Hello, A couple of questions about my new to me 2001 550 with 12,000 miles on it. The suspension is quite rough. It is nice on the highway, but around town it is very noisy and overly firm. I don't mind firm, but it seems to crash and bang over bumps, for lack of a better term. There right rear is especially noisy and sounds like something is loose, it clunks at low speeds. I'm pretty sure most of this is because of the shock mounts. First question: I am thinking of having my shocks rebuilt over the winter, seems pretty straight forward to remove them from the car, but I wonder if when the weight is off the wheels and the suspension is at full "droop", are the shocks/springs still loaded or are they fully extended? Second question: My left front shock rod/actuator is twisting of course, I see in the parts list diagram there are 2 shock mounts, and old solution and a new. Does the new solution #47 in the diagram address the turning shock rod? I understand the mount rubber can be modified to address the turning issue. I am pretty sure all my shock mounts, especially the rears need to be replaced, or better yet modified for a better and quieter ride as I have seen recommended in a few other threads on this forum. I remember reading somewhere that the guy doing the shock mount modifications (Is it ferraridriver?) is no longer doing this, but Delta Vee will now do the same modifications. Is this correct? I guess it would be best to modify all 4 mounts for the best results, especially if I am going to have the shocks rebuilt anyways, and with the added bonus of not having to keep turning the front actuators anymore? Last question: Do the bushing in these cars tend to wear out more from age or use? Or both? The car has low mileage, but it is 13 years old. The bushings all look good (as much as you can tell looking at an assembled suspension) but I wonder if it isn't just good sense to change all the bushings as well if I'm going to do the shocks and mounts. Thanks for your help and advice. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bushings yes will fail and add to your symptoms. Delta vee can do it all rebuild and do the MSW/Ferraridriver shock mount mods. Shock/spring on all 4 can be removed without spring compressor or dangerous spring flying around room. You can send DV the entire shock spring package but it is more weight. Ask DeltaVee because I'm not sure if there are other spring rates and many cars over the years have had different springs placed. shock valving needs to be done knowing the spring rates and DV may want the springs to know how to valve the shocks. Or he may just valve them stock so that's why you need to call him and ask what he wants. He can send the package back so that your ride heights and corner balance do not change but ideally you would put all this stuff back on and reset ride heights, rebalance the car and align it. But this is not a racecar but a GT car so you have to decide how precise you will be with it. There are very positive dividends to a good suspension that will make your car feel like new. Most people use superformance bushings because of cost. There are not specs for hardness of oem rubber over superformance so you don't really know what you will get but a new SF is better than a worn OEM so any improvement is welcome.
I contacted Deltavee about the shock mount mod and unfortunately they don't do it anymore. They are coming out with a shock mount of their own, so that you don't have to send them yours, but it won't be ready for a year. Anybody know where else I may get it done? I recall in a post that the fix originated from another member who passed it onto Delta Vee, but can't seem to find the thread. I am new to the 550 and have spent so much time reading all the excellent content that I can't seem to keep track of where everything is. I love my 550, but the ride is really too rough for a GT car or my old rear end.
Contact Ferraridriver (Dave) here on the forum. He developed the shock mount mod that Delta Vee used to do. Not sure if he can help, but if anyone can he can. I did all 4 corners on mine and it was the best money I spent. Four years and 20,000 miles later, and no issues with the modified mounts.
Stu- Bilsteins caused the same problems but there were no steel to steel connections on the shock/spring mounts. That is where a good chunk of the crashing and banging noise comes from on a 550. Fine when new, but after the joints wear...
Terry, I had this problem really bad so I bought two new rear mounts and while it helped a little the harshness and banging like something was rattling around in the trunk was still there. That's why I started all this and modified my old mounts then sold the new ones to someone in Hong Kong as I recall. I remember talking to Dave Helms about this and he told me a story of when he disassembled a set of front mounts, packed the bearings in heavy grease, re-assembled and had someone drive the 550 around the parking lot with Dave spread eagled over the engine and feeling the mounts as the car went over small bumps. This confirmed to him where the problem lay. BTW the grease didn't help. That visual has always made me smile. It's important to realize that this modification only affects the first few millimeters of shock travel so the handling is not really affected much although it does feel more compliant. Another thing I thought important was that the 550 was the only car, except for the 355 Challenge, in Ferrari's lineup that employed a metal to metal shock mount and it was changed with the 575. The genesis of the idea came from my many years of experience with Bilsteins and their mounts while I owned a repair shop dealing mostly with Mercedes which used Bilsteins exclusively.
Dave- I did not realize they were bad even when new. Makes you wonder what Ferrari was thinking (or not thinking). But we all understand most of the OT&E on Ferraris, especially the relatively low production V12s, is done by the owners. On the F355, they fixed the valve guides towards the end of production (late CY 97). They never bothered on the V12s until the 575M came out four years later.
They're spherical bearing mounts AKA "pillow ball mounts" and are the hot setup for the Japanese & Beemer hotrod crowd........right up until the banging noises begin. Then when they read the fine print from Tein or the other suppliers, they learn that they require periodic replacement due to wear........ Same with Heim or Aurora spherical rod ends for the steering links. These things have NO place on any street car, much less a Ferrari flagship GT.
