Are c4 corvettes this rough riding??
 

ive changed all the shocks and everything looks good on front and rear--but the ride is so rough even small bumps in the road feel big--whats the deal has anyone else gone through this--this is my first vette and should be a pleasure-the car runs incredible and strong,,but the rough ride makes me want to gargage it!!!please help---shocks i installed were all quality shocks---thanks

C4's are known for having a rough ride. What kind of shocks did you install?

If you want a smooth ride buy a Cadilliac. :)

Rough in comparison to what vehicle? My 96 does not have the good suspension and I actually find the ride soft, but I have never been in an 84 so I couldn't say if you are getting the ride you are supposed to. What rubber are you running?

went back on with Monroes-ive used these on all my vehicles with no probs-sorry ive owned a cadilac never again-the car runs buetiful on highway-just ponds it on dips and such.

Just the nature of the beast I'am afraid. Some C4's are worse than others, an 84 will keep your chiropractor busy.

84s are the roughest riding. Shocks won't help, changing the front and rear springs will. Keep driving it and you will get used to it.

or just grow a pair. one or the other will work

The 84 Corvette, especially with the Z51 suspension, was the hardest riding Corvette of the C4 generation and arguably of all time. I have an 85 with the Z51 which is a tad softer than the 84 but still rides firm. I just happen to like it. It feels like a sports car, rough and ready. The later C4's may be more to your liking. They ride alot smoother. I actually prefer the early C4 ride with Z51.

Wonder if the later springs can be swapped in as they are softer.. My 89 was stiff as a board, 90 totally the opposite.

You ever seen that top gear video that makes fun of the corvette?

"Americans think that making a sports car is simply taking a regular car and removing all the suspension. That way when hitting even the smallest pebble in the road, all the bones in your leg will instantly shatter"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu9H7KMlYNQ


-- Joe

:iagree: :thumbs:

The 84 had a pretty stiff base suspension even without the optional Z51 preformance suspension package. And yet about half of the total production run of 84 Vettes had that optional suspension :crazy:

Here's a link to table that shows frotn and rear spring rates. You can see that the 85 car had much lower spring rates and it wasn't until 1989 before the Z51 springs got stiff again.

You could swap out the 84 springs and install 85 or 86 springs, but that can be pricey.

When I switched from the Goodyear Gatorbacks to a set of Kuhmos, the ride improved considerably, along with the wet performance. The Kuhmo sidewalls are not as stiff as the Goodyears. If there's a downside, it's that the turn-in isn't quite as crisp, but it's not a huge difference. Also, the Kuhmos were about $400, compared to almost $1000, for the Goodyears. Overall, love the kuhmos.

According to my corvette book the 84 ride was so stiff and they had so many complaints that they changed it in 85 to a softer ride and it stayed the same until 89 when they changed it again to ride somewhere between a standard and a Z-51 ride, plus they put on heavier anti sway bars.

Coming from another one of the 'ex-Colonies' - and we still are stuck with their Queen!- Canadians have long experience with insufferable Brit smarminess! However, being an original owner of an 86 C4 coupe, Z51 to boot!, I have to admit those videos made some uncomfortable(LOL!) truths about our cars. Some unfairly, IMO! But nevermind, I still am planning on a new C6, or C7? - sometime soon! Cheers.

Heh. I know its more fun than anything, but like you said their are some truths to it. Like when you hit a pothole on the highway, and you wonder if the fiberglass panels are still attached to the car.

-- Joe

This may not be the case with most Corvettes but I did an amusing thing one time. One of the times when I had the rear suspension apart we put the rear sway bar in backwards. btw - It fits rather nicely that way.

All of a sudden I had no rear suspension at all. When I went over the slightest bump the bar would hit the chassis and I effectively had no suspension. Talk about rough.

I was running Summit Point that weekend and the car was just plain ugly. We played with every conceivable component on the car - except for the rear sway bar.

A week later we noticed some shiny parts on the frame that matched the shiny parts on the rear sway bar. That was one of the "Oh Sh*T" moments.

Ever since that week I now paint RT. and LEFT on any sway bar I remove. I'll never make that mistake again.

I now get to make brand new mistakes.

Richard Newton

101 Projects for Your Corvette 1984-1996

Wheel and Tire Performance Handbook

First things first, there are no "quality" Monroe shocks IMO. That aside, they should give you the softest ride of any shocks you can find.
Secondly, there is no way to make your car ride soft short of a suspension replacement. It's a like or lump it situation. BTW I have a 1989 Z51 with Bilsteins and I like the ride. When I want soft I drive the Escalade.

84 Vettes are rough riding cars......as with any first year of a new generation vehicle, bugs need to be worked out along the way..the car was originally designed to be competitor for foreign sports cars much pricier; GM may have over-shot the mark trying to get handling a top priority for the new Vette. It didn't take long for the CFI to go as well as the hard suspension.......that's why the 84 is a good "Corvette value" for the first time Vette owner.