Millemiglia

I have owned my 2003 C2 Cab for two years now and over the last few month I think the ride has grown more harsh.
Especially over bridge joints.
The car is on its original springs/shocks (m030) and has gone just over 50000 miles (80000km).
So, before I start replacing things I thought I'd ask you guys where to start looking.
Suspension mounts? shocks? etc....'

C four S

are the tires low on tread ?

Millemiglia

I've been planning on replacing all four tires next spring. I'll be switching to wintertires in a month or so so it will be interesting to see if that improves the ride.
Wintertires are newer and 17" instead of 18".

Macster

Whenever there's a "sudden" change in a car's behavior it is always a good idea to have the car looked over just to make sure nothing has gone seriously wrong. A tech will get the car in the air and with a pry bar -- watched a tech do this the other day to an 85K mile Boxster in for a "noisy" suspension -- and look for loose/excessive play at various places. In the Boxster's case no looseness was found, just "dry" rubber bushings.

But I'm with C 4 S: tires. Either the tires are getting hard from the heat cycles or perhaps you had the car in for service and someone adjusted the tire pressures too high?

In some cars the tire inflation pressures given are for a fully loaded vehicle. For one lightly loaded a few PSI lower all around is better. I had been filling my Turbo's tires to the pressures listed and was a bit taken back by the ride but figured this was due to the stiff suspension and larger diameter tires. But a tech pointed out the tire pressures given were for the vehicle fully loaded. He dropped the pressures down 2 or 3 psi and the difference in the ride is night and day and the car still feels quite stable on the road at any speed.

If the alignment is good, if the struts are not leaking, I'd be hard pressed to suspect the suspension. Usually -- there could be an exception (there usually is) -- the suspension doesn't fail/wear out in a way that leads to a harsher ride.

And barring the rather rare component failure the suspension is robust.

Now a caveat is I note you live in an area where there is likely a lot of snow and such and if you drive your car in this the snow and especially if the roads are salted this can take a toll on things and some rubber bushings may (I said may) have expired.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Hurdigurdiman

Possiby tires. Correct pressure plus check the inside all round for bald spots showing the canvas. I saw that my tires had worn more on the insides than the outside as I changed them a few weeks ago. The ride now with new tires is incredibale in comparison to with worn ones.

chsu74

I would replace shocks. I found that to be the issue when I upgraded my suspension to PSS9s. Proper shocks absorb road "harshness."

wwest

No, the suspension springs absorb road "harshness", the shocks actually LIMIT the level of road "harshness" the springs might "absorb". These days shocks RARELY fail, even at 250,000 miles only one of the shocks on my '95 LS400 had failed internally.

Shocks are "spring-rate" dampers, not "absorbers". Upgrading to heavy-duty shocks always result in a more harsh ride but improve driving dynamics.

Only a "stuck" shock, or one with HARD piston rod travel, would increase "harshness."

wwest

"..bridge joints.."

Might you be confusing tire noise with harsh ride?

I went through 3 sets of different brand tires before I realized that at 8-10,000 miles the noise level for ALL went up inordinately. I discharged a full spray can of undercoat into each rear wheelwell to quieten things down but if a long trip is on the schedule I just bit the bullet and put on a new set of rear tires.

Anyone interested in buying three sets (Pirelli [factory], Bridgestone, Michelin) of rear tires with only about 10-12,000 miles accrued..?

Maybe the increased noise factor is the result of the sidewall stiffening, or less tread compliance, as miles are accrued..??

Barn996

No doubt, you've checked your tire pressures?