Magneride limitation or problem

[fpa1974]

I will give some context as I am trying to understand myself what exactly is happening. I noticed that at low speeds in very rare situations the magneride suspension reacts in a bit of a sloppy way.
Let’s take a relatively rough road. Most of the time all is good but sometimes you get the occasional thump in a bigger imperfection of the road and it is unpredictable. If I go over the same section of road again it will most likely not happen.
Now let’s take a smooth road but with a cresting section (basically road going up and then abruptly going down). Nothing dramatical that would cause a bottoming up. Very rarely the thump happens again.
Now let’s take a road with expansion joints. Again most of the time everything is cool but you get the random thump nevertheless.
Now an interesting one. It happened today and of course is not reproducible. Brake hard for a left turn, pavement is rough, make the turn, pavement rough again, speed is like 10mph or less (I am in a parking lot) and my front suspension (I assume) is going crazy and starts thumping multiple times - not correlated with pavement condition. I decide to stop and then everything stops and goes back to normal.

99.99% of the time I love the suspension on these cars but you get stuff like above. Is this something the design is prone to or something else is is going on?

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[MustangCollector]

I posted last night same deal, everyone who drives over bumps notices this, might be tires or something in suspension design causing it, wish ford would tsb issue but I doubt they will n this car

 

[RadBOSS]

Have you checked your suspension settings and are they consistent with the expected road conditions? Track settings are one thing but on the road its unpredictable for one setting to handle all the possible conditions. The stability computer is constantly making adjustments based on what its feeling and what it thinks where you want the car to go

my 2 cents

 

[fpa1974]

This is all in normal or sport which I use on street. It does not seem to matter which one I use when it comes to this behavior.

 

[MustangCollector]

My findings are is worst in normal shock mode, sport and track do see to change it bit, my car does it down the road from home each morning it's annoying and feels as if I'm in one of my old POS airmatic benzes from years ago

 

[Zombo]

Thanks, interesting thread.

I've experienced the slowing down, turning left into a gas station over a slight curb and hearing strange noises coming from what I thought was the engine stumbling. Happened twice at the same gas station. Now you have me thinking it could be the shocks. I was in normal mode - I'll have to keep a ear out.

 

[fpa1974]

Thanks, interesting thread.

I've experienced the slowing down, turning left into a gas station over a slight curb and hearing strange noises coming from what I thought was the engine stumbling. Happened twice at the same gas station. Now you have me thinking it could be the shocks. I was in normal mode - I'll have to keep a ear out.

That particular instance when this happen as I described was also in normal mode.

 

[MustangCollector]

guys have anyone of you considered the MagRide upgrade ECU by DSC? I have looked into it, i wonder if the issue we are all having is a crappy programming of the shocks in Normal mode, maybe someone on here has tried it and can report back or i might try it and see if they will do a group by. DSC site shows how it works, seems very sophisticated and is fully tunable by the end user which doesnt look easy to be honest.

 

[65sohc]

I've had the DSC controller for about six months, long enough so that I don't remember how the car drove without it. It's really popular on C7 Corvettes so I've spent a fair amount of time on that forum since nobody else here seems to have it. It is a worthwhile mod. The magnitude of improvement on the Mustang doesn't seem to be as great as that on the Vette, which leads me to believe that the Ford OE calibration may be better than GM's, given the fact that the dampers are identical. This is based on the general consensus that the normal Corvette ride is fairly uncomfortable whereas I find the Shelby comfort quite acceptable. Tuning the DSC is actually quite easy once you understand some basic concepts.

 

[Minn19]

Nothing is perfect, but I'll take these occasional hiccups over many other suspension setups I've driven. I usually drive in sport mode, I don't think I've experienced what you are describing in that mode.

In comfort mode I do get a few more of these oddities. I wonder if it is trying to compensate to much between trying to keep it comfy and stiffen it up quick enough to compensate for the road irregularity.

Dunno, so as I said I just keep it in sport th majority of the time.

 

[The Chairman]

To add another thought to the discussion:
The OP mentioned this situation happened while braking in a turn, on a bumpy surface.
The job of the ABS is to keep all 4 wheels at nearly the same speed. When heavy braking a car with ABS in a turn, or on a bumpy road, the ABS can get a bit confused and lock up or release the brakes in a strange sequence. A rough surface can make it all quite exciting. I have had the ABS on various cars do strange things in these scenarios. Just a thought.

 

[fpa1974]

To add another thought to the discussion:
The OP mentioned this situation happened while braking in a turn, on a bumpy surface.
The job of the ABS is to keep all 4 wheels at nearly the same speed. When heavy braking a car with ABS in a turn, or on a bumpy road, the ABS can get a bit confused and lock up or release the brakes in a strange sequence. A rough surface can make it all quite exciting. I have had the ABS on various cars do strange things in these scenarios. Just a thought.

That crossed my mind as well, having experience the ABS behavior you mentioned with other cars. But this would be a first where ABS would continue to act crazy after no brake is applied anymore. Good news is that this did not happen since but the random thumps and stuff like that is there. In sport mode as mentioned by others is definitely more controlled but some roads here are bad punishing the car and driver in anything other than normal makes little sense.
Another thing I discovered is the sensitivity of the setup to tire pressure. More than any other car I remember. When they say 32psi cold they mean it. For me anything higher than 34psi front will excacerbate the behavior I described. My favorite street pressures for summer (temperature and psi will go up more while you drive because of ambient temps going really high relative to the garage) are 33/32 f/r.

I do not know in the end. Is this livable with? Absolutely. Can it be done a lot better (assuming it is programming only)" Definitely.

 

[The Chairman]

The Performance Supplement says to start tire pressures at 28 psi cold. That's what I use and haven't had any problems.

 

[Zombo]

If I'm not mistaken, 28 psi cold is for track use. 32 psi is the recommended street setting.

 

[Hack]

Any chance this isn't the Mag ride but a loose sway bar end link or another suspension component? Have you had the suspension looked at, or have you checked it?

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