WH Hemi ride issue.

[matt-5.7]

Hey guys and girls,

I've recently picked up a 5.7 WH as a cheap tow car and general run about and i'm pretty happy with it, i've owned an old jeep before so I'm used to the quirks and usual deviations from the norm however there does seem to be a problem.

While a heavy american tank shouldn't be expected to ride all that well i've noticed the WH has by far the worst ride i've ever experienced, it bounces, rocks and rolls to the point people refuse to ride in it and i myself have experienced some car sickness for the first time in my life. Imagine a very small boat pushing into a hurricane, that experience would be the hight of smooth, calm travel compared to this thing.
However the problem only occurs at higher speeds over about 60kph, in town while no sports car is feels stable enough and only rolls as much as one would expect but once you get onto the open road its unbearable, something that didn't crop up in my city based test drive.

The car has a 1" lift with EFS springs and shocks, I've checked tyre pressures and wear and a basic check of the steering and suspension components hasn't shown up anything alarmingly wrong.

Since i've not read much generally condemning the ride of these things I'm fairly sure something isn't right but i'm lost at this point.
What could be going on and how can i make the thing feel more like a car then a drunken elephant?

[Clarky]

Your situation is definitely not the norm, the ride in a WH is generally considered better then most.

Original suspension springs & shocks tend to get a bit floaty as they wear out but nothing like you describe.

If mine was doing that I would be changing out the suspension.

Have not used EFS so can't compare but the common consensus is King springs or OME springs with OME shocks & struts or Bilstein shocks & struts.

Just checking but what size are your tyres (stock are 245/65/17 or 245/60/18 ) & are both sway bars fitted?

[JamesLaugesen]

Yeah that doesn't sound right at-all!
For comparison my hemi has a 2" OME suspension kit with ~80,000km on it, no sway bars at-all at the moment, 32" mud tyres, about ~400kg of gear (with about ~60kg on the roof.) and it doesn't rock and roll enough to make someone car sick .

Does it also have some knocks and rattles? Or just a bouncy/rocky ride and instability?
Do you get any weird feedback through the steering?

You probably would've noticed if it didn't have any swaybars if you looked over the suspension. If it does have the swaybars and the bushes and links are very worn, it would make a heck of a racket.

Blown shocks would be my guess if there isn't much noise.
Dunno anything about EFS, but corrugations and hot weather can kill a set of cheaply-made shocks real quick without much visible wear.

[07commander]

Give the car good firm shake side to side it should be fairly firm and as soon as you stop it should stop wallowing about straight away, if it carries on a bit and bounces around your shocks are stuffed.

[WHHEMI]

What tyres does iy have fitted, a freind has a WH hemi exactly the same as mine but it would shake and roll around when he towed his caravan, he just fitted some different tyre onJK stock wheels and it drives totaly different.

[matt-5.7]

thanks for all the reply guys, gave me lots to look at.
It turns out there were a few issues, wheels were out of alignment with a little uneven wear, control arm bushings were well on their way out and the tyres were the yokohama geolanders that haven't come very well recommended. The ride has settled down a fair bit now although it could improve and perhaps the shocks may we be to blame in part as well, i wouldn't mind going a little higher to fit some larger tyres under there anyway so i'm sure they'll be replaced with a better known brand sooner rather then later.

Much happier with the car at the point so its time to throw some proper recovery gear on and see how it shapes up when things get a little more interesting.

[08crd]

If you are changing the shocks and springs( 2"lift) make sure you buy in a set of upper tower mounts.
If your control arm bushes are worn, you can bet the upper spring mount rubber is tired as well.