How much to cut off pinion bump stop?

1997GT4.6 · Aug 19, 2013

Hey guys, I have H&R SS springs and recently installed weight jacker LCAs to lower it an extra inch. The car still sits higher than I have seen others sit with the set up. Which is really annoying but that's not my question.

So I cut the bump stop that H&R sent with their springs 1" to accommodate the 1" drop with the LCAs. I did this by trial and error little by little. Ride progressively got better. But it still rides like crap! Not enough suspension travel or something. Bumpy and just crappy. Its nerve wrecking! Its making me tired of driving this old heap.

Question is: How much should I cut off the pinion snubber? I don't want to over cut and have to buy a new one. Its only about 1.25" in height right now since I cut off 1".

Shocks are less than a year old and they are bilsteins. Although, my car destroyed 3 sets of rear and front shocks within a year, no idea why.

330CubeGt · Aug 20, 2013

Never ran a bump stop and never had issues...

1997GT4.6 · Aug 20, 2013

Really? Shocks have never gone past their level of travel? If that makes sense. Which actually if I think about it, they shouldn't since they have enough travel for stock height. So they should be able to control the rebound of a shorter spring. And they should have internal bump stops... Hmm makes sense.

Thanks for your input 330cube!

330CubeGt · Aug 20, 2013

Yessir, its almost impossible for the suspension to compress far enough to hurt anything or for the housing of the rear to hit the floor, maybe if you had 4 people in the car a full tank and a trunk stuffed with things often I wouldn't stress it.Just my opinion.

OnyxCobra · Aug 20, 2013

cutting the pinion snubber down is not going to improve your ride quality, the car isn't low enough to where it would be riding on it.

1997GT4.6 · Aug 20, 2013

Interesting and that makes sense 330. Haha no fat chicks so we're okay! lol

Onyx, oddly, the pinion snubber looks like its taking a beating. As if my shocks were blown. I'm almost starting to suspect that last part. Too early for bilsteins to go out. And actually the ride has been improving little by little as I have been cutting a .25" at a time off the snubber. Originally it a small dip would make you bounce up in your seat and have the seat belt burried deep in your stomach. Odd.

OnyxCobra · Aug 20, 2013

I think it's in your head, your car isn't that low to where it would be riding on the snubber and that's the only way it would be ruining your ride. If it was bottoming out over huge bumps you'd hear/feel it, and that's not to say it's not, but in that case cutting it down isn't going to change the ride.

rz5.0 · Aug 20, 2013

Take it completly out. See if it makes a difference. Doubt you will. cus that stop is not for ride quality. But never hurts to try.

Slykin · Aug 20, 2013

When I switched to coil overs I couldn't figure out why my ride was SO DAMN BUMPY and then I removed the pinion snubber... completely fixed the issue. But, I have internal bumpstops in my shocks, so beware if you don't. Also, my car's really low.

Wichers123 · Aug 20, 2013

I say it's your shocks. When you go loooow you have to switch to fox body struts. They are shorter so the travel is correct.

Slykin · Aug 20, 2013

Wichers123 said:
I say it's your shocks. When you go loooow you have to switch to fox body struts. They are shorter so the travel is correct.

If that's the case then really he probably needs stiffer springs. I'm running real low on sn95 shocks and it's no problem.

Wichers123 · Aug 20, 2013

Ok if you say so.

OnyxCobra · Aug 20, 2013

I'm dropped like 2.5" in the rear and I don't think I've ever hit my pinion snubber... i also have SN95 struts with no problems so far, and a great ride to boot.

1997GT4.6 · Aug 20, 2013

OnyxCobra said:
I think it's in your head, your car isn't that low to where it would be riding on the snubber and that's the only way it would be ruining your ride. If it was bottoming out over huge bumps you'd hear/feel it, and that's not to say it's not, but in that case cutting it down isn't going to change the ride.

I think you are misunderstanding me. And yes the car is bottoming out over dips and bumps. I can tell its riding the snubber bc the snubber is smashed a bit and there's a dust impression left by it on the top of the diff. Even at less than 5mph the back end bottoms out going into my neighborhood on those separations where it goes from tarmac-to cement dip- back to tarmac. And I can clearly hear something hitting.

I cut the snubber last night, its down to being only 1" in height if that. It rides much better! Its becoming less uncomfortable. I use the same roads every day and only 3 times it bottomed out and possibly hit the snubber.

rz5.0 said:
Take it completly out. See if it makes a difference. Doubt you will. cus that stop is not for ride quality. But never hurts to try.

I think it will make a difference, only if it truely is riding the snubber. Which I believe it is. Yes I understand its not for ride quality, you guys may be misunderstanding me, but when the car is bottoming out over a lot of dips and feels like its riding the snubber and sounds like it, it does hurt ride quality. I might take it out, pretty sure the Bilsteins have internal bump stops.

Slykin said:
When I switched to coil overs I couldn't figure out why my ride was SO DAMN BUMPY and then I removed the pinion snubber... completely fixed the issue. But, I have internal bumpstops in my shocks, so beware if you don't. Also, my car's really low.

See, you've experienced this. I think I might remove it. Did you lower the car more? I remember seeing a pic of it and I think mine sits a little lower in the rear. About 1" gap between tire and fender. So naturally, my tires are rubbing the fenders as well. What shocks do you have? Mine are Bilsteins and I do believe they have internal bump stops.

Wichers123 said:
I say it's your shocks. When you go loooow you have to switch to fox body struts. They are shorter so the travel is correct.

I hope not. Bilsteins are expensive and these are less than 1 year old! These Bilsteins are listed as 79-04 so as far as I know they already are fox struts. They're not specific. I must admit, I went thru 3 sets of shocks in 1 year with this car! Yes you read that right! Not sure what the problem is. Granted they were cheap tokicos and eibachs. But that should not happen. I had those on my GT with the same springs and all.

OnyxCobra said:
I'm dropped like 2.5" in the rear and I don't think I've ever hit my pinion snubber... i also have SN95 struts with no problems so far, and a great ride to boot.

Yeah you are so low! Love your car and stance! You sure your pinion snubber is still there? lol.

OnyxCobra · Aug 21, 2013

thanks mang, and I haven't looked but as far as I know it's still there lol. I understand what you're saying though, I just don't see how it's bottoming out that easy.

1997GT4.6 · Aug 21, 2013

Your welcome brosef. Hahaha well not an issue for you so that's A-okay. I'm not sure either but it rides like crap. What's weird also is that it rode like crap bottoming out with stock springs and the bilsteins as well as with the tokicos. Really odd. Maybe this car is just defective idk. But since I've cut the snubber so much it is riding a lot better. Might take it off tomorrow and try it out.

Wichers123 · Aug 21, 2013

Also make sure your axle housing bushings are not shot. I had that problem when I went looow.

Slykin · Aug 21, 2013

Yes, I did actually lower it more in the rear. I'm almost to the bottom of my coil-over perches. Granted, that's not SUPER low, but there's not much fender gap. A lot of the reason why I was bottoming out is because our roads around here have lots of big dips in the road. Potholes? No.. just big dips that are amazingly effective at bottoming out the car.