Want a smoother ride, Is this possible? Options

[Perry Kiehl Clone]

I'll 2nd bushing replacement, but I disagree on the needle bearings in place of the rubber bushings. The rubber bushing are compliant and flex. While the needle bearings work smoother, they have zero flex and require more maintenance.

I'd set the ride height to stock specs, which is much higher than most 914's end up. The higher the ride the more your shocks and springs will actually work, but to most of us it looks a bit funky. Just make sure the car sits at least 1/4" lower in the front.

[Hank914]

"When asked about tires it was most likely to determine what size tires you have, a taller sidewall will eat up quite a few bumps, whereas a small/stiff sidewall will cause for quite a bit more road feel."

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[Andyrew]

First check your tire pressure. If your running 40psi, drop it down to 30, if your running 30 psi try 25 but check your tires every couple thousand miles for odd wear.

Grab some bilstein or koni shocks, Adjust them to full soft.

Take out the front torsion bars and check if they are stock/stock diameter.

Replace your bushings with nice new ones. Something that gives less resistance can help, but you want to make sure they are installed properly if you put poly or stock bushings in (check for binding)

Also getting the suspension back to an appropriate ride height will help, if its lowered you might be seeing some bump steer (hit a bump, suspension arm bottoms out and steers the car) There are kits for this.

The stock suspension is pretty plush, with 65 series tires you really shouldnt be seeing much of a rough ride no matter what your suspension is..

[Ian Stott]

I run 205/60 15 Bridgestone Potenza's at 28 lbs of pressure, replaced the tired original springs with 100 lb springs and all else is stock. Drove from Chris Foley's shop in Conn. to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada in one day and was very comfortable. Got a nice compliment about the car from the State Trooper in Maine who gave me a speeding ticket! For a street car that seems like a nice setup, I will look at my bushings when I am back at Tangerine Racing and see what Chris thinks.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

[jack20]

First check your tire pressure. If your running 40psi, drop it down to 30, if your running 30 psi try 25 but check your tires every couple thousand miles for odd wear.

Grab some bilstein or koni shocks, Adjust them to full soft.

Take out the front torsion bars and check if they are stock/stock diameter.

Replace your bushings with nice new ones. Something that gives less resistance can help, but you want to make sure they are installed properly if you put poly or stock bushings in (check for binding)

Also getting the suspension back to an appropriate ride height will help, if its lowered you might be seeing some bump steer (hit a bump, suspension arm bottoms out and steers the car) There are kits for this.

The stock suspension is pretty plush, with 65 series tires you really shouldnt be seeing much of a rough ride no matter what your suspension is..

Thanks for weighing in with these tips. I'll tackle them in $$ order.

[jack20]

Thanks to everyone who responded to this post. While this is my 3rd 914, I'm 32 years between #2 and #3. I knew nothing about those cars except i loved driving them. They were fairly new and only needed oil, valves, tires and wax. Although this car is 100% original it's tired. I very much appreciate the helpful spirit of the members of this forum.
I'm enjoying this car in a whole new way.
Jack

[ConeDodger]

New suspension bushings make a world of a difference (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Like JStroud said - almost a waste of $$ to replace shocks first.

I went with an expensive needle-bearing setup. Very little friction and zero sticktion. I feel some chassis vibration because they are basically solid and unforgiving, but the car "floats" over most bumps.

I rebuilt the entire suspension on my 914 and have yet to do much engine work at all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

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I have little doubt your factory bushings are basically made of rock now. You can test this by taking the wheel off and disconnecting the shock. Then, push up on the control arm. Can't move it? That's stiction. I used Elephant Bushings and when you do that same test, you can easily and smoothly move it through it's entire range of motion. This is the point at which your shocks become relevant. Now they can actually do the job. You can't believe how they suck up road imperfections. I highly recommend them.

[Andyrew]

^ Good points. While your checking your torsion bars this is probably your next thing.

[Mike Bellis]

Oddly enough, when I added stiffer rear springs it smoothed out my harsh ride. I went from 180lb to 225lb. My front Bilstein shocks were very stiff. The stiffer rear totally changed the dynamics of the suspension.