I've been chasing a gremlin in my suspension for the better part of a year, specifically on the left front. I've replaced the upper control arms, the lower control arm bushings, and struts to no avail and, if anything, the ride is worse than when I bought it. My car feels almost like a jeep over bumps or a race car, not absorbing anything. The only thing I can maybe think of at this point is that the lower left control arm bushing may be bad (this is the only part I had a mechanic install and this was after another shop pressed in OEM bushings that failed within 100 miles, the replacement bushings came pre-installed in a steel bracket and I suspect that they may have been aftermarket) or may have been installed and torqued without the car being at ride height. Any ideas what might be going on?

 

When the struts were replaced did you also replace the strut mounts?
If so, did you use genuine OE mounts?

Another vulnerable part is the lower ball joint.

 

are you using OEM parts, or junk from Autozone ?? if it's the latter, you'll probably have a better ride if you put your old OEM stuff back on than Autozone/ Oreillys /etc

 

I have unfortunately not used OEM parts, was planning on doing a full rebuild in a year or two with OEM parts once I'm able to. My rear struts are still OEM as mechanics noted that they were leaking but didn't need to be done as soon as the fronts, but I'm wondering if somehow they could be contributing to the issue as the car does seem to ride rather low at the back.