Ride/Handling Improvement Options

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snowcruiser

snowcruiser

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Helping some family play musical cars and need some opinions on improving the handling on an LC100.

Car in question is a 2002 LC100 with 185k on the clock. Driven primarily on very windy paved roads with lots of undulating hills. Rarely driven off-road and have no need to lift etc. I'd say most of the miles on this thing are from "spritied" drivers on twisty, bumpy paved roads.

I've driven this vehicle myself only occasionally over the last 10 years and 160k but have noticed a looser feel and what I'd say is a diving sensation in last few years, especially when braking. We put Bilstein Sport shocks on several years ago to improve the ride which worked to some extent but the overall ride is just not as tight as it once was, then again, I drive an 80.

I'm thinking the springs may be tired and sway bar bushings could be worn out. Looking for opinions on how to improve the road handling on this broken in machine.

Thanks!
 
Sway bar bushings are relatively inexpensive and straightforward to change. Have the front wheel bearings been serviced? Also, the steering rack "D" bushing can be replaced pretty easily.

When my LC starts to feel "off" , the first thing I do is check tire pressure. A few pounds difference per tire really affects it. I guess it's the AWD.
Good luck.

Sorry I don't have links. It's dinner time and I'm getting dirty looks.
 
I recently replaced my front Bilstein 4600 with OME and couldn't be happier. Ride, corner and overall behaviors are much improved. The 4600's only had around 24k or so easy miles on them but no comparison to Old Man Emu.

Between that and replacing my D bushing, these little things made a big difference.


...via IH8MUD app
 
At 12 years old and 185k, even for a road only vehicle, I'd say many of the suspension bushings have degraded. Some a little, some a lot. But all of it adds up. If you want that "new" feeling, you'll have to change the bushings. Also, the steering rack bushings, the inner/outer tie rods or the entire rack itself.

As you've already said, springs/t-bars and shocks do wear over time and use. If you wanted to improve road handling over stock, then I'd consider going aftermarket on these items. Maybe an aftermarket sway bar too (whiteline comes to mind). OME t-bar would work... set to stock height. For the rear, give Christo a call and see what uprated springs he suggests that provide no/little lift. And you'll need shocks to match.

It would definitely be expensive to change all those parts so you'll have to to do your own cost analysis. But put your 100 on a lift and inspect every bushing/ball joint using a pry bar and see which ones need to be changed the most.
 
Let someone more experienced as a mechanic than you drive it. It's enticing to try and do a spot analysis based on your own driving experience to guess at what a the precise problem might be. I dragged my feet thinking it was just my suspension on mine that needed upgrade, when it turned out I needed a new steering rack as well. Not bad news, but I would have fixed it sooner had I really known it would have made that drastic difference.(140k miles)

But generally, my gut feeling is that two very big determinants of ride quality in these vehicles is steering rack replacement and front shocks/springs..Having replaced both of mine recently, my vehicle rides like new and I enjoy it very much...

But as a non-mechanic, the only tip that something was amiss was a slight sag and a leaky rack...everything seems relative when you drive your vehicle frequently..I'm sure a racing quality mechanic would have jumped in and giving me a list..
 
Mine is sort of leaning more than it should and is not as tight as it once was as should be expected at 180k miles.

Is there a list of bushings somewhere I could review? If they're not too terribly difficult to change I would give this a shot for sure.
 
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