Bushings and driveability

[Guest buickriv63]

Hello fellows!

I was wondering how much bad bushings affect the driveability and handling of a '63 riv. I feel that my car has somewhat a harsh ride, when the pavement isn't perfectly smooth. It feels like I could feel every imperfection of the road. I tried even deflate the tires to smooth it out, but the handling is better with some pressure in the tires.

My question is, how should a '63 handle and drive, when everything is in correct working order in the suspension and bushings. Obviously bad bushings affect, but how?

[JZRIV]

While ride quality can be subjective depending on what the individual is used to, the ride in these cars isn't normally ever considered harsh.

Up front, worn ball joints, steering components, front upper and lower control arm bushings, stabilizer bar bushings and end links, strut rod bushings, and coil spring insualtors can all contribute to a harsh ride and poor handling.

Rear control arm bushings typcially don't get as abused as the fronts but depending on mileage and climate they can also either wear or dry out and lose all flexibility causing more road feel.

To top all that off, severly deteriorated and/or hardened body mount rubber can also contribute to more road feel. It is not uncommon to have more than one of the above items contributing especially if its a car that hasn't had much ttention over the years.

In a nutshell, part of the function of all these rubber components (except ball joints and steering arms) is to isolate the body/passenger compartment from road noise. If the rubber is worn, deformed, or dried out and hard, their insulating properties are reduced.

[Guest buickriv63]

Thank you Jason.

I should check all rubber under my vehicle. Those big bumps on the road aren't the issue. It is shudder and vibration that bothers me. Could be the body mount rubbers, which have dried out letting the vibration and shudder to transfer to the body.

[JZRIV]

Thank you Jason.

I should check all rubber under my vehicle. Those big bumps on the road aren't the issue. It is shudder and vibration that bothers me. Could be the body mount rubbers, which have dried out letting the vibration and shudder to transfer to the body.

Where is the shudder/vibration coming from. Can you feel it through the steering wheel or is it coming through main body of car?

Does it do it under normal driving conditions or just when you hit some rough areas on the road?

Or perhaps when braking?

You could also have a driveshaft support bearing and/or rear trasmission mount problem. Hard to diagnose this stuff over the internet.

[60FlatTop]

That car is supposed to ride and handle well enough to pry $4,333 out of a well off person's hand in 1963 dollars. Only 8 years before we had the technology to put a man on the moon.That had to be a pretty smooth ride.

What can happen over 48 years is a lot of expensive deterioration. Anything rubber cushioned, anything with wiggle room, anything with cycles of compression, anything a "mechanic" can screw up is suspect.

Mine has been completely apart. When you are punching those lower inner front bushings out you are at the starting point to making it nice.

[Guest buickriv63]

I can feel the vibration through the steering wheel, but also from the body of the car. Also, there's a shudder when accelerating at certain RPM's. This shudder can also be felt when driving a constant speed at certain RPM-range. The same shudder is present when revving the engine in park position.

Could it be the dampener causing these symptoms? Motor and transmission mounts?

The other issue is the vibration from the road. On smooth surfaces there's no shudder but when the road gets any rough, the roughness of the road transfers to the body. The problem gets worse when inflating the tires to decent pressures. Tires are Coker classics and in good shape, as far as I understand. I constantly run the tires a bit "flat" to decrease the problem (not wise, I know).

[Guest Rob J]

Don't overlook things such as shocks as well. In a car that's almost 50 years old, most rubber will need to be replaced IMO. The body mounts on my car were all completely dry rotted out. Since I'm doing a frame off, I plan on replacing most every rubber item on the car.