Hi to all.
It's my first time posting here so I hope this is the right place.
I recently bought a Stilo 1.9 JTD 5 door, not sure of the engine power. It's a great car, but the suspension feels a bit 'old' and loose. It copes with some rough stuff well, but is very loud over potholes and medium sized bumps.
I'd ideally like to tighten the whole thing up and get it as close to stock as possible.
I'm not talking about a sporty upgrade, just getting the car as 'new feeling' as possible.
Can anyone point me in the right direction about what parts I might need, and where to get them, and really whether it's worth it or whether I should just learn to live with it.
Cheers in advance
Ollie

Much depends on a couple of things really, will you be keeping the car for some time & are you handy with the spanners, if you are Shop4parts are a decent start. You could go the hole hog & replace shocks & springs & obviously while your there you must check bushes, track rod ends, wishbones etc, the list goes on &on. Rust will be your worst enemy.

It all depends how much cash you want to splash. going down the garage route will cost. First of all have a look under the car & check what's tired & really needs replacing. If cost is a problem, you may want to do things gradually. Best of luck.

Thanks for that, a guy had a look today and has identified at least one part that is tired.

I suspect your rear bushes will be well shot by now. Any undertaking on the old girl will have one major obstacle...rust! By the sounds of things you're not that accustomed to DIY so as I said before It'll cost, not unless you have a friend as a mechanic who charges mate rates.

Thanks for that Jimboy. If you have a look, I've just posted pictures of what I think might be the offending article in another thread.
Maybe that could help with narrowing down what the problem might be?

I've seen the pictures & to be frank are not the best. No doubt A Stilo owner will be along & give more hands on advise, but I suspect replacing the rear bushes will transform your car. Without seeing & feeling the car in the flesh it's pure guesswork on my behalf, but on any old car any suspension refresh will be a benefit.

If you replace the rear axle bushes and the rear dampers, then that will make a lot of difference. Clonks or squeaks from the rear is usually knackered bushes.

It's less usual for the damper bushes to fail.. but once you have the wheels off you'll be able to see what kind of state they're in.

Axle bushes will cost around £350 to have done for you... but shop around. Mine cost me £200 but I supplied the bushes.



Ralf S.