Rough ride

[monepit]

Sounds like I might have to spend some bucks on shocks. I will check it out.
Thanks for the info.

If you find one bad I found them on ebay for $566 each. Not a pittance but a lot less than the dealer. Took me about an hour to replace. Very easy job.

 

[DanF]

GM Parts Direct: Your direct source for Genuine GM Parts $540 for rear shocks and $510 for front

 

[steve05]

check the front and rear spring adjusting bolts, two of mine broke in rear and ride was terrible,,if this is the problem you should see the car much lower

 

[airmike]

check the front and rear spring adjusting bolts, two of mine broke in rear and ride was terrible,,if this is the problem you should see the car much lower

Any chance you have a picture of said bolts? or maybe a detailed description of the location.

 

[Stella]

Any chance you have a picture of said bolts? or maybe a detailed description of the location.

The xlr has traverse springs that go the width of the car. Instead of a typical coil spring in each corner of the car there is a single composite spring. One for the front, and one for the back. Best way to describe it is it's like a thick bow. At the ends of the spring there are adjustable studs with a hex rubber bumper pad at the ends. That rubber bumper is what contacts the suspension. The bolts themselves are used to fine tune "level" the car. After years of being under pressure that rubber pad can rip off the studs. Causing the spring to change the ride height a touch.
Was told you can't purchase the bolts separately from gm you have to buy a complete assy. eBay has lowering bolts for a c6 corvette which take the place of the stock bumper bolts. They also allow you to lower more than stock.

 

[GizmoQ]

My 05 xlr seems to have a rough ride ever since I bought it. Unfortunately, where I am from, there isn't another xlr to drive to compare. It seems that mine is very stiff and not a soft ride as I expected it would or should be. Almost like the shocks are heavy duty or something. Nothing is showing on the DIC to indicate any problems. Any suggestions as to what to look for. Would a Tech 2 detect what may be the problem?
Thanks for any help offered.

Larry

I hate to mention this but have you had anyone crawl under there and check to see if the factory stops are still there (they are supposed to be removed on delivery). Someone on here had your same complaint and found out these stops were still on the shocks which kept them from fully retracting.

Any chance you have a picture of said bolts? or maybe a detailed description of the location.

I guess I need to take this one given I've swapped out all my sways for ZR1s and springs for Z06. The spring is traverse (i.e., going from one wheel to the other) made of fiberglass with molded rubber central brace points and a #10 bolt with a pad on each end used to adjust the ride height.

The whole spring:


(my Z06 rear spring. Comparatively, the Z06 has less bend in it - See my Suspension Thread here)

Looking out toward the wheel from the center of the rear axle you see the spring is the wide piece on the upper right of this picture and the greasy mess below the end of it is actually the pad from the lowering bolt that someone lowered as far as it would go.




On the ends are the adjustment bolts:


The first is completely extended, the second is completely retracted. So you see there is about 2" of total adjustment available, but the OEM setting only leaves about 1 1/4" for lowering.

The OEM lowering bolt is one piece with a #10 head on one end and a rubber pad glued to the other.See the top bolt on the following picture.

The bottom bolt and pad of the above picture is the replacement HardBar lowering bolt. The Hardbar Lowering bolts are much different and gives you much more lowering capability. First, the pad is much shorter. I believe the OEM pads on the front of my car were almost 1 1/2" tall, whereas the rear pad were 1 1/4". The pad on the HardBar is a 1/2" tall. The Hardbar is also setup differently in that the bolt and pad are two pieces, making it easier to install.

What I like most about the HardBar is the head of the bolt is a #13, so I can use a bigger wrench with a longer handle and apply more moment force to turn the damn thing. What many people find out is that if they've never touched the adjusting bolt its probably fused to the spring (I had one each front and back that were fused - another reason I replaced them). If that bolt is fused a #10 socket wrench will just break either the socket or the wrench when you try to turn it. I broke three sockets trying! The instructions of all the replacements say to apply anti-seize grease annually to prevent this. If one is seized all you can do is leave it where its set or replace the whole spring and adjusting bolts.

