RazorGT

I had a sn95 v6 before this and IIRC it was a pretty smooth ride. I bought this car a few months ago (06 gt 30k miles) and it seems to be a bouncy ride no matter what speed I am going at. (like a constant up down up down up down)

Its covered under dealer warranty, but they have a 200$ deductible...

When I push down on the back of the car, its really hard and strong so I don't think the shocks are bad... I hear these kinda cars with v8s ride a bit rough, so I'm hoping nothings wrong... I noticed the bounciness when I first got it but figured it was okay, then for a couple months I didn't notice it, and now from yesterday I am noticing it again, could it be the snow on the ground? Or am I thinking too much of it? It seems like even on clean straight newly paved road, it bounces.

I drive pretty conservatively most of the time, and performance wise I only have a 87 BAMA street tune right now which I been using for about a week.

edit: also btw it was below freezing last night (like 3 degrees) and this morning (when i noticed the bouncing) could that maybe made the suspension or the tire pressure change to cause bounciness?

i wouldn't think that after 30k miles the shocks/struts would be bad right? plus its hard to push down on the back of the car...on my last mustang i kept stock shocks/struts to about 180k miles and it rode smooth as really smooth. (nothing was wrong at all with that car, I traded it in for this)

and I got new snow tires mounted and balanced about a month ago at the Ford Dealer.

05xrunner

my car is a little bouncy as well. it only has 4000 miles on it

tx_zstang

Depends on if the stock suspension is in the car or if it was lowered.

AK_Kayaker

The back being hard to push down, says nothing about shocks being good, as the shocks don't hold the car up, the springs do.
These cars are kind of bouncy as the stock shocks and struts don't have enough dampening.

ski

Check the tire pressures. Some tire dealers over pressurize them. They should be 32 psi. They can be decreased a few psi to give a slightly softer ride without sacrificing traction.

Check the tread depth on the front tires. Worn tires can cause the car to ride rough.

The snow tires can cause a rough ride if they have a hard tire compound that's designed for longer wear.

Finally, cold temps cause the rubber to become stiffer, which will also cause a rough ride.

JimC

The only time my 2006 gave me a rough bouncy ride was when I put lowering springs in the back - and didn't cut the bump stops down. Once I cut the top off the bump stops the car rode fine and the bouncy sensation went away.

So as tx_zstang asked: are you on the stock suspension or has it been lowered?

05xrunner

I am stock with 33lb air in my tires and my ride can get bouncy at times

Derf00

"Bouncy" is such a subjective word....

But, if the car feels like it's always moving up and down. Probably time to replace the shocks/struts. Those shocks/struts are over 6-7 years old.

Pushing on the car will check if the shocks/struts are dampening the car as they should. The rule of thumb is anything more than a 1 1/2 'bounces' is considered excessive.

Here's a video. It's a pretty good representation of what to look for. I watched it with the volume off (at work).


Is the car at stock ride height or lowered? If it's lowered, then it's also possible the car has lowering springs but the shocks/struts are still OEM.

If the car was dropped more than an inch the stock shocks/struts aren't valved to properly dampen the shorter suspension travel so that could cause bounciness.

RazorGT

i went to the ford dealer and they checked it out and even drove with me and said everything looks fine, i think i was overthinking it because its really not that bad at all.

question though, the dealer checked the car out but idk if they messed with the OBDII port, i have a BAMA tune, so do you think they could have messed anything up with the tune? the car seems to drive and stuff fine....if they went in to check for codes or something, that wouldnt mess with the tune right?

wcgman

Checking for codes will do nothing to your tune. They definitely ride different than your SN95 would have. There would be no reason for them to hook up to pull codes for a suspension issue as that's all metal, bushings and Hobbit guts. There aren't any sensors to be read for suspension.