Tires, Shocks & Noises

jpetillo

Registered User
Living in the northeast, I just took my car out for the first time. So now all the things that I ddin't do last year are looming. I need tires & shocks, but I do have some suspension noises. I'd appreacite getting some comments on all three. I have a stock '89 SC with an automatic.


The easy question fiirst, what are poeple using for tires? I have the Firestone Firehawk FZ50s. They wore out pretty fast, always spun up too easily pulling away from lights/stop signs, but seemed to grip reasonably well in corners. I've only had the car for a year, so I got it wth these tires and ahve no experience with other tires. I'm not looking to break the bank, but I want a good tire and want to have good wet weather grip. Peoples' thoughts are welcome here.

About the shocks, the fronts are gone. I still have the stock shocks all around, so they have the electronic damper adjuster. I like the auto adjust. What are prople using? Also, are they easy to change on your own? [I just saw the thread on shocks, and haven't read it fully, but will in minute. This will answer some of my questions, though.]

Now the noises, I have a one-time thump if I go slowly in reverse and turn the front wheel all the way to one side (like when backing out of a parking spot) - then there's a thud from the front end and the car shifts over, like a bad ball joint. But it never has a problem during normal driving. Does anyone know what I should be looking for?

Also, I have a creek/rattle noise when the front suspension compresses slowly and rebounds, like on rises on the road. Has anyone heard that noise with the SCs. Is it the bushings?

Please excuse all the questions. All my previous cars have been standard rear wheel drives, with regular coil over shock front/rear suspensions. So, I'm not used to some of the noises this car makes as things begine to wear.

Thanks,
John
 
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I'm not an expert, but my car does the same thump/shift thing in reverse. It will also do it moving forward under the correct conditions. More than likely it's the diagonal strut bushings. The diagonal strut is the steel rod that goes from the lower control arm to the front sub-frame. It's got bushings at both ends. If you have checked your ball joints and found them to be good, then you are looking at replacing the diag. strut bushings. I have a set laying around waiting to install. I hear they can be a PITA.

The squeaking you mentioned when rebounding from a bump sounds like the upper control arm bushings. If they are good, the squeaking won't hurt anything, but it is annoying...isn't it? Mine used to do that mostly in colder weather.
 
RustyUL said:
I'm not an expert, but my car does the same thump/shift thing in reverse. It will also do it moving forward under the correct conditions. More than likely it's the diagonal strut bushings. The diagonal strut is the steel rod that goes from the lower control arm to the front sub-frame. It's got bushings at both ends. If you have checked your ball joints and found them to be good, then you are looking at replacing the diag. strut bushings. I have a set laying around waiting to install. I hear they can be a PITA.

The squeaking you mentioned when rebounding from a bump sounds like the upper control arm bushings. If they are good, the squeaking won't hurt anything, but it is annoying...isn't it? Mine used to do that mostly in colder weather.

Rusty,

I haven't checked the ball joints. I'll take a look this weekend and chek them out with the diagonal struts bushings.

You seemed to hit the nail on the head with the upper control arm squeaking, and squeaking more in the cold. The sound does come from up high.

I can deal with the noise as long as they're not loose.

Thanks for the response.
 
I'm running Michelin All Season Symmetry's on my SC and have been very happy with them......From a stand still, they hardly break traction with my set up........ ;)

I have over 37,000 miles on them and they leave awesome black streaks in parking lots........ :D

I've had two sets of Goodyears, they wore out pretty quick and would spin with out much throttle...... :(
 
the-big-e said:
I'm running Michelin All Season Symmetry's on my SC and have been very happy with them......From a stand still, they hardly break traction with my set up........ ;)

I have over 37,000 miles on them and they leave awesome black streaks in parking lots........ :D

I've had two sets of Goodyears, they wore out pretty quick and would spin with out much throttle...... :(

Thanks, I'll check those out.
 
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