[palerider]

Folks,

Purchased 06 MADA one week ago and have put 1200 miles on.

Love this vehicle- handling, look, interior. Not crazy about the stiffness of ride but the handling makes up for it.

HOWEVER- one complaint. Over seams in bridges and overpasses and over certain rough roads the Mada seems to want to take off in a different direction than it is supposed to go. Scary sometimes. It also seems like they forgot to put shocks in my car (may be related to above).

RoughQ talked about the improvements with shocks and tires so here are my questions:

RE tires- we all know the Contis suck. We have two major choices - Michelin Cross terrains or BFG. Which is better if you want stability over imperfections etc. in road? I am less concerned about handling although I assume both will improve over Contis.

RE shocks: I have auto level in rear but I will never tow with this vehicle (used for client carting around). Thus can I put four new shocks in at all four corners? Do I need springs also?

I want to keep the car- perfect for me. I traded in fx45 and do not miss at all but this "crashing" over drain holes, seams etc. has rattled my kidneys to the point of bleeding.

Thanks.

 

[92TripleBlack]

Folks,

Purchased 06 MADA one week ago and have put 1200 miles on.

Love this vehicle- handling, look, interior. Not crazy about the stiffness of ride but the handling makes up for it.

HOWEVER- one complaint. Over seams in bridges and overpasses and over certain rough roads the Mada seems to want to take off in a different direction than it is supposed to go. Scary sometimes. It also seems like they forgot to put shocks in my car (may be related to above).

RoughQ talked about the improvements with shocks and tires so here are my questions:

RE tires- we all know the Contis suck. We have two major choices - Michelin Cross terrains or BFG. Which is better if you want stability over imperfections etc. in road? I am less concerned about handling although I assume both will improve over Contis.

RE shocks: I have auto level in rear but I will never tow with this vehicle (used for client carting around). Thus can I put four new shocks in at all four corners? Do I need springs also?

I want to keep the car- perfect for me. I traded in fx45 and do not miss at all but this "crashing" over drain holes, seams etc. has rattled my kidneys to the point of bleeding.

Thanks.

Just to state the obvious first, did you rule out truck ruts, the metal grates on some bridges that make all tires feel squirley, etc. Assuming you did, the tires you could get as replacements are Michelin Cross Terrain SUV if you want all season, BFG AT if you want all terrain, or get different size rims if you want better tires.

Some tires I know nothing about:
Kumho Road Venture AT KL/78 comes in 265-70-18
Geolander H/T-S comes in 275-65-18 and 285-60-18 which are slightly shorter(1/2") and a little wider (1/2" - 1")
Yokohama AVS S/T again in 285-60-18
Not much else out there.

As for shocks, someone had a set of Ranchos installed that were adjustable. I'm looking a those for me. Here's the link. You don't need springs.
http://www.gorancho.com/products/accessories/RS9000RCX.stm

Last, you may want to consider different tire sizes. I love mine and they work well. No complaints. Regardless, you will notice signifigant improvement when you swap tires. Good luck.