Does your car RIDE like a Cadillac

[60eldo]

    Driving my car I think it should ride smooth and quiet like a cadillac should. But when I drive her I can feel and hear every even small bump in the road, bang bang ,and its annoying. Im thinking its my tires, Toyo. Next shocks, springs, or maybe its just an old car. Hows your ride.

[Carfreak]

Old knee action shocks, old tires, old suspension but YES our 1942 Series 67 still drives like a Cadillac. 

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Jon
If you return ALL the suspension, steering, body mounts and secure all hanging parts back to as new condition IT WILL ride like a Cadillac.
Greg Surfas

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Fairly nice for a 54 year old body with +100K on the clock.
Diamond Back Classics, all new body springs, new shocks, new steering, mounts, etc.
There are still some occasional squeaks and rattles, the radio works now so I don't notice it.

[David Greenburg]

'59-'60's can be prone to rattles; this was noted even back when they were new. Long panels, hardtop with minimal structural support etc etc.  That said, if you're running radials it will will ride more harshly, especially if you have them inflated to typical radial pressures. 

[64\/54Cadillacking]

I do believe tires make a massive difference in how any car rides. In my experience owning these old boats, putting radial tires on a car that is originally designed for bias-ply, definitely makes our cars ride harsh where you do feel every little bump and crack on the road. The suspension doesn't act as complaint over rougher surfaces either.

Also, tires made today aren't as soft riding like they used to be, this goes for radials as well.

A perfect example of this is when I used to own a '61 Lincoln Continental many years ago. When I first bought the car, the previous owner had put on some radial WW's and the car rode horribly! It handled extremely well, but the ride quality was pretty bad, it created rattles in the interior, not Lincoln like at all as I thought something was terribly wrong with the suspension.

Soon after, I installed a set of Denman Classic WW tires which aren't made anymore unfortunately because those were really nice looking tires for not much money. Anyway, those new bias-plys transformed how the Lincoln rode.

Over the same exact crappy streets where I live, the Lincoln glided over those rough patches with zero noticeable roughness or rattles. I could barely feel potholes and big bumps, so I can firmly say changing your tires back to a set of bias-ply will help improve the ride quality tremendously, although the handling will suffer. By the 70's, Cadillac including other makes switched over to radials thus changing the suspension components and body structure to ride smooth with the new radials. Cadillacs from the early days all the way up into the late 60's were all engineered to be driven on bias-plys.

Another culprit for a rough ride is your control arm bushings and strut rod bushings. If they are in bad shape or even have any sort of cracking, that will cause the inability for the bushings to do its job which is to absorb road shock.

[V63]

Air pressure is a lot of the problem today, anytime air is "checked" in any service situation, they gas them up to 45# , I can feel it immediately and can't wait to get home and get them into posted recommendations.

I remember 'new' radial tires and had a 1974 Cadillac with under 10k miles ...original tires. WOW what a difference they were, just as smooth and quiet as could be. Beyond any expectations.

The "new" optional radial tires in  (ie: 1974) were at VERY low posted pressure because the engineers were more fixated on ride quality. Posted were Like 22 pounds?  if memory serves, they actually look concerningly low pressure today, the sides bulged at contact and that was 'accepted' as a radial tire look at the time.

In 1979 things started to change with improving fuel economy and that's when the posted tire pressures started creeping up.

It is my opinion that radial tires do help older cars driving sensation (bias ply originally) but they just "look" radial and if your car does NOT have power steering radials makes parking much worse. Been there with 40's Cadillacs.

If you look at the foot print of a period 1940's bias ply tire it's like a 4" square  foot print but if you change to radials it is more than double that.

[V63]

Speaking of Cadillac ride, I would offer 1974-1978 as the pinnacle of Cadillac quietness and ride. If you read 1974 literature there is significant mention of advancements that particular year in quietness and smoothness. Despite appearances (to me)  1979 simply did not seem quite as good as earlier. Had a few 1987-89 brougham...nice...but lacking the Cadillac performance and heft.

I have had many Lincoln's 1970's - 90's and their lack of variable ratio steering until 1980? Was a deal breaker but quiet and ride was extremely nice. 1985-89 Lincoln town cars were very nice... I'd suggest better than Cadillac in the 1980's , 1975 LTD with radials was EXTREMELY nice, however, lacking variable ratio steering

I had a 1997 Lincoln LSC and that was a wonderful car and ford 'nailed it' as to full air suspension with ride quality

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

When I purchased my '60 CDV, it was fitted with Remington Cross Ply tyres and the car handled like a drunken idiot.   It was all over the place, and very hard to drive.

I changed to Bridgestone Radials, and the improved ride and handling improvement was above and beyond what I expected.

As has been said, the only way to get that "Ocean Liner" comfort is to get rid of Gas Shockers, and lower the tyre pressures to the factory recommendations.   When I had my '72 Eldo Coupe, I set the fronts on 24 and the rears on 17, and the ride was nice and smooth, BUT, the handling was way too loose for me.   So, up to 35 Front and 30 rear, and had to put up with the hard ride.   No tyre should be run at 17 on a 2 1/4 Ton vehicle, unless one was driving across sand dunes.

Bruce.

[64\/54Cadillacking]

I totally forgot about gas shocks. That's also a very important aspect on why someone could feel "every little bump" in the road, or when driving over railroad tracks, your teeth will fall out of your mouth vs just hearing a nice "dun dunk" with no vibrations entering the cabin if regular hydraulic shocks were installed.

