling like the back-end is walking out on you or is moving around. For shocks, I would highly reccomend buying the best you can within your budget. The best, affordable shock IMHO is the Bilstein shocks.

If you're looking to make some upgrades, let me know and I can walk you through it. But first, we can identify what problems you're currently having so you can focus on the parts you're having problems with. Start with the bolts and bushings on the panhard bar and lower control arms. Then, you'll need to inspect the shocks for any visual damage or leaking. I'm confident you'll find some cracked or distorted bushings and some leaking shocks.

Thanks,
Kevin

99blackbird99

thanks for all the valuable input! i'll let yall know the outcome!

WhiteKnight '01

Don't mean to thread highjack but I have a similar problem!

When I'm cruising at 65MPH or higher the car's handling becomes very sloppy. Also, this is only during the day time when it's warm out. If I turn the wheel a little bit I can feel the tail walking out on me, taking awhile to correct. The car loses all of its nimbleness.

HOWEVER, when it's night time and the air is cool, the car regains most of its handling and feels very sharp! As stated in my sig I have Bilstein shocks with 10,000 miles on them. Could this be my tires? Bushings? Pan hard bar? What is it?

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

I've got the same problem as the OP, once I got up to highway speed driving home from buying my firebird that thing felt like it was gonna jump a lane everytime I hit a bump, I'm on an all stock suspension at what will soon be 180k (within the next week or 2), I'll try to find time to climb under it tomorrow and check out the bushings, the stock orange Decarbons didn't look like they where leaking but there probably shot, do you BMR guys have any deals running on just a pair for the rear, I don't have the budget to do all 4 shocks right now.

Carlos01SS

iTrader: (4)

The factory deCarbon shocks were not intended for anything past normal regular driving and truthfully, they were shot after 20k-25k miles even though you don't see any leakage.

at this point any shock upgrade will help, even replacing with new factory deCarbon's would help, but really they're pieces of **** for shocks.
now, if you really couldn't tell that they were bad, and factory shocks were fine by you, then yeah buying new deCarbons would work, as well as Monroe's, again, about as good as the deCarbon's.
compare the prices and see what's the better deal out there.
Better than factory shocks are the Tokico's and KYB AGX's, again, look at the prices.

And all this is relative, as everyone has their opinions as to what are great shocks.

But right now your factory shocks have been bad for at least 5-6 years and if you didn't notice until now then you have been blessed!

dr_whigham

iTrader: (49)

Don't feel bad, OP. I still have the factory decraptons on mine, and I'm at 149k.....

Mike Goldberg says it best, "A set of Bilsteins in the future there are, Joe"