Recently I was motoring along at a brisk pace along a road that had some uneven pavement. Eventually I hit an unavoidable pothole, and heard a loud, sharp "CRACK" or "POP" coming from the rear of the car upon impact.

I pulled over and expected to find something broken, but a quick inspection revealed tires/wheels were fine, and the car drove fine. So I limped home, not noticing any problems.

Unfortunately, ever since then I've been slowly noticing that the car does not respond well to bumps on the freeway at speed. At certain junction points where there is a slight rise in the freeway, the car will not absorb the elevation change very well, and instead transmit it to the car and as a result, I am thrown up out of my seat. (Aside from the inherent danger of unsettling the car, it's actually kind of fun to be tossed up in the air at 80 MPH) She also takes a "landing" rather sharply when there is a small dip down at freeway speeds.

I've been under the car, and don't see any visible damage, and the car drives fine otherwise. My limited automotive knowledge would indicate all signs point to blown shocks, but I thought I'd check here first. Could there be another reason for the problem?

Thanks.
'03 AP1, 50k miles 35k miles lowered on Eibach springs with stock shocks

[Mods, please move to S2000 talk if more appropriate]

 

Sounds like shocks

 

I'm going to have to agree that it also sounds like a blown shock or broken spring.

 

Springs look fine upon visual inspection.

Come to think of it, shocks look fine too (I know they can be blown internally though.)

 

Check the swaybar endlinks just to be sure they are not broken. then do the bounce test on the rear of the car; push down on it, and then let go. If one corner doesn't stabilize and keeps going up and down, then that's the blown shock.

 

Swaybar end links are fine.

I've tried the bounce test, however I can't seem to get the car to move much at all. With all my weight pushing down above the tail light, I can get the car to move maybe 3/4" down, and then it's impossible to tell whether it's oscillating or not.

Is it possible for a blown shock to "lock" and limit the range of travel of the springs?

 

i would also check control arms, ive had the rear upper control arm pop ourt of the ball mount after hitting a dip

 

It's possible the "crack" sound was your rear wheel rubbing against the fender lip. It may have scared you into being ultra-sensitive of handling nuances, leading you to believe that it's handlihng different. Or the pothole could have changed camber, giving you a different feel. Just a thought...

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

The car is definitely handling differently though, it's not my imagination. I'll check the control arms tonight, but I doubt it's that, as I imagine that would render the car mostly undriveable.

She still tracks straight, and constant load turns are fine. The issue is most noticeable when hitting small rises at freeway speeds when I get thrown up into the seatbelt, or small dips at freeway speeds when I "land" in the seat. Basically the suspension isn't absorbing those elevation changes, and the problem is only exacerbated with speed.

 

When my rear upper control arms went out it would still drive in a straight line, you would only notice it when turning and going over bumps in the road