[HFStuart]

On typical Norfolk B roads the ride in my GTV seems pretty harsh.

I've two suspects:
The front has had powerflex wishbone bushes fitted
The ride height is a little low at about 35.5cm from the wheel centre to the arch

Of course the shocks could be knackered too but one thing at a time.

Can you get OE front bushes or would I be better replacing the whole wishbones?

 

[Mr_Caine]

Just buy new wishbones, probably no point messing around with bushes when they can be had for reasonable money. Depending on how old the shocks and springs are they could be well past their best. Overall the ride is pretty harsh.

 

[spankdanny]

If you look under the front of the car you can see the front wishbone bush and tell whether it's rubber or poly. But the ride is too harsh anyway. It's even worse in a Spider. You can hear the doors rattling about.

 

[HFStuart]

If you look under the front of the car you can see the front wishbone bush and tell whether it's rubber or poly. But the ride is too harsh anyway. It's even worse in a Spider. You can hear the doors rattling about.

I've got the receipt so I'm pretty sure they're poly, I'll check in the morning just to make sure.

When I say harsh I don't just mean a bit firm, I mean so that you can't keep your foot steady on the throttle and the car is constantly moving around so that when (ahem) pressing on you feel like you're hanging on. On B roads it would be quicker if it were softer!

 

[CGTVs]

It won't be the bushes, even if they are poly, more likely the shocks.

I've had a V6 with front Poly bushes, it probably had tha best feeling front end of any GTV I've ever owned.....it also was on Eibachs & new std shocks.

Clive

 

[HFStuart]

I have the feeling Eibachs, good though they are might be a bit much on the terrible roads up here. Superb on better surfaces I expect.

On a slightly different tack at some point the antiroll bar link changed from mounting to the wishbone to attaching to the strut and I've read that softer standard springs were used. I'm guessing this was for Ph3 cars.

Can anyone shed any light on that?

 

[WillieNillie]

I have the feeling Eibachs, good though they are might be a bit much on the terrible roads up here. Superb on better surfaces I expect.

On a slightly different tack at some point the antiroll bar link changed from mounting to the wishbone to attaching to the strut and I've read that softer standard springs were used. I'm guessing this was for Ph3 cars.

Can anyone shed any light on that?

all depends on the shocks with the springs, ive been told that the Konis are the stiffest, then bilstein then OE.

I have bilstein and eibach and they are quite nice actually, gives me enough comfort without being too jolting over speed bumps, Caught air and bottomed out multiple times thanks to bumpy road doing 60. i didnt even mind bottoming out on the car honestly, my side skirts disagree but i never slowed down because of it. Its pretty squishy, there was never any rebound/rebounce when it bottomed out. It inspired enough driver confidence in the corners to really want to push it.

For a weekend car i would think the konis is the best but for daily driving OE and bilstein is fine for me. love it

 

[CGTVs]

New original shocks & std spec springs are best.

Clive

 

[Caosmaker]

New original shocks & std spec springs are best.

Clive

100% true
But in some cases, like mine, you don´t get the original shock absorbers anymore (Spider 3.0 24V CF3) which is a shame but reality.
Had to go with Koni (yellow) which was way too hard with the Eibach springs.
I exchanged the springs with new, original ones and now its close to "its at least OK, comfort speaking" and still great if it comes to corners / the track! :thumbup:

Its a reasonable compromise for me

 

[CGTVs]

100% true
But in some cases, like mine, you don´t get the original shock absorbers anymore (Spider 3.0 24V CF3) which is a shame but reality.
Had to go with Koni (yellow) which was way too hard with the Eibach springs.
I exchanged the springs with new, original ones and now its close to "its at least OK, comfort speaking" and still great if it comes to corners / the track! :thumbup:

Its a reasonable compromise for me

They're still available.

Clive

 

[krisp]

Anti roll bar links attached to the strut casings was on V6 24V from start of production as Phase 1 in 1998.
TS and V6 turbo had links to bottom wishbone.

 

[HFStuart]

Anti roll bar links attached to the strut casings was on V6 24V from start of production as Phase 1 in 1998.
TS and V6 turbo had links to bottom wishbone.

Thanks for that.

The plan is to go with new front springs and koni orange (have worked well on other cars) as the shocks are original and the springs well pitted with rust. The rear springs are newish. I can't believe how little travel the rears have before the bump stops make contact!


First though I note some people have said tyres too soft can give a poor ride, I guess because the sidewall is doing too much of the work so I'll try putting the tyres up from 36 to 39 at the front before I spend any cash.

I'll see where I go from there.

 

[Caosmaker]

They're still available.

Clive

No, not really. Sometimes someone finds a pair in his stock...
I mean the ones for the 24v where the coupling bar is attached to the shock absorber not to the whishbone, but doesn´t matter to the topic here.

@HFStuart: Good choice, Koni is great and it comes really good with original springs.

 

[CGTVs]

No, not really. Sometimes someone finds a pair in his stock...
I mean the ones for the 24v where the coupling bar is attached to the shock absorber not to the whishbones.........

Hmmmm? Just checked with my Alfa specialist suppliers & they still had some, only 3 though from a large batch bought back in June 2014, so I bought their last pair for 'stock'.

Clive

 

[Caosmaker]

Hmmmm? Just checked with my Alfa specialist suppliers & they still had some, only 3 though from a large batch bought back in June 2014

Lucky you. Tried for half a year end of 2014 - mid 2015 to get a pair here in Germany and all over europe, nothing except one guy in the UK who wanted worth its weight in gold for them...

Now I´m almost happy with Koni yellow and the oem springs. Still too hard and once in a while I get afraid that the side mirrors will drop off but then I accelerate the Busso V6 up and I´m happy again :thumbup:

 

[Rich_wookey]

I fitted new aftermarket front wishbones with powerflex bushes & new OE springs about 5 years ago. The ball joint on the wishbones gave up after on 35k miles, the ball joints failed. So that's why folk on here don't recommend powerflex fronts. I suspect the good handling was due to the springs rather than the bushes. But as I replaced both I could not tell !

So in my opinion best to replace the wishbones with OE (assuming you can get them). The originals on my 1st spider lasted 100k miles!

And I agree with Clive re OE setup!

Rich

 

[HFStuart]

Just to update this: I now have new Lemforder wishbones and the low speed ride is noticeably better. Not necessarily softer but definitely less harsh.

Happy enough with that. New shocks are still on the shopping list though.