Has anyone with an '05 GT noticed any problems with the ride quality at freeway speeds? I live in L.A. and many of the highways around here have perpendicular lines (bumps) spaced about 6 or 7 feet apart along the road. At freeway speeds, these lines cause my '05 GT to have a very bumpy, almost shaking, type of ride. My '02 GT wasn't as sensitive (or firm) on these uneven road surfaces.

I had my Ford service department check it out, and they said nothing is wrong with the car. It might just be something I have to get used to. I want to know if anyone else has experienced the same issue.

 

I was going to bring that up also. Some of the main newer built roads around my area are something close to what your talking about. Freeways are not that bad.

Yes the ride stinks then, jaring in fact. Not something I can get use to. We need to find a fix. My Cobra is not half as bad on those roads.

 

Good to know I'm not the only one who has experienced this. The car rides great otherwise. But the situation I described to start this thread is very annoying, and I'd have to imagine others will experience the same problem.

 

That's the difference between IRS and a solid rear axle.

 

I wonder if it also might have something to do with the stiffer frame which has the equivalent of factory sub-frame connectors.

 

Same here! I can't drive over 80 mph, i feel like i dont have full control of the car.
Thats what we get for buying a first model year, I think we are all just going to have to deal with it.

 

BTW.....

This should be a sticky. This is going to be huge!!!!

 

put some better shocks on it?

 

live in an area with less crappy highways?

seriously, that building technique went out of style in the 60's...or should have. I guess your highways are concrete, but there are "softer" solutions that won't boil away in CA heat.

 

That's the difference between IRS and a solid rear axle.[/b][/quote]
It's not a solid axle vs. IRS issue. My '99 GT or my '02 GT didn't have this problem.

 

Has everyone who has experienced this problem, checked the air pressure in the tires? When my '99 GT was delivered it rode hard and bounced over bumps, and I was startingt to think the optional 17" wheels were a mistake. I checked the air pressure and it was close to 50#, if I remember correctly. I lowered it to 32# and it was night and day. I know the dealer should have checked it on their precheck, but they didn't.

 

I was thinking the same thing, but the air pressure in my tires are at 32 lbs.

 

I noticed it seams like it may be due in part to a wheelbase issue IMO. I have had noticed poor ride quality with a frends semi soft Dodge Dakota extra cab, but have had no real issues with my 95 GT & no real problems with my brothers stiff F350 4 dr long bed. The expansion joints seem to be spaced just so to effect some vehicles more than others. I have driven lots of diffrent vehichels in the Los Angles area & thats what I came to conclude. Did you ever notice as you go south to San Diego county on any of the freeways as soon as you hit the San Diego county sign the problem goes away!

 

I thought it was fine on the gt's I've driven, almost too soft . The old car also had a silly anemic 101" wheelbase, shorter then a focus. I cant belive you would actually say that, the older SN95 bump steers(the alignment and toe changes) on compresion and it wanders and follows groves badly too, not to mention poor damping from a bad spring location, binding, inprecise steering, and terrible shifting of the rear around the curves(you can feel it "bend" almost 2" to the side when it gets set in a turn). You can also feel the entire chassis flex when going off of offset bumps like speed bumps or curbing. After driving fully redone SN's with all new suspension underpinnings and full subframes it was like night and day from the new(04's) on the lot. But even fully modded it was still nothing to brag about either.

 

And wheelbase plays a huge role in ride comfort at speed, the longer the front suspension has to settle down before the rear encounters the bump, the better.

 

It's not a solid axle vs. IRS issue. My '99 GT or my '02 GT didn't have this problem. [/b][/quote]
That and IRS PERFORMANCE cars have rough rides, sometimes brutal.

 

I test drove another 05' this weekend; this time it was a v6 and I noticed that it rides stiffer then my 02' v6. I think the suspension in the 05's is much stiffer then then sn95's. It will probably be really stiff when people start dropping them some. New springs, struts and shocks could make a difference.

 

Those 235's are probably not helping out either. Mustangs need a wider tire.
Get rid of the 235's and put <span style='color:#FF0000'>255/50/17 </span>all around . Im sure the car will feel a little more stable. you can get great tires that size for arount $125 per tire. Take those 235's and out them on e- bay before they get too many more miles on them.

 

I got upto 85 for two miles on freeway and did not have any problems. Just on the uneven expansion joints we talked about and that was on newer cement surface streets.

 

I believe the phenomenom you're talking about is referred to as "freeway hop" by suspension engineers. The expansion joints used on concrete highways can create a frequeny at the right speeds that tends to amplify their impact, especially on cars with fairly tight suspension settings and hard bushings.

Do different speeds help the problem? My recollection on this effect is that if you go faster or slower, you can sometimes get out of the most annoying fequency and the problem goes away.

Not sure if there is much you can easily do to solve the problem. Different tires might help, as would different suspension bushings, but given that it is a brand new car, if the problem is widespread, I suspect Ford will issue a technical service bulletin to address it at no cost to the customer.

Given that most companies test in California to avoid this problem, I'm surprised two people are experiencing it.