mildly clangy suspension...bushings? shocks? just normal?

[rjd2]

Hey all, I was out for a drive last week, and realized that the suspension on my car has always felt just a tad bit....clangy? it's not metal-on-metal clangy, but i dunno....quasi-not-right, i guess you could call it. looking into the winter, and considering this as a project. is this just a normal function of the car? what's out there for options? i am looking at the parts diagram on the delorean site, and it appears that bushings are available. are folks doing coil over upgrades, or replacing bushings, or what? wanted to gauge both the upgrades folks have done, as well as any noticed improvements, or lack thereof....thanks for the feedback!!!

Ps-against it's reputation, my Delorean once sorted has proved to be a quite reliable car. Fires EVERY time on the 3rd or 4th crank, holds idle, really a fun fun car to own and drive....

[dmcman73]

You might have worn out bushings where the metal sleeve separates from the rubber. If you're pulling the front suspension and want to upgrade it:
- Lower control arm supports. Both DeloreanGO and DeLorean Industries make them, they are different but function the same
https://www.deloreango.com/us/front-lower-arm-support-kit-pair.html
https://deloreanindustries.com/delorean-spec-front-lower-arm-support/
- New rubber bushings for the Lower control arm. There are reports that the remade ones that DeloreanGO (which are made by Delorean Europe) are not top quality and there are reports of them failing, best to use NOS from Delorean Houston for the LCA rubber bushing.
- Box your Lower control arms
- Inspect your lower and upper ball joints and replace if needed
- Use poly bushings for the sway bars all around

As for the shocks, there are a few coil over options that people like to use, you'll get all different answers as to which are better. There are the SPAX and QA1, that are coil overs. You also have AVO's and Eibach's which are not coil over. Then there are the shocks from Delorean Europe that they made to be just like the stock shocks in ride.

[Patrick C]

Hey all, I was out for a drive last week, and realized that the suspension on my car has always felt just a tad bit....clangy? it's not metal-on-metal clangy, but i dunno....quasi-not-right, i guess you could call it. looking into the winter, and considering this as a project. is this just a normal function of the car? what's out there for options? i am looking at the parts diagram on the delorean site, and it appears that bushings are available. are folks doing coil over upgrades, or replacing bushings, or what? wanted to gauge both the upgrades folks have done, as well as any noticed improvements, or lack thereof....thanks for the feedback!!!

Ps-against it's reputation, my Delorean once sorted has proved to be a quite reliable car. Fires EVERY time on the 3rd or 4th crank, holds idle, really a fun fun car to own and drive....

Its not unusual for the front springs to be a bit noisy and rub on the frame a bit, generating noise. There is a certain orientation they can be rotated to that tends to make it a little bit better.

[David T]

Its not unusual for the front springs to be a bit noisy and rub on the frame a bit, generating noise. There is a certain orientation they can be rotated to that tends to make it a little bit better.

Or the spring perches may just need some lubrication. The springs tend to move around a bit as the suspension goes up and down. Inspect the TAB's and the mounts. Make sure the recalls have been done. Lubricate all of the moving parts and see if that helps and inspect things while you are under there. Look for anything bent, broken, missing, etc.

[rjd2]

awesome info, thanks all!!!

[Hill Valley PD]

I have Eibach on my car and had a similar problem last year where my passenger side would clunk on bumps. Checked everything and lubricated everything but still there. Suspension was done in 2012 approximately 6K miles ago. Resorted to removing shock, inspecting it, and putting it back on. That fixed it 90%. I have heard that these cars aren't always exactly even on both sides, and I would say my passenger side is maybe 1/4 - 1/5 inch lower than my driver's side.