Radial Ride Rough on 71 AMC Matador

Hell, I'm only 61! I bought a brand new Hornet in 1974, and it rode a lot better than this Matador. BTW, I don't have dentures, yet!

Reply to
sctvguy1
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I used to have a Ford Capri in the 70s that had a ride that was "a little" non-compliant. It felt like all four tires were off the road when the going got rough. It would bounce a little sideways. I dug the handling and tolerated the ride. At least it didn't have the numb-nuts steering of the American cars. These cars had a faulty trunk seal that would cause exhaust gases to get sucked into the interior. My eyes would be actually watering sometimes because it was burning a little oil. Boy those days were a gas - literally!

Reply to
dsi1

Wasn't that particular car made in Germany and imported here? It was a cute little car. Better than that Opel that looked like a shrunken Corvette!

Reply to
sctvguy1

And this, in short, is why the Japanese car industry totally clobbered us.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

You will find that suspension technology has advanced over the last 42 years.

Reply to
T0m $herman

Damping rod type shocks do the opposite of what you want - they offer little compliance over sharp bumps, but inadequate damping of body movements due to acceleration, turning, and braking. Modern shock designs with separate high and low speed damping circuits do the opposite - a large reason why proper modern cars handle much better with decent ride quality compared to older vehicles.

Reply to
T0m $herman

I believe that the Japanese and Koreans made cars more like the US industry "used" to make: cars that were sized correctly, engines that got good gasoline mileage and plenty of room inside. Of course, now the Asians are starting to have the same problems that developed with Detroit products: crappy styling, cramped interiors and too many electrical options that go "south" too often.

Reply to
sctvguy1

My 1940 and 1941 Chryslers rode like clouds,smooth and controlled. They had coil/leaf suspension, sway bars at both ends, and tube-type shocks. This Matador rides like and old pickup truck, and it is a 71 model!

Reply to
sctvguy1

Did it ride rough before all the work was done? Perhaps it's got shocks that are way too stiff. My recollection of the 71's even with the police suspension was that they rode OK, not as good as the Plymouths of the day but OK nevertheless.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

The last car I had where I started with bias tires and switched to radials went from darting all over the road to being much steadier and controlled as well as having a better ride. I really doubt the tires are contributing much to the bad ride if most of the concern is that it's just "hard" riding. In my experience, "bad tires" usually show up as vibration and shaking.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

A friend of mine bought one of those Ford Capri's brand new. He loved the car. About 6 months after he got it he was driving along and smelled a little smoke, then saw some coming out of the center vent, then saw a glow back in the vent. He stopped, got out and got his kid out and within 5 minutes the entire car was engulfed in flames. He had waited almost 6 months for the car to come in... And of course he got screwed on the insurance, he'd just bought a brand new car and they paid him off for his USED car.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

It was sloppy, the shocks are standard HD, not gas or spring/shock combo, just a heavier duty shock than the original. The springs are the original coils both front and rear. Tonight, I made the decision to sell this car to someone who wants an intermediate semi-muscle car. The

360/2bbl has 245HP, Auto, A/C(converted to 134a), P/S, Power front disc/ rear drum, factory dual exhaust and of course all the front end work, new brakes, etc.
Reply to
sctvguy1

Your problem is cheap made in China tires. Cheap tires are hard. Wear like stone, ride like stone, handle like stone.

Reply to
Brent

Nylon bushings? That is about as close to zero in 'give' that you can get short of using brass or steel. Typically urathane is used for performance purposes. It's harder but usually not too harsh unless the pavement is bad. You'll have to be specific where the nylon bushings were used. If they were used for things that turn it's not that big of deal, if they were used for control arms and such then that's another big source of your problem.

Reply to
Brent

Probably the tires. I have a set of Goodyear radials on a '71 Ambassador (essentially the same car) and it rides just fine. Also running radials on my Hornet and other Rambler/AMC vehicles. Various brands of radials in use with no problems, even on the old Rambler models with trunnion suspension.

I did convert the Ambassador to 15" rims though as the large 14" tire sizes were getting scarce and pricey, and a few years ago rebuilt the front suspension with all new ball joints and bushings..

Reply to
Roger Blake

It was made in Cologne, Germany. It was nicer than the cars build in the US with a complete gauge set and a beautifully designed interior. The called it the "sexy European." Unfortunately, the beautiful interior parts would fall off or develop cracks when exposed to light and heat. I guess that's how they made the price competitive. After a while it would look like hell. The wooden shifter ball was huge! I had the 2 liter 4 cylinder not the V6. The previous owner had made some modifications - nerf bars instead of a front bumper and headers. It sounded pretty cool going through the gears. Well, at least to my early 20's brain, it did. The suspension was probably modified too and it was the first car that I had with radial tires. That was a fun car.

Reply to
dsi1

What! You do not love a foot-wide, rectangular, horizontally oriented speedometer that reads 120 mph when the car is going 95 mph? ;)

Reply to
T0m $herman

It was a pretty funny feeling the car move a little sidewards sometimes. OTOH, it wasn't alarming nor did the car feel unstable. It felt stable as hell. I'm driving a Passat station wagon now. I don't know if it's because of the 4-wheel drive but it feels very stable and controlled through corners. Neat stuff!

Reply to
dsi1

Ha ha, that stuff is retro and I used to be fascinated by those speedometers that moved side to side. I have no idea how those things work but they're pretty cool.

Reply to
dsi1

When the Japanese first came into the US car industry in the sixties, the cars they were selling were just terrible. They had severe rust issues, they were tiny and often sized for people much smaller than the typical Americans.

But over the course of a decade, the Japanese cars kept getting better and better, and at the same time the American cars were getting worse and worse. By 1975 the whole notion of quality control seems to have totally escaped the Big Three. And so, eventually we got to a point where the two lines crossed over and then everything went pear-shaped.

Your AMC comes from the time of that crossover.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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