Lastly, there is another manufacturer making lowering bolts. They look like the following picture:

My problem with these is although they have a very short pad, the top bolt is still a #10 head and easily possible to strip.




Any more questions - fire away!

 

[Sharecropper]

I just bought an '05 XLR 2 months ago and the ride is considerably rougher that when I bought it. Found this forum, just joined and found the replies interesting. My car has 58000 miles and the tires have been changed to non-run flats. I now suspect the shocks since the ride seems to be rougher on the rear wheels. I plan to inspect the shocks today. The ride is much worse than my '07 Corvette and I thought it should be much better. Thanks to all for the posts.

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

I just bought an '05 XLR 2 months ago and the ride is considerably rougher that when I bought it. Found this forum, just joined and found the replies interesting. My car has 58000 miles and the tires have been changed to non-run flats. I now suspect the shocks since the ride seems to be rougher on the rear wheels. I plan to inspect the shocks today. The ride is much worse than my '07 Corvette and I thought it should be much better. Thanks to all for the posts.

Hi Sharecropper
First off Welcome to the forum!
I bought my 2005 in March of 2011 with 53K and experienced the front drivers side felt like it was bottoming out on manholes and such, it turned out the drivers side leaked out the fluid oil. I end replacing both front, it made one a hell of difference. Note they sold from the dealer back the $1020.00 each I purchased mine from gmpartsdirect.com for $520.00 each and had then installed for $80.00! This was my problem but yours sounds different
Maybe someone else can chime in here with other suggestions. Good Luck and hope you can get it figured out so you can enjoy your new topless toy!

 

[monepit]

Mine rode horrible for a while. Found out one of my shocks had locked up. Replaced it and it is much better. Easy to check. Push on all 4 corners. If one is locked up, you'll know it.

 

[fulvi05XLR]

The first drive in my 05 brought back the feeling of driving a Corvette Check your tires run flat tires are harder.Also go to your Cadillac dealer and talk to the Service Advisors as well as techs but for the most part its a sports car with a tuned suspension.I ask my wife to describe the ride and she stated its a comfortable ride .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pure zen]

Comparing,,,,

Comparing the ride on our '05 XLR (30K mile car) to our '05 Corvette (13K mile car),,,,,the XLR rides like a dream floating on a cloud,, compared to the Vette..

Both,,,still OEM runflats

 

[AL_Jazz]

Having not driven my XLR yet, I am seriously hoping for a better ride than my Corvette. I could tell if a penny was laying heads or tails when I ran over it in my C5. Knowing these have the same type magnetic suspension as my previous STS, I have high expectations.

 

[Sharecropper]

XLR rough ride

I joined the forum a couple of weeks ago after inquiring about my '05 riding rough. Everyone on the thread mentioned run-flat tires or shocks. When I looked under the car the shocks were covered in oil and I could not press down on the car. My dealer confirmed that the shocks were bad and I just ordered 2 shocks from GMparts for 1/2 the normal price. Thanks to the posters who discussed this issue. Hopefully this will restore the softer ride.

 

[Sharecropper]

XLR rough ride

Forgot to add, the shocks today from GMpartsdirect.com are $537 for right rear and $540 for left rear. Thanks to Dan & Wendy for the link. Can't wait to get them on and see how much the ride improves.

 

[oyealiz]

Having not driven my XLR yet, I am seriously hoping for a better ride than my Corvette. I could tell if a penny was laying heads or tails when I ran over it in my C5. Knowing these have the same type magnetic suspension as my previous STS, I have high expectations.

It might also have had to do with if your c5 was lowered. The day after I bought it, I had my c6 z51 corvette lowered as far as it would go on factory bolts and had it that way for the 8 1/2 yrs I owned her. My c7 is not a z51, not lowered, and I ride smooooooth.

 

[AL_Jazz]

It might also have had to do with if your c5 was lowered. The day after I bought it, I had my c6 z51 corvette lowered as far as it would go on factory bolts and had it that way for the 8 1/2 yrs I owned her. My c7 is not a z51, not lowered, and I ride smooooooth.

Nice. I didn't have the history on the C5, so it might very possibly been previously lowered. The C7 is a gorgeous work of art..in my opinion.