bottomed out!!!

[flsurf420]

ok well i have been driving a 91 cadillac deville around for about a month. and every so often over a slight bump the left front of the car will squeak(shock/strut problem) well just yesterday they both started squeaking and i could feel every little bump. well also yesterday i was on my way home and went over these railroad tracks at about 50mph. the wheels must have hit the wheel well cuz the car bottomed out. well my mom tryed to tell me its cuz the last owner put smaller sidewall tires on it. and i said thats not the problem because it shouldnt do that anyway, (same size rim just smaller tires and im not even talking low pros). so what could it be? and if i change the struts and what not should i just do a whole suspension overhaul like the whole car at once. because i know once i get new ones the backs are gonna go to.

[MagicRat]

By bottomed out, do you mean the chassis hitting the ground?
Jeez, it's a big floppy Caddy. Don't drive it like that. It's not intended for that.
I have low profile tires on my Fleetwood and I drive it like a rent-a-racer and it never bottoms out. It has the factory handling package with stiffer springs and sway bars.
So, either your front springs are worn/sagging, or you learned to drive by watching Smokey and the Bandit.

[Antiburn]

Push on the front of your car 3 times as hard as you can to make it bounce. If it bounces more then 3 times you need new shocks. I just bought some adjustable hi-jackers for the back of my brougham. Now I can jack it all up and make it look like I have hydraulics.

[flsurf420]

yea it bottoms out and "floats", everyone else said i need new struts also.

[Driftwood]

You've got a 3605 lb. boat that probably has the original struts still onboard. Replace the struts and take it easy over the R/R tracks.

[jasonrcsr]

its probably a ball joint making that noise. jack the car up off the tire. it it wiggle up and down its a ball joint, left to right a tie rod. going 50 mph over rail road tracks wont make a clunking (metal on metal) sound cuz as far as bottoming out you will have stops made of rubber the smaller tires will have no effect except you speedo and tach.

[Matthew_14]

Your car has electronic struts. Over time most of those cars have the some problems that you have described. I would say replace the struts on the car and if you have been having this problem for a while you might want to replace the front springs on the car as well as they have probably fatigued. Electronic struts at the dealer will run you around $400 each.

[Antiburn]

You can get rear Gabrial hi jackers (adjustable shocks) from an auto parts store for 50$ I used them and now the rear or my caddys all high in the air.

[Matthew_14]

If I am not mistaken those hi jackers are air shocks. They will work. I've never used them personally. The only thing that I have heard about the hi jackers is that they have a harsher type ride. Antiburn let me know if I am wrong about that.

[Antiburn]

Well the idoit I had halping me put the air line to close to the exaust so the line mented. I cant get mad at him because I shoulda check it anyway. So overall the performance of them right now with no air in them. It feels like a regular shock is in there. The only problem with it is the ride height is very low, but once you put air in it it comes up and looks good. I dont belive that they could be a hard side since its air over shock.

[Matthew_14]

Well once you get it fixed and it is operating like it is supposed to keep us informed and let us know how it handles.

[bodybyfisher]

I think its funny that people think 3600 lbs is a boat. Thats not a boat AT ALL compared to the caddys in the 70's, and the ones on the early 70's were almost 2000 lbs more!! and they were FASTER!!! Dont even think about the 60's.... you might get scared...

[Antiburn]

Well compaired to the 1500lb hondas that a group of 12yr old kids could tip over any caddy before 90 is a boat. From 91 and on they kept getting smaller and "mid sized" cars. THe caddys today are just a top of the line nissan maxamia.

[bodybyfisher]

Lol dude you have no clue as to what you are talking about. I have read many of your posts on here, and its very obvious you dont have much experience. Cadillac? Nissan Maxima? What do you mean? That they are similar in class? or somehow related through the manufacturer's underground dont tell the public parts share system? LMAO btw, I say this not flaming you, because you obviously are putting out some effort, but damn dude do some research first at LEAST.

[tj101]

I think your 91 is a strut front end. Luckily for you they are not active struts which are about $1700 to replace. Just replace them. They are available at NAPA.