How to tell shock vs torsion bar problems?

[jwakil]

My 83SC seems to handle big bumps or dips pretty well, but when I hit a small bump, like the light reflectors that separates lanes, I feel a jarring as if the tire had no suspension. Is this indicative of worn out shocks or torsion bars? How do you know which is going bad? It also feels very unstable if I quickly turn the wheel left and right while on the highway, but quite stable if I make a hard one direction turn.

[steely]

Hi,

Can you provide your current mileage and whether or not your front end suspension was ever refreshed?

If you search, I believe there is a test for the shocks/struts, but it may be safe to say the strut cartridges are due (~>60K miles?) - as well as the control arm bushings (rubber) that isolate the torsion bars. They flatten and the TBs may touch the control arm robbing you of some suspension. (same for rear btw)

I may be way off base (zero sleep), but the jarring leads me to the bushings and the stability to both them and the struts. You can always get bigger tb's but I'd wait until you see them if the bushings route is pursued.

I did rear shocks and from struts cartridges incrementally over the past 2 yrs (I'm new) and now I am preparing to do the front bushings this fall.

hope this helps somewhat.

[Superman]

Almost every SC out there needs new suspension bushings. Someone who knows what to look for can identify worn spring plate bushings just by looking at them.

[Peter Zimmermann]

Originally Posted by jwakil

My 83SC seems to handle big bumps or dips pretty well, but when I hit a small bump, like the light reflectors that separates lanes, I feel a jarring as if the tire had no suspension. Is this indicative of worn out shocks or torsion bars? How do you know which is going bad? It also feels very unstable if I quickly turn the wheel left and right while on the highway, but quite stable if I make a hard one direction turn.

Are your shocks/struts green, red or black?

[ZOA NOM]

+1 on the bushings. Look at the junction of the spring plate and torsion bar. Where the T-bar cover sits inside the spring plate cover, the gap should be the same all the way around the circumference of the T-bar bushing. If the top is squished so the covers are touching, it's time to replace the bushings.

[ZOA NOM]

here's a pic of the t-bar on mine. not touching yet, but I should consider changing soon.

[aldente295]

Is there a parts list somewhere of the basic set of bushings you should renew? I've often thought about delving into this, but get a bit daunted when I start reading threads where 'everything' has been replaced... I'd like to replace the normal wear items, without going too far down the path of 'while you're in there'...

Though maybe my strut inserts... uh oh, here we go...

[RWebb]

Alan - look at post #7 for a diagram:

Yet Another Boring Rgruppe Car – Part II, Suspension

[RSTarga]

Check out the elephant racing rubber bushings. I did them on my car about a year ago and the difference was substantial. Also how old are your tires?

[wdfifteen]

+1 on how to tell if your rear bushings are shot. Evaluating the fronts isn't so straightforward.

The picture below shows what my front bushings looked like from under the car. They were still pliable, but were cracked and seemed to have shrunken.



After getting the control arm out of the car so I could see the other side, the bushings looked a lot worse. As you can see from the photo below, they had deformed so much the torsion bar was rubbing on the control arm tube. My car had a harsh ride and the suspension had a loose, sloppy feel to it.




After cleaning everything up, it was obvious the bushings had been allowing the bars to rub on the control arm tube for quite a while. The groove cut in the bar is about .002" deep.



I put OEM style bushings from Elephant racing in. They sell a kit with the proper tool and everything. The job took about 3 hours for the first side and maybe one hour for the second one. I can't tell you what just replacing the bushings would have changed, since this project included new bars of course, plus a new ball joint, turbo tie rods, and new anti-roll bar bushings up front and new spring plate and roll bar bushings in back. The difference in handling and ride is dramatic. Someone here said every SC needs suspension bushings. I would agree with that. The bushings dry out and deform due to age, not mileage. My car is 22 yrs old, 88k miles.

[Hotwatermusic]

Dang, using the previously posted spring plate bushing picture as a guide, I would say the technical term for the current state of my SB bushings is "freaking shot". Elephant racing I believe someone mentioned earlier? I am about to break them off a serious piece of paycheck.

[jwakil]

Thanks. I think my front shocks have been replaced recently. They are the black Boges. Based on the descriptions from others and symptoms, I think the bushings are probably whats causing the jarring effect from small bumps. Metal to metal contact in a high frequency motion definitely sounds like a reasonable cause.