This has just started to happen recently. When first got my mustang the ride was smooth and felt great now when I'm just going on regular streets I feel my self bouncing a lot in the car. Does anybody have a suggestions on how to make it a smoother ride?

 

Trade it for a Buick or Toyota.

 

What year? Miles? Can't offer much without any details. Stock shocks don't last forever you know.

 

Fresh shocks would be a good place to start, as mentioned, OEMs generally don't last forever. Aging tires, too, can get a touch rougher as they don't have as much rubber to smoother sharper bumps and the compound will harden a touch with age too. If you're really getting up in the miles, various rubber suspension bushings, too, might be deteriorating and/or hardening up with age.

Or all of the above.

 

It's a 2006 with 32,000 miles

 

Hmmm, a pretty young foal, mileage-wise. Still, shocks would be my first suspect, especially given the Stang's heavy lively axle, which is a challenge to tame over bumps to begin with--a LOT of unsprung mass flailing away there on a lumpy road.

 

Push down hard on the fender and see how the shock reacts, if there's very little resistance and it bounces up and down they're bad.

 

Check your tire pressure. Very important to check cold. 2 psi will make quite a difference

 

^^^
THIS

And get you a decent gauge. None of this pen-looking $1.99 stuff.
The higher the pressure, the firmer the ride.
But too low and your tires will ROLLLLLLLL off the rims when you corner.

 

Obvious answer is the roads got suckier. C'mon people!

Naw, the shocks and tire pressure is the right answer, along with maybe bushings? Would they have any effect on the situation?

I am also curious if tire condition might have anything to do with it? Besides pressure, could the sidewalls stiffen up if not used a lot? 2006 with 32K isn't all that much... Tires could possibly be originals? And therefore, the compounds have hardened up maybe?

Also, no mention of any mods such as lowering, but I suspect it's stock, yeah?

 

Yes it is stock and I pushed down on the fender and it gave some resistance.

 

Too much pressure in the tires. Look at the door panel and see what your '06 Mustang recommends. My '07 is 32 psi but maybe yours is different. If you put in too much, like 40 psi in those tires, it will feel like you are driving on a dirt road 24/7.
One other possibility is the tire itself. Are they the originals as someone mentioned? If so, they are probably hard and ready to be replaced. Also, cheap tires are notorious for horrible rides once the tread wears down a bit. What's the deal??

 

No doubt. You're compressing the spring.
The test is to watch the rebound. If it comes up once and stops the shocks are prob fine. If it rebounds and slightly bounces once or twice, the shocks are probably way gone.

 

Things to check:

1) Tires (Pressure as stated)
2) Struts (rebound as stated) - strut valving goes after time.
3) Sway bar end links - make sure you don't have an issue there.
4) Panhard bushings
5) Lower ball joints - known issue on 05/06 stangs.

If you can put the car on a rack and check all the suspension parts it will be much easier. It's best to look at these things with the tires loaded.

 

My 05 GT with 35k miles. Last summer the bushings in my front lower control arms were bad.

My ride is a little rough too. I am starting with shocks and tires and going from their. I have some Tokico HPs on order. If they don't work I might try some Ford Racing adjustable shocks.

I'll let you know what happens.