New to Magnum, Bumpy ride normal?

**Biig O** · 07-09-2008, 12:01 AM

I am a newbie, just purchased first dodge 7/2/08

2005 rt magnum: I loved the car hands down!! just wondering if ride should be so bumpy. i feel every little street bump, I cringe when i cant avoid a bump. sounds like a rattle in back passenger..maybe it is me but I don't whats back there, bad spring/ bad shock/strut. or is this just normal. front end feels fine, just the rear, no load just me in the car. what can I or what do I do??... Any help would be appreciated.

**uwsacf** · 07-09-2008, 08:11 AM

You should drive an SRT if you think that's bad

Look, its an R/T with a performance suspension - its supposed to be firm...

You can do corners without the body roll of a whale...

Enjoy....

**Meathammer** · 07-09-2008, 08:54 AM

It shouldn't rattle when you hit a bump. You may have something loose or broken. You may want to just crawl under your car to take a look for anything obvious before bringing it in to have it checked, but even if you don't find anything I'd still bring it in. Mine doesn't clunk and I have 62K on the stock suspension of an early build 2005.

**formerice** · 07-09-2008, 10:20 AM

Put the car up on a lift and inspect all moving parts of the suspension, front and rear. Next, try to find out where any rattle or clunk inside is coming from by crawling in the back while someone else drives the car over bumps, even the removable tray and shelf over the spare tire can be weatherstripped or velcroed. I spray foamed many areas of my Magnum with "Great Stuff" . But as for ride, I agree with others, it's a firm riding performance car. If it has a soft squishey ride with all the power of the hemi, it would be dangerous! Mine is much firmer than stock, but it sure feels good at high speeds.

**Super T** · 07-09-2008, 10:23 AM

No, my RT definitely didn't feel that way. It was kinda soggy on the gentle bumps, not harsh on the hard ones.

**MattRobertson** · 07-09-2008, 11:24 AM

A stock RT should be a comfy ride. I've heard it described as a limo ride but thats probably a little bit of an exaggeration. It doesn't start firming up until you start playing around with the suspension and putting performance parts on it. You sure its stock? What kind of wheels? 22's with skinny tires would definitely firm up the ride. The difference when I went to 255/35/20's vs. 255/45/20's was amazing. But thats not a stock size, either.

That rattle definitely should be looked into. I had that and it was a loose shock that hadn't been bolted in up top when my spring installer screwed up that part of the job. Another time it was a rattle inside of a body panel. No problems in the years since.

**MikeEast** · 07-09-2008, 01:28 PM

Air pressure makes a huge difference in ride quality as well, how about some more details on your car?

How many miles on it?
What kind/size/pressure-in-them tires?
Do the shocks look appropriate to the age of the car? Think they are stock or aftermarket?
What color are the coil springs?
How close to the spare tire section is the drivers side exhaust pipe?
Is it stock exhaust?
Is that center brace still there? Are the pipes an inch or more above it?

Sounds like a lot of questions, but one of more of the answers may well point you (and us) in the right direction.

My Magnum-RT rode like a soft tipsy whale while stock, so on went the Eibach Prokits and she hunkered right down and rode stiffer and leaned almost not-at-all in the corners. I put different tires on after the Conti's self-destructed and filled up big - 40 psi, cause they got quieter and handled better - but it sure rode bumpier.

I screwed with the exhaust more than a few times, big clunk/rattles if not screwed together right and aligned perfectly..

Fill us in and we'll get 'er figured out for ya..

Mike

**Biig O** · 07-10-2008, 09:04 PM

Thanks all. I did eliminate a lot of noise by simply placing weather stripping along the back storage area. I am taking it in my off day to have everything else looked at. So i think it was just more or less noise, than actually something wrong. Thanks again