rough ride, particularly over bumps

[beancountertx]

I found that my 2005 Baja has a rough ride when going over bumps. It is good on flat road but uneven roads are not a pleasant ride. Any suggestions?

[bulwnkl]

Try a Buick?

Seriously, I have no clue whether you've had lots of late-model Subarus before or anything, but most of them are not smooth-riding machines. I mean, everything has a smooth ride on nice, smooth pavement. It's when things get rough that you feel the differences. My '05 Baja is not nearly the jack-hammer that my farm pickups were, but it's also nothing so nice as, say, the Buick Lucerne.

Do you know how yours compares (on the same stretch of the same road) to other Bajas? Or to an ~'01 - '03 Legacy GT (that's the same chassis)?

[yellowblaze]

Our 03 started to ride rougher as it got higher miles. Granted, we used it for what it was built for-off roading, mudding, hauling. Could be struts. We just traded it for an 06 because it had 89k and we wanted a Baja for as long as we could that was under warranty. I'd say have the struts, strut mounts and suspension checked out.

Unless...did you just put on new tires? Some ride better than others.

[beancountertx]

Tks to bulwnkl & yellowblaze. Had a Jaguar previously and miss the smooth ride. Will have the struts etc. checked out anyway. Baja came with Michelin Symmetry tires.

peace

[bulwnkl]

It's been a long time since we had a Jaguar (as in late '70s), but no Subaru I've ever been in for any reason is even close to that kind of ride smoothness. Still, haven't driven a Jag for probably a decade or better, so I don't have a good, recent comparison.

As Yellowblaze says, struts could do it.

Let us know what you find/think?

[beancountertx]

Update to bulwnkl & yellowblaze,
I added an OZZBROS tonneau cover-love it! Surprisingly, this has made the ride much smoother. Dealer had checked and verified that struts were good. Onward...

[bulwnkl]

Glad you like your tonneau! Weird about the ride, but good for you.