Sloppy suspension, ideas?
03-17-2013, 10:36 PM
#1
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Sloppy suspension, ideas? I have a 2002 Camaro Z28 that's pushing 97,000 miles. My car's engine and transmission still pull strong with no issues, but the suspension feels very weak and sloppy.
It has the standard 16 inch wheels with Firestone Firehawk Indy500 wide oval tires.
My main issue is the car's steering is very slow and sluggish at speed over 70MPH. At speeds over 80MPH the car feels very unstable, bounces around a lot, kind of wobbles if I tilt the wheel even the slightest, the rear end has some sway in it. I don't know what the issue is.
The tires are properly inflated, the car is in alignment. I know the car is getting old and has high miles, what parts need to be changed out to get tight steering and a stable feeling car???
It has the standard 16 inch wheels with Firestone Firehawk Indy500 wide oval tires.
My main issue is the car's steering is very slow and sluggish at speed over 70MPH. At speeds over 80MPH the car feels very unstable, bounces around a lot, kind of wobbles if I tilt the wheel even the slightest, the rear end has some sway in it. I don't know what the issue is.
The tires are properly inflated, the car is in alignment. I know the car is getting old and has high miles, what parts need to be changed out to get tight steering and a stable feeling car???
03-17-2013, 10:51 PM
#2
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@ the minimum replace the shocks. and take it to an alingment shop to check your ball joints and tie rod ends. You might have to rebuild the front end and replace all of the control arm bushings, but then it would close to new. Good luck, and keep us posted.
03-17-2013, 11:13 PM
#3
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Should I replace the inner or outer tie rods? Or both? Do ball joints affect the stability or steering much?
I really don't know what the control arms do, how instrumental are they in steering/stability?
03-18-2013, 12:17 AM
#4
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or you drive in a place where every road is perfect and you never do anything remotely taxing in terms of cornering...
03-18-2013, 12:20 AM
#5
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Nope, they were the stock decarbons alright, I remember them. Car felt no different after installing them, I was pretty disappointed. If anything I think the suspension feels rougher.
03-18-2013, 05:38 AM
#7
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I thought if you had bad wheel bearings there would be a noise or certain signs to look for.
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03-18-2013, 09:46 AM
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Going from stock to stock and just Bilstiens.. could be a lot of things left you want to improve. What you improved was roll control. Your roll rate will feel a lot better instead of it snapping from left to right. If just daily driving, maybe you don't even notice it?
Other things that can be improved:
-Sway bars will increase the roll resistance. If the car leans one way, the opposite end of the swaybar resists the roll depending on how stiff you get. Having stiffer swaybars will not hurt the ride quality by much since the springs will still absorb the even bumps. Uneven bumps you will notice more stiffness
-16x8 inch wheels roll over too much. These cars need at least a 17x9. This combo will still ride well and the shorter sidewall will increase steering response
-If you don't mind a slightly firmer ride, a good set of springs will turn the car into an animal combined with a good set of shocks. You can stick with stock springs though with the two above combined additions and your car will still feel much better.
Other things that can be improved:
-Sway bars will increase the roll resistance. If the car leans one way, the opposite end of the swaybar resists the roll depending on how stiff you get. Having stiffer swaybars will not hurt the ride quality by much since the springs will still absorb the even bumps. Uneven bumps you will notice more stiffness
-16x8 inch wheels roll over too much. These cars need at least a 17x9. This combo will still ride well and the shorter sidewall will increase steering response
-If you don't mind a slightly firmer ride, a good set of springs will turn the car into an animal combined with a good set of shocks. You can stick with stock springs though with the two above combined additions and your car will still feel much better.
03-18-2013, 10:19 AM
#9
TECH Apprentice
Thread Starter
Going from stock to stock and just Bilstiens.. could be a lot of things left you want to improve. What you improved was roll control. Your roll rate will feel a lot better instead of it snapping from left to right. If just daily driving, maybe you don't even notice it?
Other things that can be improved:
-Sway bars will increase the roll resistance. If the car leans one way, the opposite end of the swaybar resists the roll depending on how stiff you get. Having stiffer swaybars will not hurt the ride quality by much since the springs will still absorb the even bumps. Uneven bumps you will notice more stiffness
-16x8 inch wheels roll over too much. These cars need at least a 17x9. This combo will still ride well and the shorter sidewall will increase steering response
-If you don't mind a slightly firmer ride, a good set of springs will turn the car into an animal combined with a good set of shocks. You can stick with stock springs though with the two above combined additions and your car will still feel much better.
Other things that can be improved:
-Sway bars will increase the roll resistance. If the car leans one way, the opposite end of the swaybar resists the roll depending on how stiff you get. Having stiffer swaybars will not hurt the ride quality by much since the springs will still absorb the even bumps. Uneven bumps you will notice more stiffness
-16x8 inch wheels roll over too much. These cars need at least a 17x9. This combo will still ride well and the shorter sidewall will increase steering response
-If you don't mind a slightly firmer ride, a good set of springs will turn the car into an animal combined with a good set of shocks. You can stick with stock springs though with the two above combined additions and your car will still feel much better.
03-18-2013, 11:15 AM
#10
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I got my 17x11 wheels all around from OE Wheels. They are dirt cheap and decent quality. They are pretty heavy though! So don't look to them if you are trying to save weight.
03-18-2013, 11:43 AM
#11
I have a 2002 Camaro Z28 that's pushing 97,000 miles. My car's engine and transmission still pull strong with no issues, but the suspension feels very weak and sloppy.
It has the standard 16 inch wheels with Firestone Firehawk Indy500 wide oval tires.
My main issue is the car's steering is very slow and sluggish at speed over 70MPH. At speeds over 80MPH the car feels very unstable, bounces around a lot, kind of wobbles if I tilt the wheel even the slightest, the rear end has some sway in it. I don't know what the issue is.
The tires are properly inflated, the car is in alignment. I know the car is getting old and has high miles, what parts need to be changed out to get tight steering and a stable feeling car???
It has the standard 16 inch wheels with Firestone Firehawk Indy500 wide oval tires.
My main issue is the car's steering is very slow and sluggish at speed over 70MPH. At speeds over 80MPH the car feels very unstable, bounces around a lot, kind of wobbles if I tilt the wheel even the slightest, the rear end has some sway in it. I don't know what the issue is.
The tires are properly inflated, the car is in alignment. I know the car is getting old and has high miles, what parts need to be changed out to get tight steering and a stable feeling car???
03-18-2013, 11:56 AM
#12
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When I first got my car with 51k on the clock, the suspension felt a little sloppy. I did one mod after another you can look at the mods in my garage.... the single best suspension mod I did was the koni 4/3 single adjustable shocks. they completely transformed how the car absorbs bumps and the stability on the highway is a huge increase. I tried bilsteins and while better than stock there werent like the konis. next best mod was the strano 35/22 sway bars. with those i could take a turn with a lot less lean then before. all the other suspension stuff i did was more of a compliment and made the car itself feel more solid.
03-19-2013, 03:44 AM
#16
How old are your konis...mine came on the car in 2001 and were installed by slp. They started rattling after about 50 miles. There were plenty of threads back in the day on the slp ss forum about the koni rattle on the 1le, which mine is. I even had them replaced under warranty and the new ones rattled too after a blissfully short and quieter break in. Maybe the konis these days dont rattle but they sure as hell used to.
