A while ago I thought my 2005 PPP WRX Blobeye had a 'bouncy' ride but just figured I was imagining it and forgot about it. Recently Ive had a number of people in the car who had never been in it before and all of them said the car feels bouncy, they thought this was weird as they figured Scoobies would have a very firm, hard, sporty ride.

So, this got me thinking about it again. At first I thought something had failed, like the Engine Mounts or something in the suspension setup but after looking on the forum, it seems this is a common issue with the standard suspension.

I drive the same stretch of motorway every day and up until yesterday, it was in the Scooby, I borrowed a friends bog standard Ford Focus and drove to work. I couldnt believe just how different the journey was, it was amazing. I had gotten so used to bouncing around in the Scooby that I just thought this was normal!

So, it seems the only way to solve this is with new springs. Im not looking for any fancy adjustable coilovers due to their price, they are a bit out of my reach. But a set of lowering springs would be ideal.

What lowering springs do people recommend?

This may be a silly question, but will this stop the 'bounciness'?

Thanks for reading.

 

Are you sure your dampers have not failed?

 

Most likely the dampers are shot as the bouncing will be the uncontrolled movement of the springs.

 

Oh man. That sounds expensive.

Im not too knowledgable with suspension, is the Damper the same as a Shock Absorber? The air compressed shaft in the middle of the springs?

If it is the Dampers, how can they be tested to see if its them at fault? If it is them, looks like I may be buying coilovers afterall

 

How many miles has the car done?

 

Depends who you ask, damper is more accurate but its common to call them shocks/shock absorbers too... how about we call them struts in this instance.

They're also oil rather than air filled, the "air" is there to keep the oil in place.

As far as testing them, look for any signs of oil leak under the dust cover. Also try bouncing the car up and down - when you release it should settle smoothly in a couple of oscillations. If it doesn't or is bouncy then they are most likely shot.

You can get a full set of KYBs (who make the OEM ones) for just over £300 from Camskill so still quite a saving over coilovers.

 

Only about ~38k

Is the stock suspension on the STI lower or different to the WRX? Im wondering cos if I get a new set of shocks, could I get the STI type instead?

 

Same ride height (for UK spec at least). KYB Ultras are the equivalent to the STI damping stiffness, though I suspect they'd be a bit over damped with stock WRX springs.

 

Just a thought, yours is an 05 which have the inverted type rear dampers... it could be that yours need regreasing as its common for them to dry out and stick a little... any knocking from the rear or a slight "jumping" sensation either just as you come to a stop or start off?

 

Now that you mention it yes, it does feel a bit odd sometimes when starting off or coming to a stop, say at traffic lights. The road will be completely flat yet I get that slight bouncing. It must look funny to pedestrians as I bounce in my seat like I have gone over a bump yet there was no bump! lol

Ok, I think I will give the greasing a go. I do remember a thread about this somewhere ages ago, is it basically a case of raising the car off the wheels so the suspension is extended, then lifting the rubber cover up thats around the dampers and greasing the strut?

What grease should I use?

Cheers for your help!

 

Waste of time imo either strip them down and fit a grease nipple or get new ones

 

Sounds like your struts could well be suffering from sitction to me.

Not that simple I'm afraid... you need to take the strut off and disassemble it (i.e. spring and top hat off). Then undo a bolt on the bottom of the strut making sure to compress the strut when you do this so that the actual damper inside doesn't spin and ovalise the little groove it sits it.

Once you have the insert out, you need to scrap out all the old grease (which is probably more like a paste than grease). Multi-purpose lithium based grease is fine for re-greasing but pack the strut with as much grease as you can (you can wipe away any excess when you re-assemble everything).

It's a PITA job and in all honesty, you're likely to need to re-grease them on a regular basis so as mentioned above, the best thing you can do it to swap the struts for some KYB Ultras (suppliers may tell you that KYB don't make struts for your year car but the 2003 on version fit - the only difference is that they're not inverted that's all).