OK,..so first of all, THANK YOU to everyone who has responed to my two prior threads regarding replacing my struts.

UPDATE: We replaced the back struts last night. Not a terribly complicated job and easier than I had feared. It did take a long time though. We started at 6:30 and didn't get finished until around 9:30,...including clean up. Three hours to do just the back. The first side took much longer as we were learning as we went. The second one took less than an hour.

NOW MY NEW CONCERN: I was replacing the struts becasue my car rode very rough and "bottomd out" on every small dip,...with a hard "clunk". It rode like a car that had been lowered. When you tried to "bounce" it, there was almost no movement to the car. Every bump in the road was a jaring thump. So,...I assumed my struts were collapsed or frozen up.

To my great disapointment,..after we replaced the rear struts last night,...it rides exactly the same. What else could it be? What would make the car ride like that other than the struts?

It is all stock and sits up nicely all the way around. It just doesn't have much movement to the suspensions,...front or rear.

Maybe you need replace spring at first place.

Have you replaced your bushings? Sounds like it might be the 40 year old rubber bushings that might be failing & causing the clunks.

Did you install the bump stops? Missing bump won't cause the suspension to be stiff but will cause a harsh feel when the car bottoms out. What springs do you have in the car?

What kind of struts did you install? Illuminas set on 5, HP's, KYB's? The shocks themselves can affect the harshness of the ride. And, as others have pointed out before, tire sidewall stiffness has a big effect. If you've got low profile tires, you might get a harsh ride.

I have KYB's all aorund and I get very little bounce when I jump up and down on the bumpers (1976 so there's a good ledge to stand on). They just don't move very much at all. But the ride is still good, stiff but not harsh.

What kind of struts did you install? Illuminas set on 5, HP's, KYB's? The shocks themselves can affect the harshness of the ride. And, as others have pointed out before, tire sidewall stiffness has a big effect. If you've got low profile tires, you might get a harsh ride.

I have KYB's all aorund and I get very little bounce when I jump up and down on the bumpers (1976 so there's a good ledge to stand on). They just don't move very much at all. But the ride is still good, stiff but not harsh.

I went with standard Monroe / Gabriel struts. My tires are basic 195/70R 14. Nothing fancy.

Inspect your bushings.