C5 rear suspension

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Richard Stevens
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C5 rear suspension

Post by Richard Stevens »

Bought an 06 C5 2.0 HDI Exclusive 3 weeks ago. Great ride, but it seems to tramp at the rear on less-than-perfect roads - unevenness not damped as I would expect.
No trouble with the suspension on the 1.6 HDI I had previously, thought I'd left these problems behind after my Xantia days.
Does the C5 suffer from sphere problems? Or worn bushes? Don't remember seeing any previous topics on this......

RS
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Lighty »

I have had to change about a dozen of the discus shaped spheres, yes they do fail, but not commonly.
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Peter.N. »

Bounce the rear up and down, if the spheres are good you should have about 6" of movement. My 2.2 at 150k miles has a superb ride but on the 2.0. at 188k its dreadful or was, it needs all the spheres replacing, I have done the front which has improved it a bit but the rear has hardly any movement.

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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by birstall »

RS

I've also just bought an 05 reg of the same model.
When I went for test drives before buying it, the suspension seemed fine - everything felt nice and tight.
However, on taking it out now from cold it seems to adopt a hard ride and very hard at the back particularly the near side.
This model doesn't have the sport mode switch like my last car. Getting in this car after my last one is a big dissapointment, but I assume something is not right.
After stopping at lights on my journey, the suspension sometimes visibly rises and I get a much better ride, however still feel it at the back over sudden bumps particularly near side rear. Seems to give a better ride when people are in the back.
Could this be the height adjustment being set too low? It's not bouncy at all, in fact the opposite - feels very stiff and hard over bumps.
The cars done 90k so may be need for hydraulic fluid replacement?
Can anyone suggest anything from the symptoms?

Thanks

Pete
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Peter.N. »

Hi Pete

I would say the same, do the bounce test, you should have 6" or more movement at the back and probably 4-5" at the front which will be much stiffer.

My car with the best ride is the 2.2 which does have the centre spheres, they are responsible for most of the suspension movement on that system, the corner ones being relativly stiff, the 2.0. only has the corner spheres which are considerably softer.

If your suspension height is wrong it will limit the movement so the bounce test will also tell you that, you will have movement but be able to feel it hitting the bump stops at on end of its travel. As a rough guide if the suspension height looks about right it probably is.

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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by birstall »

Thanks Pete

I've done the bounce test with a comparison with the older model and there is a big difference.
Old model about 2 inch deflection at the front and 6 inch at the rear.
New model about 1 inch at the front and 3 inch at the rear and feels noticably stiffer.
Is this likely to be the spheres or the suspension fluid (or both).

Cheers

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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by birstall »

I suppose that the bottom line is - What's it going to cost?
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by birstall »

PS Can I take the spheres off the Mark I and put them on the Mark II?
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Peter.N. »

You will undoubtedly need new spheres, you should be able to swap them if they both have the same type of suspension i.e. no sport switch. New spheres are around £80-90 per pair on ebay which is where I got mine.

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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Richard Stevens »

Thanks for info, bounce test now carried out, only about 2-3 inches at rear, certainly nowhere near 6. Front also about 2-3 inches.
I'll get the rear spheres replaced.

RS
1995 ZX Turbo diesel Volcane
1999 Xantia HDI
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Remember - many warnings are spurious or bad connections
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x 1199

Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Peter.N. »

With that ammount of movement I would think it would be bouncing rather than floating, you will notice a great difference.

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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by lexi »

New spheres are around £80-90 per pair on ebay which is where I got mine.
What happened to Xantia spheres at 20 quid each? Is this the price of progress? Don't tell me how much the fluid is.
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Re: C5 rear suspension

Post by Peter.N. »

Oh we are cynical - your'e right though, that's expensive too. These spheres do last longer though.

Peter
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