Shock absorbers or springs?

[AleeJericho]

Hi all,

I have a situation with my Mustang 2006 V6. When I go ever humps, the car seems to 'fall right down' as if no springs at all. On high speeds, car is unable to cushion minor bumps. Could it mean the springs or absorbers or both?

and whats the difference in feel between aftermarket absorbers VS OEM absorbers?

Thanks

[Gaurav]

Prime suspect with given your explanation, seems shock absorber as they aren't doing their job to absorb the shocks.

Springs do sag, but quiet rarely and you can fully identify that point after changing the shock absorber. If you suspect that ride height has lower than before then springs must have sagged.

I had a 2012 Mustang GT with stock setup and it was pretty reasonably setup at stock suspension for normal road usage and daily driving. If I really wanted to push the car for corners I would have upgraded the suspension, so choice is yours again to stick to OEM (if its daily driver) or upgrade if you like to do roundabout and hairpin bend at high speed.

[desertdude]

Quick way to check if your shocks have gone the way of the dodo is push the trunk down and try to bounce the car like a basketball. 

If it bounces easily that means shocks are toast.

Vice versa to check fronts

[AleeJericho]

On 2/1/2020 at 1:12 AM, Gaurav said:

Prime suspect with given your explanation, seems shock absorber as they aren't doing their job to absorb the shocks.

Springs do sag, but quiet rarely and you can fully identify that point after changing the shock absorber. If you suspect that ride height has lower than before then springs must have sagged.

I had a 2012 Mustang GT with stock setup and it was pretty reasonably setup at stock suspension for normal road usage and daily driving. If I really wanted to push the car for corners I would have upgraded the suspension, so choice is yours again to stick to OEM (if its daily driver) or upgrade if you like to do roundabout and hairpin bend at high speed.

Okay so I replaced the Shock Absorbers Original Ford ones (which were insanely expensive 550 each). The humps feel much better BUT the drive is still NOT how i desired. I wanted the ride to be butter smooth exactly how it used to be about 9 years back when i bought it (used but in immaculate condition). Can SPRING stiffen overtime? Or could it be rear shocks now? Yes, rear shocks are slightly hard but they're still good as per mechanics. Im not impressed.

[Frederic]

3 minutes ago, AleeJericho said:

Okay so I replaced the Shock Absorbers Original Ford ones (which were insanely expensive 550 each). The humps feel much better BUT the drive is still NOT how i desired. I wanted the ride to be butter smooth exactly how it used to be about 9 years back when i bought it (used but in immaculate condition). Can SPRING stiffen overtime? Or could it be rear shocks now? Yes, rear shocks are slightly hard but they're still good as per mechanics. Im not impressed.

Springs do not stiffen overtime, it will be the opposite. Did you get all bushings checked ? If these are worn your car will also be very wobbly and unstable. Maybe this is the phenomenon you are facing.

[Gaurav]

37 minutes ago, AleeJericho said:

Okay so I replaced the Shock Absorbers Original Ford ones (which were insanely expensive 550 each). The humps feel much better BUT the drive is still NOT how i desired. I wanted the ride to be butter smooth exactly how it used to be about 9 years back when i bought it (used but in immaculate condition). Can SPRING stiffen overtime? Or could it be rear shocks now? Yes, rear shocks are slightly hard but they're still good as per mechanics. Im not impressed.

I agree with @Frederic that spring get sag overtime and not stiff. Secondly springs have less to do with ride smoothness, as that is the shock absorber job unless you were using the heavy duty stiff springs from previous owner in first place.

Why do you suspect that rear shocks are stiff, because that is first telltale sign of shocks failing either they get too stiff or go full soft and make ride bouncy. Better get a second opinion on rear shocks from another mechanic and also do the bounce test by yourself in front (with new shocks) and rear (with older shocks). They both should be reasonable same or front should be a tad less bouncy than rear, due to the engine weight in front.

Even if you have to change rear shocks, don't feel bad as usually that's a best practice to change all 4 shocks in one go to have better ride quality and distributed load for all shocks than old ones getting more beating than the new ones.

[desertdude]

Well if your ride is still bottoming out then the springs are also toast. Springs are 14 yrs old they would probably be saggy by now

[Gaurav]

46 minutes ago, desertdude said:

Well if your ride is still bottoming out then the springs are also toast. Springs are 14 yrs old they would probably be saggy by now

Only if its sagging, but OP mentioned stiff.....!

2 hours ago, AleeJericho said:

Can SPRING stiffen overtime?

 

[desertdude]

2 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Only if its sagging, but OP mentioned stiff.....!

 

Well no disrespect a lot of people misdiagnose symptoms or convey them inaacurately. Could be he feels they are stiffer now because after driving for a long time on blown shocks  he is riding on shocks that actually work.

[AleeJericho]

23 hours ago, Gaurav said:

I agree with @Frederic that spring get sag overtime and not stiff. Secondly springs have less to do with ride smoothness, as that is the shock absorber job unless you were using the heavy duty stiff springs from previous owner in first place.

Why do you suspect that rear shocks are stiff, because that is first telltale sign of shocks failing either they get too stiff or go full soft and make ride bouncy. Better get a second opinion on rear shocks from another mechanic and also do the bounce test by yourself in front (with new shocks) and rear (with older shocks). They both should be reasonable same or front should be a tad less bouncy than rear, due to the engine weight in front.

Even if you have to change rear shocks, don't feel bad as usually that's a best practice to change all 4 shocks in one go to have better ride quality and distributed load for all shocks than old ones getting more beating than the new ones.

Bushes were ruled out to be OK during shocks replacement (through i asked how can u tell to which he said dnt worry there fine). Ride height never dropped it's same as ever been. And since u guys saying springs never stiffen overtime then rear shocks and bushes are left to be ruled out. I did bouncing. The front end bounces much softly (as my liking) than the rear, although it's still bouncing well as per other's standards but not mine. And trust me its not 'in my head'. The ride used to be really good (like never felt any impacts in cabin)  back in the days.