Stiff/harsh ride?

[prariedom]

I've been wondering if a seemingly stiff or harsh ride is the first sign of dying struts? I just bought a '99 Lumina base, 138k and seemingly original struts, rides as stiff/harsh as our mid 70's Trans Am. No dive or side sway, but not the smooth but controlled ride of my '00. I've seen the same in the '06 to '14 Impalas - I've driven ones that rode and handled smoothly while same year/miles/trim level examples rode kinda harsh, you could feel every bump and pavement joint, and not new struts on either.

 The current one rides rougher than my 2500 Silverado! It has me curious as to why. 
 
Any ideas?

[prariedom]

I was also thinking there might be more to it. I grew up in the days of shocks and springs so they are the normal suspects. On the other hand, I've seen this disparity when all else appears equal - our '17 Impala went in for warranty covered maintenance, and our loaner was identical - same color, same miles (45k), even the same Firehawks. But where ours drives smooth, that one could be rough and even bone jarring at times. I think that one was in an accident - which makes me think something other that the struts might be the cause.

On the other hand, I had a '86 Ciera wagon I sold in 2006, put over 330k on. Never noticed the struts act odd, not like shocks, and they must've gone south in the 535,000 miles it accumulated. Which increases my curiousity. 
 

   Glitches are always a good time to learn!

[RPE1992GPSE]

Have you tried pushing down on the corners of the vehicle and watched for excessive bouncing?  Typically, if the shock or strut cartridge is no longer dampening vibration, the vehicle will simply bounce on the springs.

Unless, of course, the coil spring is collapsed.

[prariedom]

 I pushed the corners, just goes straight down and right back up but the rears in particular are very stiff, they almost don't want to go down to begin with. The front ones feel a bit more like our '17 Imp.

[Last American Indian]

On 5/26/2022 at 6:09 PM, prariedom said:

 I pushed the corners, just goes straight down and right back up but the rears in particular are very stiff, they almost don't want to go down to begin with. The front ones feel a bit more like our '17 Imp.

With identical components there is only a handful of conclusions. Either something isn’t tightened properly, I.E. torqued. Something is broke or most likely the struts/shocks are bad. The last one is the most likely. Folks act as those struts last a long time! They don’t! Which is why they are stupid, but we’re stuck with them. They are nothing but a shock with a spring wrapped around it. 25,000 miles always was the benchmark for replacing shocks. It hasn’t changed. That applies to struts as well. 
Valving plays the biggest roll in shock/strut performance & you can’t really evaluate that by pushing down on a cars static position. Plus progressive springs actually make it harder to evaluate shocks/struts due to how they work. I have see struts come off a car that appeared fine in performance, but when the springs were removed & then compared to new struts it was obvious how bad the deterioration was. Just my two cents worth.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Last American Indian

[Schurkey]

Shocks used to last ~25,000 miles because they were cheap crap.

GOOD shocks lasted many times that mileage.

Struts on my '90s Luminas and Monte Carlo are still OK, but the mount plates have worn out on the Luminas.