I don’t know about you guys but I am not impressed with the ride quality of the ’06 Mustang I have. The car’s front end clunks when going over imperfections in the road. Is this normal? I’m wondering if it is the 28,000 miles on the front struts or the BFG KDWS tires that are wearing out. I can’t imagine that the springs are tired. I just think the ride is a little harsh or rough for an OEM setup considering that the handling isn’t that great ( it’s good not great).

Just wondering what you guys think and what your impressions are compared to other vehicles you have driven in the past.

not to hate, but you're driving a mustang, not a luxury vehicle. i'm not trying to flame, but if it bugs you that much, get a set of d-specs and set em soft; you'll notice a difference. but the bottom line is that a muscle car should feel like a muscle car, imho.

Like they told me at the dealership when I bought the car... The suspension is very stiff... if you don't like stiff suspension, you can get softer.. its for performance was their claim..

No one single thing is to blame.

A lot of it is in the tires. KDWS's aren't a particularly good-riding tire (that they rank 15th for comfort out of 19 UHP All-Season tires ought to say something). They're not entirely bad tires, but better tires perhaps could have selected. Then again, when you buy tires a hundred thousand or a million at a time you tend to sharpen the expense-accounting pencil.

Some is from having wheels that are relatively wide for the tires. It's a great thing for handling response and good general cornering behavior, but that takes a little more compliance out of the path between road roughness and your butt on the seat and your hands on the wheel.

It's also general consensus that the OE shock/strut damping isn't as good as it could be for normal street driving (at least). Too much bump damping makes for a slightly harsh ride over small road imperfections. It does quicken the steering response, and that's probably what Ford was after given the car's 3500# curb weight and its visual ties to the earlier cars that were several hundred lbs lighter.


Norm

The noise you're hearing are most likely the upper strut mounts. You can get them replaced for free
under TSB 07-18-02. Another area you need to watch and keep very very tight are the upper end links.
Especially on the passenger side.

Many of us member have already had this done last year and it resolves the problem.

I came from a 3000GT, so this is a luxury to me. My buddy has a 350z, I've driven vettes, etc. The mustang is prob one of the more forgiveable(sp?) sport cars I've driven. However, i have to say going over bumps still feels like a sport car; just not as bad.

But i love my seats, they really help.

Ditto on the TSB for the clunk. However, the Stang is a performance car and not designed for a luxurious ride. If the later is what you're after you definately bought the wrong car.

All-in-all, I do a lot of long distance highway and find the Stang to be quite comfortable despite it being a bit stiff. But I'm used to my SUV with stiff Bilstein's so to me, the Stang is smooth in comparison.

Read-up in the Handling section for some ideas on ways to improve the ride. But you'll find most people are looking to go stiffer or tighter than the other way.

Guys,
Thanks for all the replies and definitely no offense taken whatsoever, I appreciate the feedback. My complaint is not in the stiffness but in the hard “clunking” sound that I get which just doesn’t seem right. It's OK for it to be stiff but compliant, you know stiff but without the feeling of banging or bottoming out. And, true, I may have had the benefit of having hadsome luxury oriented cars (cadillac, BMW) that are difficult to compare to the 2006 Mustang, but I expected a bit smoother ride. And really, the best thing about the BMW and the new CTS is that they handle as well as they do butstill deliver a very comfortable ride. Firm but compliant I would say. Regardless, I don’t think I made a mistake, the car is very enjoyable as a daily driverI just want to fix or improve whatever is going on in the front suspension. The feedback you’ve given me lends me to think that theupper strutmounts and maybe theupper end linksprobably need to be inspected.

Grampa_Stang and Nuke thanks for the tip on the TSB 07-18-02. How do I handle the TSB? Just set up an appointment at the dealership for this issue??

Thanks again for the feedback guys – and those Tokico D spec’s sound interesting, but I bet they cost a bundle.

That's all I did. Call 'em up and tell them your front end is clunking and mention
the TSB. Make sure theyorder the "new" mounts, Part # 8R3Z-18183-B.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice I am going to do that. Thanks for the part#, too.


ORIGINAL: grampa_stang

That's all I did. Call 'em up and tell them your front end is clunking and mention
the TSB. Make sure theyorder the "new" mounts, Part # 8R3Z-18183-B.

Good luck.

I tell ya, I just love the way these cars drive. I've since done a makeover of my rear suspension with all the BMR parts which makes it even stiffer now and I have the annoying squeeky sounds coming from the poly bushings but its worth it to me IMO. My wife thought it was so annoying to ride in, but she fails to understand the importance of it all. I took an on ramp to the interstate at about 60 and she was impressed...she said "Man, if this was my Nissan, it would have felt like we were going to roll over." It's definately all just part of having a muscle car. I mean the suspension could be worse, but there is some softeness to it, if you think about it...GT doesstand forGrand Touring so they aren't completely straight line drivers but they are geared towards that more so than Grand Touring.

ORIGINAL: rustic2169

<snip> I mean the suspension could be worse, but there is some softeness to it, if you think about it...GT doesstand forGrand Touring so they aren't completely straight line drivers but they are geared towards that more so than Grand Touring.

