# Bottoming out...



## jlee1469 (Dec 4, 2003)

Yes I know the definition, yes i know its not good... yes I did search...

but how would one know if you are?

I recently put on a set of GCs and AGXs (both used), rear motiv mounts and bumpstops










i have about a 2 finger gap on front and the rears are almost tucked (they were even before i put back my heavy system)

i love the handling and the car is way more fun to drive but i know that the car is lowered too much and there must be very little suspension travel, no need to lecture me about it cause i've read a lot here and on the internet.

so back to the original question... how do you know if you're bottoming out? are there symptoms i can feel? other than the ride being a little harsh, its what i expected from any lowering.


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

heres a way for you to feel VIOLENT bottoming out and you will know if a car ever does after that;
1. rent a trail blazer EXT
2. take it out on the sand
3. drive into the other car ruts instead of driving with them (or any other repetitive bumps)
4. feel the suspension as follows; compress, SLAM, decompress, compress, SLAM. decompress, on and on.
5. laugh wildly as you learn a life lesson on suspension.

if you have koni bump stops than you wont notice it (unless you know how it feels) but with hard bump stops it will feel like you are hitting something. your suspension is compressing and then abruptly stops.


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## himbo (Sep 20, 2003)

how low is that??? that looks bangin, more pix please. how hard are the shocks set at? that me be the reason you feel like they are bottoming out


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

Pete, please post CONSTRUCTIVE posts here. That helped this guy in no way shape or form.

bottoming out.. when you hit large bumps, you'll definitely feel it. there will be no need to describe it. you'll know when it happens.

also look at your bumpstops (please tell me you have them) and make sure they're not being beaten to death.

one other quick and easy way to check is to wrap a zip tie around the strut shaft then go for a drive. as the suspension compresses, it'll push the zip tie up the shaft. then go back home and jack the car back up.. see where the zip tie is now. if it's still on the shaft, you should be okay. if it's jammed up into the bump stop, then you need to raise the car, change your springs, or change your shock settings.


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

1.6pete said:


> 4. feel the suspension as follows; compress, SLAM, decompress, compress, SLAM. decompress, on and on.


sorry matt, but i have read this is the best way to "test" suspension travel. ride your car over equally spaced bumps. like car ruts or closely spaced bridge trusses.


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## jlee1469 (Dec 4, 2003)

Matt93SE said:


> Pete, please post CONSTRUCTIVE posts here. That helped this guy in no way shape or form.
> 
> bottoming out.. when you hit large bumps, you'll definitely feel it. there will be no need to describe it. you'll know when it happens.
> 
> ...


thanks for the input matt... yes i have the koni bumpstops (the yellow things), honestly i guess i haven't bottomed out yet because my car feels absolutely normal. i do 3 mph on speed bumps and i dont feel anything out of the ordinary. currently my damper settings for the agx are 2f/4r cause i did a search and thats the best for daily driving. i'll try the zip tie method when i have a chance to take my wheels off.

hehe pete maybe i'll try that sometime =p


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

1.6pete said:


> sorry matt, but i have read this is the best way to "test" suspension travel. ride your car over equally spaced bumps. like car ruts or closely spaced bridge trusses.



Pete, what you described in the previous post was not even the same thing as what you just now mentioned. That's a real good way to end up paying several thouand bucks to repair a car that doesn't belong to you.
it's the best way to completely ruin shocks- especially adjustable ones.. If you're already bottoming out, then the last thing you want to do is continually slam the strut shaft into the bottom of the body. (Koni adjustables have many small parts on the ends of the shafts, and bottoming them out hard- even once- can ruin the shock and it's not covered under warranty.) I've blown $1000 worth of shocks from stuff like that before I figured out what was wrong.


Just a bit of personal advice here... please leave sarcasm and jokes out of threads that require technical answers. someone that doesn't know you're joking could end up doing lots of damage (like that goober on VWVortex that told another guy to use a scotch brite pad to remove stubborn bird crap from his paint)....


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