Rough ride in a '97 d'Elegance

[Nick93SDV]

I just bought a 97 Deville with 90k miles on it. The car was meticulously maintained by the single previous owner. But compared to my 93 Sedan deVille that currently has 172k and floats like melting butter on teflon, the ride is far rougher. Small lines and cracks in the pavement are instantly transmitted to the car with both noise and jarring. It's almost as if the tires are made out of hard plastic rather than soft rubber (again, compared to the 93). The level of the car seems fine, whether loaded or unloaded, and there are no squeeks, groans, or other signs of suspension problems when rolling along on nice blacktop. It takes speed bumps OK (no residual bouncing or anything like that) but I really feel even the tiniest potholes.

Is this simply a difference in design as a result of Cadillac catering to a market segment that wanted both luxury AND the tight feel and road feedback of European sedans? Could it be a function of the age of the tires? The PO bought a set of Michelins 225-60-16 back in March of 2000 when the car had only 37k miles on it (they still have a lot of tread due to the PO rotating the tires religiously every 4.5k miles or so). Or is this a sign that the struts\shocks in the front need to be replaced?


Thanks for any advice!

Nick
nickpace@rand.org

[David Jenison]

Have you read up on poor ride and suspension noises on the forum? Are there any codes that may indicate suspension problems? There are several threads that may help shed some light on a potential problem.
Have you had it on a lift to inspect the struts?

DAVE
'97 Concours

[Nick93SDV]

All codes are clear so there is nothing the system is noting as out of the ordinary. I haven't dug too deep into this yet because I first want to make sure I'm actually feeling something odd rather than simply experiencing the normal difference between the engineered-in rides in a '93 and '97. I'll check the threads though. As for inspecting the struts, I'd have a shop do that and as you know, letting someone with an economic interest in the situation tell you what's wrong can be expensive, unless you have some independent data to work with.

Thanks for the ideas!

Nick

[jas386]

my experience with michelins is they get hard way before the tread wears off. those tires are almost 7 years old, and probably if you look close at them youll see little cracks or pieces of them flaking off. my van came with michelins and it rode like crap till i put some goodyears on it.