VE suspension

[greenacc]

The suspension components seem to be fairly durable in my experience. I had my old SV6 from 55k kms to 300k kms and never replaced anything suspension wise, no strut tops, no bushes, nothing. Still tracked straight and true when I got rid of it and no excessive tyre wear.

One caveat I would add though is I’m fastidious with not running into anything like parking bump stops or going fast over speed bumps etc. If you are sympathetic to your suspension it will last a lot longer.

Also you don’t need a wheel alignment every few months like the tyre shops try and tell you. If you don’t run into stuff and everything is tracking fine then it’s all ok.

That’s how I’ve always done it for any of my cars but one of the YouTube channels I regularly watch who is an ex-Toyota dealer mechanic confirmed what I’ve always thought, normally the only way the geometry changes is through wear over a long timeframe and it doesn’t just go to shite in six months. I only get a wheel alignment when I’m buying new tyres, so maybe every 40k kms or so.

I would put my bet on the fact that your car was riding like crap after 300k compared to the ride when it was new.
I replaced the original junk in my VE with some nice BOGE struts at around 150k. It rode like Rolls Royce after that. Massive difference.

 

[J_D 2.0]

My strut bushes were buggard after no more than 200k. The arm bushes were fine, the BJs were a tiny bit loose. Victorian highways are the worst I have ever driven on and it's very hard to dodge every hole in the road no matter how hard you try.

The strut tops can cop more of a flogging depending on the damper rate. My old SV6 had a lot less aggressive damper rate than my SSV does, although in its later years that was most likely because the dampers were flogged out at that point.

 

[losh1971]

My dampers were buggard on the front when I replaced them at around 200k and they weren't original I don't think.

 

[J_D 2.0]

I would put my bet on the fact that your car was riding like crap after 300k compared to the ride when it was new.
I replaced the original junk in my VE with some nice BOGE struts at around 150k. It rode like Rolls Royce after that. Massive difference.

It still rode fine and was perfectly serviceable, unlike every Toyota ever made that starts bouncing around after about 100k kms because it’s got zero damping left.

No doubt I could have got better handling out of it if I would have changed the struts and springs out but it still did the job fine and damping was within tolerance (bounce by hand and it returns within one cycle).

 

[vc commodore]

The reason not to use V8 springs, is they are designed to take the weight of an 8, so using them on a 6 will cause the front of the car to sit higher up than it should

Even though I do alignments for a living, the best advise I can give is, keep an eye on tyre wear....In particular edge wear...If there are no signs of edge wear, don't waste your money getting an alignment done, even though when I'm at work, I recommend every 10,000K....

 

[greenacc]

It still rode fine and was perfectly serviceable, unlike every Toyota ever made that starts bouncing around after about 100k kms because it’s got zero damping left.

No doubt I could have got better handling out of it if I would have changed the struts and springs out but it still did the job fine and damping was within tolerance (bounce by hand and it returns within one cycle).

Maybe if you are 120kg or more the bounce test might work a tiny bit but personally I think the bounce test became useless around the time the VP Commodore was made. The VE is so heavy I can't bounce it by hand so it was a waste of time even trying.
It just amazes me how many cars must be out there driving around with absolutely cactus suspension and their owners convince themselves everything is fine, she's just getting older to avoid spending 500 buckaroos (diy) and have it ride properly.
I did the VE and a Subaru at the same time, around the same ks. The difference before and after was staggering on both.

 

[J_D 2.0]

The VE is so heavy I can't bounce it by hand so it was a waste of time even trying.

The weight of the car doesn’t really have that much to do with it. The spring and damper rates are what makes it more difficult to bounce the car, not the weight.

The VE in SV6 or SSV format with FE2 suspension doesn’t have very soft suspension in the first place so the dampers aren’t really being ”overworked” in my estimation.

I did change out the springs and dampers on the SSV not long after I got it as I didn’t buy a V8 to drive it like a grandpa so handling became more important to me.

Even with the “flogged out suspension” on my old SV6 it probably still would have handled better than 90% of the boats on the road. Nearly everything on the road now is a top heavy SUV that keels over worse than a Citroen 2CV if it does more than 5kph around a corner.

 

[losh1971]

I didn't know my front suspension was buggard until I pulled it apart. Two garages, one passed it twice as being fine and that same one of those is a registered inspection station.

 

[daniel82384]

They will be ok it they are an ok brand. Replace the other bits like strut bush, boots and bump stops while you're at it,

Yes make sure you replace the strut top bushes. That is likely part of the rattle noise you have.
And don't use V8 springs in a V6.
Do you know anyone with a set of spring compressors who can swap the springs over properly?

Thanks mate. How can you tell if the springs are no good? Theyre the original set so unsure if it'd be wise to transfer them onto a new strut.

 

[lmoengnr]

Thanks mate. How can you tell if the springs are no good? Theyre the original set so unsure if it'd be wise to transfer them onto a new strut.

If the suspension hasn't sagged much, the springs should be fine.