Ride Quality question

The lack of sound proofing to deaden road noise is my only gripe. Our ride is a tad stiff, but car sickness is usually limited to giant luxury boats with smooth suspensions. General rules for smoother driving: 1) plan ahead. 2) no sudden lane changes. 3) No hard braking. 4) Drive slower when cornering.

 

your car probably needs a whole new suspension and different tyres. how many miles on her?

 

Unfortunately, Pruses have more body roll than a pregnant Kardassian---but they shouldn't make you seasick.
The first thing I would do is make sure that the new Yokis are inflated properly.
Try bumping them up into the low 40's and see what that does.
The next thing you might want to check is your OEM shocks.
You don't have to go to the mod squad for that, but I'd stay away from the dealers!!!
Both are ultra expensive, but at least the kids in the mod shops don't try to rip you off.
See if a suspension shop can check your suspension bits, and maybe the alignment too since your car is 10 years old.
The next thing I would try in your area would be some of the braces and coilovers....go with braces first, since they're cheaper and much easier to install.
Braces and coilovers won't turn your car into anything that will turn heads at the track, but if all else fails they will stiffen your ride up a bit.

Good Luck!

 

Lower your expectations, slow down a bit, take it easier in the corners?

Or get a sports car.

 

No.
It's not "normal" for this generation of Prius.

 

well, maybe normal for the age and mileage. shocks and struts control roll, and different people replace them at different intervals, maybe depending on usage, or defects.

 

I thought my ride is pretty soft. Some body roll, sure, but nothing jerky. I have 91,000 miles on it, original shocks and struts. I keep the tires at 39 psi front, 37 rear, so a bit above recommended, but below the sidewall rating.

 

I'm the original owner of a 2004 with over 240,000 miles. I changed the struts at 150,000. I have the best tires in my opinion (Michelin Premier A/S). I also have the chassis stiffening plate. A few years after I bought the car I had dynamat installed in the doors. I think the car rides fine. It's certainly not the best riding car but in no way has it ever induced car sickness in any of my passengers. Ironically some passengers actually thought the car rode very nicely. Go figure!

 

Ride deterioration due to the wearing out of components is a PROCESS. And shared by any and all vehicles.

The OP was asking if the Prius's "Jumpy Ride" causing sick passengers was normal.

I think I can go out on a limb here and say NO.

 

If the ride is "jumpy", wouldn't softer tires improve this? I'd lower the tire pressures to no more than what is on the door plate, maybe even a couple of psi less, and see if there is any improvement.

 

You would think that but this car has a tendency to hunt imperfections in the road. It requires almost constant attention to the steering wheel to keep it from wandering. The lower the tire pressure the more this increases. If its your only car you may not even notice it. Inflating the tires to 38 or 40 really helps this issue and improves mileage but then the car hits bumps rather harshly.

The op's issue is he needs all new shocks. New struts all around. I can guarantee his front struts are long gone. Make sure you buy the strut mounting plates too as they wear out and increase steering effort. You will never notice the increase in effort and decrease of ride comfort if its your only car its so gradual. But it will blow your mind when you get new struts.

 

The ride on my 2006 is very comfortable and smooth. 132k on mine with I believe to be original suspension. Tires are new, stock tire pressure (35/33). I used to run 42/40 tire pressure, and though I'm not certain that this was the cause, I believe it caused my old tires to wear unevenly enough to cause a very loud ride at any speed. New tires fixed the issue, only time will tell if keeping my tires at Toyota recommended pressure keeps the ride smooth.

 

No 42-40 does not cause the tires to wear unevenly. Thats usually caused by worn suspension components. New ties didn't fix the issue
it just masked it.

 

I'm afraid that what you say is true, while I hope that you are wrong. Any easy ways to check the suspension myself?

When bouncing the suspension at each corner, all checks out ok.

 

You can't really do a bounce test on this car its too tight. You can check the back shocks by lifting the tires up when on a lift. Too much weight on the fronts to do that though.. But I can assure you its struts time. Way past due. The OEM struts don't last long on our cars.

Driving around with really worn out struts causes alot of suspension wear. Instead of absorbing bad hits the worn struts now transfer all that energy to the suspension and the frame and it takes a beating including the steering rack and the struts and especially the tires as the struts keep the wheels planted on the road. You may notice the steering geometry does not feel 100% right when you go around a corner. Thats the struts.

I just put all new struts on my car. Bought the fronts at kyboutlet on line. Make sure you buy new mounts for the front as thats the steering bearing. Night and day difference and I have 82,000 miles on my car.

 

Thank you, I will put this on my to do list. Did you DIY? If so, was it difficult?

I have replaced shock absorbers on other cars in the past, but never struts.

Thanks again,

Chris

 

No not ever again. I found it to be very difficult and very unsafe every time I have replaced the struts. They come out very easy but replacing the springs on the strut are very dangerous if you do not have the correct spring compressor. Very physical job.

But now alot of auto parts stores offer spring replacement on struts. So you bring them the old strut assy with the spring on it and your new strut and they swap the spring on it. I don't know what they charge. Taking them out and putting them back in is very easy. I always rented a 1/2 inch Dewalt ac powered impact wrench and the big bolts holding it on the knuckle came right off. $15 a day for the Dewalt.

And of course you need a front end alignment after it too. I bought every piece needed front and rear OEM online (except the springs) and including labor and front end alignment was around $900. Had a local tire store install them. KYB's on the front and stocks on the rear.