hanish

Please help!

I've had a 2001 Infiniti I30t for over 4 years now. While I've noticed of course that the sports tuned suspension has meant that taking speed bumps and potholes causes much more of a jarring jolt than I'm used to, its never really been a problem.

However, I've been taking a new route to my new job, and the road is kind of beat up (lots of seams and its in a hilly area, so lots of bumps caused by tree roots, etc.). This of course results in even more of a jarring ride, which I can live with, except it has also resulted in me getting motion sick most times I drive it. That, of course, is not something I can live with.

I've been trying to learn up on shocks and springs and there seems to be lots of contradictory ideas. As best as I can tell, motion sickness can be caused by a number of different things, and just because you have a stiff suspension and "feel the road more" doesn't mean that you would have more motion sickness - in fact, the opposite seems to be true - softer shocks often result in more motion sickness.

I tried doing the "bounce test" on my car but it didn't appear to fail it. However, the car does seem to bounce around a lot going on that new route (if I go at night, you can see the headlights going up and down a lot). I don't know that I am getting any more oscillation than normal though - I just can't tell. It may just be the road is rough enough that, of course the car is going to bounce around.

Anyway, I've pretty much resigned on doing something with my shocks/springs, but I can't figure out what. Do I go with a softer shock to lessen those "bangs" everytime I hit a seam or bump? If I do, I risk making the motion sickness worse because the car might oscillate more. Do I just replace the old factory (60,000 mile old) shocks with the thought that they might just be worn out despite the bounce test passing? What about the springs?

I'm real prone to motion sickness generally, though I've only encountered as a driver when I was in a car with a too soft suspension (Acura MDX), but that could also have been from riding up higher. So I'm a bit concerned about going too soft. Maybe a middle of the road choice? not too stiff but not too soft?

Any suggestions?

skeetch

Why not install the stock shocks and springs for an I30 instead?

hanish

Might that not make the ride too bouncy? Possibly worsening the problem?

I'm pretty new at all this, but it almost seems like to me that a "sports-tuned shock" (namely, one that is stiff when it was made) kind of turns into a softer shock as it wears out. If that's the case, it would seem I'd get more out of replacing the shock with just a newer firm one. I don't know, its all so confusing because I don't know exactly what is making me sick - the jarring bumps or the oscillations afterwords. My previous history with car sickness makes me suspect the oscillations, which would indicate I should stay with a stiff shock, right?

rLx77

Hanish: If you see my posts in this I30T forum, I've been asking a lot about struts and springs as well.

What tire pressure do you run at? If the tires get soft and lose air, you'll have an oscillating kind of ride.

I too dislike the jarring ride that my I30T has (2001 as well), and did a lot of research to find which springs/struts to get. Regardless of what spring you get, if it is aftermarket and it lowers your car, it will worsen the ride quality (but improve the handling). So then it will be worse over bumps. My car doesn't oscillate that much, and the "bounce test" doesn't appear to fail. But I want new struts (47,000 miles) and I drive over crappy roads in NYC a lot. I bought Tokico HP's (aka Tokico Blues) off of ebay for $281, and am going to have them installed this weekend. I'll let you know how the car rides afterward.

Hit me up with any more questions. I'm more than glad to help you out a fellow I30T'er.