bouncy ride?

[RYANNEUMAN]

Proud new owner of a 2000 ebony Vehicross. Switched from
a AWD talon. I think it was a great move. This truck is awesome.
Best of both worlds, sporty and functional. One question I have
is whether these trucks are supposed to have such a bouncy ride.
Going over rolling pavement will get this thing bouncing good,
much more than my other truck, a jeep cherokee. Is this normal.

Any insight from fellow VX owners would be great.

thanks.

[Moncha]

Welcome home!!!

You'll probably need to define the "bouncy" part.
(eg. after hitting a bump the front or rear bounces several times...)
The VX has a very stout ride and can be considered rough. My wife swears it beats her to death. Of course she's comparing it to her new Honda Pilot.
If your VX suspension compreses from a bump and just returns with out excessive bounce but, is just rough, it probably is normal.
A good test is to push down on the front or rear a couple of times and see if the movement stops right away or it keeps moving several time up and down before setteling. To test the rear is easy, open door and step up in the cladding and bounce your weight up and down to get a good bounce then stop and see what happens. The front is a little trickier, I open the hood and push down on the sheet metal part just in front of the radiator. I don't like pushing on the hood or the fenders as they alway tend to dent, the VX takes a lot of force to get the suspension to compress.

Also, check the tire pressure. Low pressure tends to make the VX squirrely.

[AlaskaVX]

Ya, what he said, welcome to your new home! Talon, you won't even look back!

[Hotsauce]

I also come from DSM ownership, and am still very active on their IRC channel.

Front shocks on the Vehicross have aweful quality control. Some owners have gone years on originals, several, like me have had them go bad in as little as 2 months.

John C.

[Heraclid]

Mine does a little bit of a pogo thing over uneven pavement, and any road flaws give a little kick. No prob... I used to drive a Dodge Avenger ES with a firm suspension too and the VX seems fine to me. With the right conditions and the short wheelbase mine will "bounce", but not in a way it should not be doing. After recently having had mine off-road running sometimes at fairly good speeds over loose sand, packed sand, and loose rock, I have great respect for the suspension on this vehicle. The Vehicross has unique extruded aluminum shocks with remote reservoirs that won't overheat and they are unlike anything in any other production vehicle to my knowledge. The best thing I can think of is to watch that video of the VX being jumped at something around 60 mph (posted by Vcamilo I think) and how smoothly the VX takes it with apparent loss of good manners.

[psychos2]

i have had both front and rear shocks replaced . front shocks more than once.i noticed mine while cornering and hitting a bump.the front would bounce and the steering wheel would shake.with the rear shocks the back of the vx would jump around the corner. if you go to an empty parking lot and get the vx moving(you do not have to go fast ,just get the vx moving) ,then stop fast .if your vx does a nose dive,the shocks are bad. shawn

[RYANNEUMAN]

THANKS GUYS FOR THE FEEDBACK ON MY RIDE.
I TRIED PUSHING DOWN THE VX IN THE FRONT AND BACK
AND GOT ABOUT THREE AFTERBOUNCES BEFORE SETTLING.
I ALSO TRIED STOPPING HARD IN A PARKING LOT WITH NO
NOSEDIVE HAPPENING. SHOCKS SHOULD BE GOOD FOR NOW.
WHAT AFTERMARKET SHOCKS ARE GOOD FOR THESE TRUCKS
CONSIDERING 90% STREET 10% OFF ROAD.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP, LOCAL SUPPORT KNOWS
VIRTUALLY NOTHING ABOUT THE VX.


RYAN

[AlaskaVX]

I always reccomend the Rancho 9000 adjustables, even though I have never had them, its just a really cool concept of adjusting how your shocks ride for any terrain. Thats what I will put on mine when the shocks go bad.

[SU-Vehi]

Definitly have your shocks checked. I had a very bouncy ride and all four of my shocks were found to be bad. They were replaced for free at 33,000 miles by my dealer.