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  #1  
Old 04-02-2010, 11:57 PM
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Any way to get a smoother ride?

I changed out the front struts with Bilstein comforts. I was tempted to go with the heavy duty's, but a few people on the forum said they were regretting it. I'm driving just regular city streets.

I feel every divot in the pavement with a thud. I had hoped that I would get a much smoother ride, but that's not the case. I talked to one tire guy, and he said you want that, and you need that in a good shock.

I did not change out the hard rubber strut brackets. They were in pretty good shape, though they are likely the originals, so that's 19 years old, but I doubt that makes a difference. I had the car aligned afterwards, and he said that my (?) tie rods or whatever were in good shape.

Not sure if there's anything else I could have done. I'm assuming the heavy duty's would be worse with these kind of roads.

Thanks,

Jeff 1991 300d, 147k


Last edited by jbach36; 04-03-2010 at 12:13 AM. Reason: incomplete
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Old 04-03-2010, 08:38 AM
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I just did the Bilstein comforts on my 240D. After I first put them on I found the ride to be pretty terrible but it seemed like after 1K miles or so the ride is now much much better, pretty good in fact. Could be that I have just become used to them now but I do think they got a lot better with some miles on them.
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  #3  
Old 04-03-2010, 09:09 AM
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If you want a smoother ride, you may need to drop your tire pressures a bit. The struts/shocks do take 1 or 2k miles to soften. Take the car on a couple of 100 mile trip on some rough roads at speed, that may soften thing a a bit.
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  #4  
Old 04-03-2010, 09:41 AM
92 300D 2.5L OBK #59
 
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I just had my 92 done. Struts and Springs. Man what a new riding car. You may want to double check your tire pressures. I ran my on the high side now running at recommended settings. Really is a new riding vehicle.
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Old 04-05-2010, 10:49 PM
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New springs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bobodaclown View Post
I just had my 92 done. Struts and Springs. Man what a new riding car. You may want to double check your tire pressures. I ran my on the high side now running at recommended settings. Really is a new riding vehicle.
How much were new springs? I wonder how much of a nice ride, is attributed to springs. Maybe 10%, 30%, etc. Be interesting to find out.

jeff
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Old 04-06-2010, 12:04 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by layback40 View Post
If you want a smoother ride, you may need to drop your tire pressures a bit. The struts/shocks do take 1 or 2k miles to soften. Take the car on a couple of 100 mile trip on some rough roads at speed, that may soften thing a a bit.
And at least after all that driving you'll be used to them

My 1993 has bilstein shocks and the 1991 seems to have the original. The 1993 is definitely stiffer and feels a bit unnatural so I know exactly what you're talking about. I think going fast over bumps the stiffness is helpful. So drive it like hell.
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Old 04-06-2010, 12:22 AM
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one thing to do if your ride is too stiff is to get springs that aren't as stiff. on the 300td wagons, the rear springs were mated to sls struts, and were softer than regular non-sls springs. this goes for any spring meant to go on the same corner as an sls shock.
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Old 04-06-2010, 12:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbach36 View Post
How much were new springs? I wonder how much of a nice ride, is attributed to springs. Maybe 10%, 30%, etc. Be interesting to find out.

jeff
you can't really attribute a final percentage to any one component of the suspension since they all act in conjunction with one another to give you a final ride feel. a small change in one component can throw the 'feel' off the entire ride
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Old 04-06-2010, 06:42 AM
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Are you running stock size wheels and tires? How old are the tires?
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Old 04-06-2010, 12:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by t walgamuth View Post
Are you running stock size wheels and tires? How old are the tires?
... and what brand? Some ride like a Corvette, some much more refined.

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