Harsh Ride - 94 SLS

[Jagmeister]

I have noticed the ride in my 94 SLS getting worse lately. I guess the best way to describe it is "harsh". This is only noticable when the car hits rough surfaces like potholes, etc. otherwise it rides pretty smooth. I did some research on the strut replacement and find most people that have failed struts are complaining about "bouncy ride". I definitely don't have that problem.

I have 110K miles on the car. I don't want to buy new struts if I don't need them. Is it possible that the sensors are screwed up and making the ride too firm? I'm not getting any error messages on the display.

I've always felt the car had a pretty firm ride. I know the STS is suppose to be even firmer and I've always wondered why anyone would want a Cadillac that rode like an apple truck! Course I've never driven one either.

Obviously, struts don't last forever and I suppose 110K is not an unreasonable service life for a shock absorber. I was looking at the Arnott system but I see the Strutmaster is $100 cheaper. I wonder what you're not getting with the Strutmaster???

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Matt

[KHE]

Do you have the "SERVICE RIDE CONTROL" message on the DIC? I think the system defaults to the firm ride when there is a problem with the ride control.

[Jagmeister]

No, I get no messages on the DIC.

I ran the diagnostic cycle this morning and the only thing that showed up was a S044 History code. everything else was clean.

Matt

[dankhts]

Just because you have no service ride control codes dosen't mean the struts aren't worn out. You'll only get that code if the struts have an electrical problem, not a mechanical one. I recently replaced the struts on my '96 STS with Arnott struts. Mine were worn out, but no error codes. The ride is once again OK, and no error codes with the Arnott struts. Replace your struts, nothing lasts forever.

Dan