It could easily have been worse - just taking the easy way out and carrying over any version ofthe Fox/SN95 triangulated 4-link rearwould have fit that description quite nicely. What's back there now is arguably the best of the simple stick axle suspensions, at least in terms of general description.

I find it interesting that several years ago (as in, pre-2005, and going back at least as far as mid-2002 that I can verify) the merits of the 3-link rear suspension and high front caster specsfor road course running and autocrossing were being discussed on another forum, mainly as individuals reworked their Fox/SN95 Mustangs for better cornering performance. Whether any S197 influence came out of any of that I'll probably never know, and will probably always wonder.


Norm
(chassis/suspension/corner carving fanatic)

The TSB repair improves the thunking DRAMATICALLY. I feel bad for thise who just put up with it assuming it's normal. Huge difference with the new strut mounts. Doesn't sound like something is loose anymore.

I currently do not have any clunking noises from the front of the car and I think that the car rides extremely well (last car was a 4-door Honda Accord).

ORIGINAL: MC Stang
I don’t know about you guys but I am not impressed with the ride quality of the ’06 Mustang I have. The car’s front end clunks when going over imperfections in the road. Is this normal? I’m wondering if it is the 28,000 miles on the front struts or the BFG KDWS tires that are wearing out. I can’t imagine that the springs are tired. I just think the ride is a little harsh or rough for an OEM setup considering that the handling isn’t that great ( it’s good not great).

Just wondering what you guys think and what your impressions are compared to other vehicles you have driven in the past.

Hi MC Stang,

No, suspension clunking noises arenot normal on this or any other stock suspended car. If you just want to fix the clunking do as others here have suggested and replace the strut bearing mounts. There isan improved part number for theS197GT's but you can also replace the stock S197GT's strut mounts with GT500 mounts and get improved steeringresponse withno increase inNVH.

If you really want to solve Mustang's your ride problem you need to replace the srtuts and rear dampers with a set of Tokico adjustable D-Spec dampers. There are two advanatages toinstalling the D-Specs for you.You can massivelyimprove your car's handling andride at the same time and you can adjust the dampening rate to match anysport springs you install later. You can also adjust yourD-specs to suit your driving conditions, mountain driving for fun? Turn them up. Long distance cruising? Turn them down for pure ridecomfort in less than 5 minutes.Norm has it right, the stock dampers are completely to blame for the poor ride and marginal control at speed. The stock dampers are much too stiff in comprssion (bump) and almost totally usless in rebound so you skitter and skip over bumpy surfaces and at high speeds have no control of the car in transitions.

Go check you tire wear pattern. Are the centers wearing out mor than the edges? Check you tire pressures as they have more to do with ride than anything other than dampers.

HTH!

I'm sure the suggestions concerning the upper strut mounts and dampers are on the right track. I have an '06 GT 'vert and I'm pretty happy with the ride. I don't have any clunk sounds.
The 18" KDWS tires that came on my car were OK, but when they wore out, I went to Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, same size as OE. These tires were a real improvment in ride quality. Work well on dry roads, in the rain and even over this past winter.

ORIGINAL: MC Stang

I don’t know about you guys but I am not impressed with the ride quality of the ’06 Mustang I have. The car’s front end clunks when going over imperfections in the road. Is this normal? I’m wondering if it is the 28,000 miles on the front struts or the BFG KDWS tires that are wearing out. I can’t imagine that the springs are tired. I just think the ride is a little harsh or rough for an OEM setup considering that the handling isn’t that great ( it’s good not great).

Just wondering what you guys think and what your impressions are compared to other vehicles you have driven in the past.


this is what they all say:) Time for new tires buddy, average tires are worn out in 20,000 miles even though warrantied a while.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, this is great. I set-up an appointment next Tuesday at the local Ford dealership to replace the strut mounts - I like the suggestion to get the Shelby mounts, though I doubt that the dealer will like that idea. ShouldI run it past the service manager?

The Tokico D-specs sound great and I will definitely go down that route when the struts/shocks start to go.

Regarding tiresI have been looking at the Yokohama's S.drive's and the S.4's along with the newer BFG Super Sports. Thanks for the tip on the Michelin's but from whatI remember they were very pricey, $200+ each, but I guess you get what you pay for.

do you encounter a lot of speed bumps on a daily basis?
I'm wondering if that could be creating the noises you hear. After that many miles could the stock struts and springs get worn out prematurely?
I'm not getting the "clunking" but there's certainly more front end noise than you'd expect.
I think I'm going to have to set up a suspension meet, where we can ride in each person's car to feel and hear the set ups.

Anyone interested?

If you don't like stock don't do any traction mods, alot noisier, my UCA/LCAs definately increased noise level, of course the MACs drone
out everything, performance mods make you sacrifice things like noise
level, comfort, and $$$$ lol

Bottom line the stock stuff is adequate but if you want to get serious
about road racing or just to get great ride quality replace everything !!! lol Remember you are getting a V8 car for under 30K,
something had to give, rather it be suspension than the engine, not so easily upgradeable ;)