Driving a '99 TL, bought it at 48 K, great smooth ride.. now i have 84 K, and it's driving real harsh if i keep the tires at 32 psi.. anyone else have a problem of harsher driving? i live in boston, so we've got harsh roads.. do i need new struts?? i've been told that they're not leaking, but i nail bumps if i keep the tires properly inflated.. i want my smooth ride back!!! what do i do???

 

are the tires worn? maybe u should try inflating them to 35psi..

Is the bouncing over bumps? like on the highway. If so you need new struts.. DOn't know how long there supposed to last in the TL ? i would think alteast over 100k...

 

nope, the harshness is from the bumps, no doubt.. going fast feels much smoother.. so the tires are fine, actually brand new.. the bumps are killing me though.. definitely didn't feel like this when it was at 48 k.. so struts you think?

 

If your car was lowered on stock struts, then definitely it's the struts worn out.

If not, it could still be the struts. Usually they would last about 100k, but you said you ride on harsh roads. Boston, I think, is rated as extreme condition, like Michigan. That means shorter life on most parts of the car compared to, say, Florida.

 

so this car should, in theory, be smoother once i get new struts, correct? i mean, what else would cause a car to hit bumps so hard besides tire overinflation?

 

I'm confused; a strut is simply a shock absorber inside of coil spring. When shocks go bad, they lose their dampening ability, which results in a pillowy undulating ride, not a harsh jarring ride.

 

i dunno, i was always told the opposite, that when struts go bad, and they can't dampen, the car becomes a rock solid ride.. otherwise, what makes a ride become so harsh? is there another part?