Gas shocks do and will cause a harsh ride for our Cads that weren't originally designed for them. I find that cheap ole blue Monroe-Matic shocks are very low pressure and are close to being a "non-gas shock" you'll find at the moment. Tire pressure is another great point. It's always hard to find that "sweet spot" but I tend to run my all my cars tire pressure slightly under factory recommendations. So if the recommended pressure is 33 psi, I'll drop it to 30 or 29 psi.

On my modern daily driver Lexus LS, it's super short 50 series tires doesn't allow me to lower the tire pressure too much as there's not much rubber between the road, plus the damn low tire pressure warning light will stay on until I pump up the tires back to 33 psi. But it's air ride suspension make up for the thin sidewall as the car rides and glides like an old floaty Cadillac.

[James Landi]

"Air pressure is a lot of the problem today, anytime air is "checked" in any service situation, they gas them up to 45# , I can feel it immediately and can't wait to get home and get them into posted recommendations."


Yes, it's all about tire pressure... for our old boats that I cruise in the back roads of Maine, I use the "factory settings."  Now I know you're BREAKING all the rules-- potential blow outs, rapid tire wear, increased gas consumption. HOWEVER a 10 psi difference makes all the difference.  If I'm taking the car on route 95, pressure up the tires. (if you live in heavy traffic areas with limited access roads, I'd endure the bumps-- but I've been daily driving 50's and 60's Cadillacs from 1965 through 1985 involving long commutes, with under inflated radials and never experienced tire failure)   As the old advertisement used to intone, "Try it, you'll like it."

[Jon S]

Jon
If you return ALL the suspension, steering, body mounts and secure all hanging parts back to as new condition IT WILL ride like a Cadillac.
Greg Surfas

My bought brand new 1958 rode much better when my father changed the original shock absorbers to Monroe and rode even better when he replaced the bias ply tires with Radial tires

[76Caddy]

In one word--Yes.  My Brougham still has original springs and still functioning ALC with original shocks and just floats down any road.  The "new" XT5 is a pleasure to drive and floats down the road also. 


Tim   

[Michael Petti]

I agree with David Greenburg. My 6o was neglected for a long time before I got it. I sounded like a metal coffee can full of screws going down the road, even after new tires and balancing. I went through the whole car and found missing (rusted out) trim clips, fender mounting bolts loose, especially at bottom, loose bolts holding the grill on and there are a lot of them. Other rattles were a loose antenna and mis adjusted windows, and door latches. After putting new shocks on and fixing the rattles and rebalancing the tires, it runs down the road like the big Caddie she is, unless it's a very rough road. Took 3 seasons to figure this all out. Go through your car and check everything, even look for "junk" in the trunk. A loose jack and spare can make noise.

[jwwseville60]

No way Im going to radials in my 47 coupe.
I never want to lose those shiny Sombreros...

[David Greenburg]

I suppose I should experiment with tire pressures closer to the original spec.  I've been running my radial around 30-31. Not too concerned about increased tire wear. Tires are going to age out before they wear out.

[gkhashem]

That's why there is nothing like a low mileage original, well maintained car. One that was meticulously cared for, never left outside in the elements, never driven in rain, never driven in snow. A car that has never been taken apart as in a frame up restoration.

With that being said the major source of noises after that would be the window rubber. I have found that the few noises in the 1959 I had and the 1960 I now have result from dried out rubber and the less than tight seal of the glass to the body.  Which causes some air noise or the rattle if you hit a good bump.

Along with replacing the shocks, tires, suspension rubber will go a long way towards restoring that ride.

You cannot expect a new car performance if the car has been neglected or worn out.

Are you as fit after 65 years as when you were 18?  Well why expect the car to be?

[60eldo]

Some great points. Example, I never knew that a bias ply tire gave a softer ride. I didnt even know they still made them. LOL. But I think my problem is the Toyo tires. I just read that they are a harder rubber, and more for preformance than ride. I may need shocks as well. I have a 2003 GMC pick up truck that runs and rides like I wish my cadillac did. Ever wonder why they put the man hole covers down 2 inches and right where your tire hits. Would it make sence to put them on the dotted line or in between your tires where you wouldnt hit them. But that makes to much sense.

[64\/54Cadillacking]

I've gotten my Bias Plys from Lucas Classic tires out of Long Beach Ca. They make a nice set of Royaltons, too bad they don't offer a 2.5-3 inch WW. They used to offer the 3 inch which looks good on many 40's-60's Cads but they only offer the 4 inch for now. Yes, they do ride softer than Radials, but your handling will suffer big time if your suspension and steering components aren't in good shape.

I would never put Toyo tires on my classics. If you're still considering a new set of WW tires but are radials, you should check out Vogue WW's. Discount tire sells them, and I am considering them when I replace the WW tires that are on my Lincoln's. They look super nice too and aren't outrageously expensive like American Classic tires.

Seriously! The man hole covers are always like that lol. 2-3 inches deep and "bam"!! That's the worst feeling when you hit them. The old cars got it right vs new cars with tiny sidewalls, I can't imagine the damage the wheels take over time hitting man hole covers over and over again. While our old Cads just glide right over them. 😎

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Some great points. Example, I never knew that a bias ply tire gave a softer ride.....

The first radials were nearly as soft as the Cross Plies, but it was with the advent of the Steel Belted Radial Tyre construction that things got hard.

Bruce.