Got a question about how my ride feels. Since I put the new tires on it seems like you feel every inperfection in the road surface. I'm trying to figure out if this is caused by the toughness of the tread, because the tires are an 80,000 miles tread,or if the shocks are just going bad. The car doesn't do any bobing or weaving so shocks feel firm, mileage is 58,000 and these are the originals. I thinkthe original Conti tires were a softer tire although they weren't very good in the wear department and had to be replaced due tomany pot hole hits,but the ride didn't seemas harsh. It's not so bad that I can't live with it, I just trying to determine if I need new shocks.

 

Have you checked the tire pressure in your tires? I've often found that tire shops put an arbitrary amount of air in the tires when mounting them. They could have over inflated them, which would definitely give a harsher ride.

Check tire pressure first thing in the morning, as it will be higher later in the day and after having driven it.

 

what kind of tires did you put on?

 

Running factory recommended pressure.

 

Goodyear 205/55R16 89H ASSURANCE Triple Tread VSB

 

How many miles do you have on the new tires? It is customary for them to feel a little squishy and be a little noisy until they are "broken in"...most manufacturers will even tell you this in the product literature. Typically there can be anywhere from a 500 mile to 2,000 mile break in period for tires.
You were going from a set of tires that had probably minimal tread depth left, and therefore probably stuck to dry roads very well - you are just the opposite now.

 

They've just over a thousand miles on them now.
In the past I've gone from well used tires to new many times but never had this hard feel. These tires are highly rated by consumer mag and on a 1-10 scale rated 10 dry traction, 10 wet traction, 10 snow traction, 8 ride comfort and 8 quite ride.
When you cross bridge expansion joints or even the uneven badly donejoints in concrete paving you get a definite bang that's passedright through thesuspension, enough so that I've had the wife ask, What's that?.
On smoother road surfaces the ride is good, there is some road noise but you can only hear it if you open a window and it's simply a singingsound. The ride of the car is firm no front dive on stopping or leaning on curves etc. So I'm thinking the shocks are still good. I've had shocks and struts in the past go a lot more miles than 58,000 miles. I think it was around 125,000 miles that I replaced the originalson my "89 Olds.
I guess it's probably my original thought,just the harder compound in the tread to make them last for 80,000 miles that's making this happen.

Sorry, just a senior moment, an old man rambling.

 

Maybe you should check your control arm bushings and swaybar bushings for wear. Sounds like your shocks are ok.

Did this change in suspension occur exactly when the new tires were fitted?

I would still experiment with tire pressure settings. I have found that my summer tires and winter tires each operate better at different pressure settings. Maybe dial it down a little to the "comfort" setting in the manual ( around 30psi).

 

I don't think there's any unusual wear in any suspension parts. It drives OK. There aren't any unusal noises coming from under the car.
I really only started noticing the harshness of the ride after installing the new tires. I checked the pressure today and they were all 32psi just what the manual calls for. My 2003 manual only gives 2 pressures for 16",under 100mph 32psi front and rear, over 100mph 38 front 35 rear. Then there's a note that if tires not on Jag approved list to add 2psi which to me doesn't make much sense.
I think I'm going to stop by the shop where I bought them and see if they've had any complaints of this type on these particular tires. It's funny the day I had them put on an old school buddy was at the shop having some work done and whenI told him what tires I was getting he said he had them onhis car and thought they were great.
I didn't really think too much about the ride at first because our streets locally aren't the greatest. It really came to me when we went to Offutt AFB last month and experienced different road surfaces at highway speeds. Then the harshness really stood out on the less than good surfaces.

 

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out. Who knows, maybe you got a lemon tire that is ruining the whole setup. Seems odd that it would ride so rough with 16's and a high quality tire. You still might be in the break-in period for the tires...dunno....

 

Has to be the tires..your friend prolly has a different car with softer suspension..the X is pretty stout and the tire type can make a big difference in the ride..

Good luck

 

That's what I'm thinking too. That possibly these tires just aren't compatible the the Jag suspension. Too bad I didn't make a trip out of town so I would have seen how they were on poor road surfaces at highway speeds because the place I bought them has a 30 day satisfaction return policy. Now with colder tempratures they are showihg more of their bad side in town too. Oh well, maybe they'll get better with more miles on them. At least I can hope. I really like the tread design and they are rated high for wet, dry and snow that's what the triple tread designation is for,so I guess there is some trade off for that.

 

i keep hearing how those Kumo platinum tires are a great tire for the price...

 

I got the Kumho ACSTA ASX..An excellent tire, in fact better than any Michelins ever had...

 

Running Hankook Ventus V4 ESfor summer skins. Great tire for decent price. With the winters around here, I run dedicated snows on OEM rims. Let's face it, the X is a noiser car than it should be in regard to road noise, but I have found that the summer tires are much quieter than the winters. I won't pretend to know why.

 

I think I'm going to try dropping the pressure from 32psi to 30psi and see what that does. I'm definitely not goiing to increase pressure as the Jag manual suggests for tires not on their approved list (whatever that is).
I remember now how my '67 Charger reacted when I put the new Kelly radials on and set the pressure @ 32psi. It rode almost like the Jag is doing now. The factory specs for the Charger was (ofcourse that was for bias tires) all loads to max 28 front and 30 rear, for 4 pax or less 24 front and 26 rear. I lowered it to 30 front and rear and it now rides just fine.
So I guess I'll try30psi with the Jag and see how it reacts.

 

Hey green, that is just what I was going to recommend to you...dropping to 29 or 30 psi. You should feel a rdie difference, with little tread wear compromise. I wanted to reply so I could get notified of your outcome.

 

Definitely let us know what the deal was. My rear suspension has been making a rather loud clunking noise. I wouldn't say the ride is harsh and it really only happens when I hit bigger bumps. It's not disturbingly loud, but I can hear it over the music I'm playing (which isn't blasting by any means) yet still I can hear this clunk every now and then. However my only comparison is my friends 04 Audi A4 ride which is silent from start to finish. Is it even fair to compare the X's ride to the ride of an Audi that's 2 years newer? I mean it's relatively quiet which tells me that the struts must be okay, and it doesn't sound as horrible as a strut bottoming out. Right now I'm running 225/45/17's on the stock sport rims of an 02X. The tires are Yokohama and I would say definitely stiffer than the conti's that came with the car. My other issue is that I only drove on the conti's on the interstate getting the car home and then had to replace the tires before I did much of any driving because they were horribly bald. Any advice would be good, but if you all still think it's just the tire's then I guess I'll just suffer through for now seeing as I just bought 2 new one's and fresh rubber isn't the cheapest thing out there.

 

Your issue sounds more related to rear control arm bushings, which are a known replacement item.

 

ask me how I know this.....
but the real test for those control arm bushings is a brisk pace on a curved on-ramp..... []