Pontiac Repair: 2003 Bonneville (SSEI) suspension, strut bearings, strut mounts
QuestionHi Todd, I have a major suspension problem with my 2003 SSEI: it has 60K miles, never wrecked and always given TLC, but the car "dances" every time I hit a bump, whether on the hwy or city. It literally wants to lurch sideways as if the car wants to come off the frame. And it (the suspension system) always transmits the road condition as HARD bumps. Is this likely an air shock issue? The air compressor for the rear air shocks works fine; I can sit on the trunk opening and hear it compressing/filling the shocks. BTW-- in my opinion the 2003 SSEI suspension is truly pathetic. What was Pontiac thinking? Very clunky and extremely harsh road transmission into the cabin under all driving conditions. Any similar experiences with complaints about the suspension on the 2003-era Bonnevilles? Also, very importantly, can I adjust the air pressure manually to "fine-tune" my shocks & suspension? Any solid recommendations are greatly appreciated.
AnswerHey David:
typically a pontic has a stiffer ride then say a buick it was part of the Pontiac theme. And being an ssei it has a sport tuned suspension so it's even stiffer. I'll assume you feel it in the rear??? The rear toe/tie rods on those would go bad the joints in them go bad and then they clunk. if you live in the rust belt like I do the rear shocks rot out and leak out the oil and the ride is horrible then. You can't adjust the pressure in the shocks they are self inflating. As for the front suspension there were new design lower control arms released for those vars with the bigger tires they tranmsitted the road feel right into the car and made it extra extra stiff. the new controls are have different bushings in them and the road "feel" is less abrupt. good luck :-)
One other note on those again if you live in the rust belt they have updated upper strut mounts that come complet wiith the strut bearings if it had a "boing/snap or pop " nose on turns I would replace those as well.
