I have the sport suspension on my 2004 X-type that I want to change out to something more smooth. Now, mine makes weird noises. I had the front arms changed out (plastic, to my surprise) and sounds more like a clunk over roads instead of just.....well, nothing. Highway driving is absolutely fine, no issues there. It's the city driving that I don't like. I guess that I should mention that I have all of 78,000 miles on it.

 

You mention plastic, so I'm guessing the swaybar links are what you replaced. If you still have noises on rough streets in the city, I'd be looking at swaybar mount bushings as well as strut mounts.

 

Correct, plastic swaybar links. How big a job is doing the rest? I had the swaybar links done when I had new tires put on last year.
Thanks for the quick answer.

 

Boston, what size rims are you running? If you are running 19's, then there is most of your problem. If you step back to say 17's, the ride will get much smoother. Also, what pressure are you keeping the tires at. If you are keeping them pressed up to say 40-44 psi, then yes, this is going to result in a harsher ride as the tire cannot compress as easily. Try lowering the pressures down to say 35 psi in the front and 32 in the rear (unless you routinely run around with either people in the back seat or lots of stuff in the trunk). That should save you from having to do a lot of work that I think will be of little value

 

Hey Thermo, I'm already running 17's with 35psi front and back. I'm just getting this feeling that this is probably the best ride I'm going to get unless I want to go crazy and redo everything which I don't see that happening. But re-doing the bushings doesn't sound all that bad. Now the strut mounts.....that even sounds bad!

 

Boston, keep in mind that the X-types come with 2 different kinds of shocks/struts. You have the comfort ride shocks and you have the Sport shocks/struts. So, you may find that upgrading the shocks/struts may be all that you need. Granted, from member that have gone from the comfort to sport way, they didn't notice a lot of difference. Just for reference, the factory shocks are made by Bilstein. So, if you look up Bilstein, you will see their offerings. There is also a 3rd style out there, but this is aftermarket and they are referred to as heavy duty. Probably even further from what you are wanting.

The rear shocks are pretty easy. The hardest part of it all will be getting the lower bolt off. As for the front struts, not as bad as you think. What most end up doing is removing the lower arm and the bolt in the rear is what gives them the most grief. But, still not that bad. IT is all a matter of how much rust are you going to have to deal with.

 

Thanks Thermo, I think in the spring I'll have the shocks and struts re-done to the comfort ride.

 

I have recently replaced the front shocks and mounts and springs as well as anti roll bar bushes and drop links, all genuine oe.

The old top bearing and shock mounts caused a bad clunk when traveling at speed on a section of road that had a dip in it.
This caused the front suspension to momentarily go light, then compress, it was during the suspension going light that caused the top mount to clunk.

Paul.

 

So now with the information that each of you gave, the question becomes if I want to continue putting more money into this car or move on to something else. The changing of the oil pan gasket alone was over $900, then the tires, then the new trunk latch, headlights, battery, and alternator. This is really starting to add up. It's got 78,000 on it (I may have mentioned that before) so for an 04 that's still pretty good, but...........? Oh, did I mention the brakes, sway brace links, and new interior headliner?