Harsh ride

[TorqueEffect]

I can't see to figure out what is causing such a rough ride.

I have new KYB struts all around, all should be well broken in by now, newish lower control arms, new tie-rods, poly swaybar to frame bushings, and Aspire rear springs, but they don't seem to be any rougher than the stock springs with bad struts.

Any significant bump is extremely embarrassing when I have passengers in the car because it is so harsh, and the bump reverbs through the body of the car making a loud BANG noise through the body work. Anyone else have this problem? Any way I could fix this?

[WmWatt]

Stand on the bumper and jump (bounce) up and down.
If it's reall stiff that would be the shocks or springs.
When I tried Rio struts (shocks and springs) on the front it not only raised the front end but was stiff as well.
Good luck with it.

[TominMO]

What size tires? Passengers in rear or front?

One thing that might help is getting high-quality bump stops like the KYB SB118, especially on the rear. $14 at Rock Auto, and they come with excellent plastic bellows to protect the strut shaft. I mention this because with extra weight in the back, your struts may be bottoming out; or the tires are hitting the top of the wheel well. I doubt your problem is in the front. At Rock Auto, just do a search for SB118 and it'll pop up.

If you go with the stiffer-damped Rio front struts, cut one coil at the bottom of the stock Festy springs to bring the ride height back down.

[Pu241]

I'd recommend rechecking the strut nuts front and back.
If not snug, they will have enough slack to move and make noise.
Especially, if you tighten them up while the car was on stands.
With a load on, off stands, the assembly compresses and more thread is available to tighten them.

[TominMO]

I'd recommend rechecking the strut nuts front and back.
If not snug, they will have enough slack to move and make noise.
Especially, if you tighten them up while the car was on stands.
With a load on, off stands, the assembly compresses and more thread is available to tighten them.

Also a very good point. Attention to detail!

[Movin]

Try dropping tire pressure to 15 lbs..don't leave it there just try it. Maybe the tires are to stiff a sidewall for your preference.

[william]

How rusty is your car lol.
Call me crazy but I just swapped body's from ol crusty rusty to a nice solid shell same struts , spring blown bump stops everything.
Rides way nicer I can't explain it but it dose.

[TorqueEffect]

Yeah, I typically run about 40PSI for gas mileage, maybe I should drop it to 30 PSI and see how much better it rides.

The car is pretty rusty down the pinch welds, and the body does have 324k miles on it.