This is my second Forester, the 2006 replaced my 1999 model. In general the ride of the 2006 seems way harsher than the ride of the 1999. So far, I'm putting the harsh ride down to the factory equiped tires. I hope I'm right. I won't know if I am until I replace the tires, and by then I'll out of the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.

Anyway, that's not the problem I'm posting about. The first time I use the 2006 Forester each day the ride seems incredibly harsh. Like you can feel a jolt from every little bump or crack in the road. Once the cars operates for a short period of time the ride becomes much smoother. I don't believe that the problem is engine related. I know that a suspension will normally get stiff with low winter temperatures in the morning. That's not the problem here. I still get a very harsh ride even when the low temperatures at night are in the 60' and 70's. It always happens first time I fire up the car for the day. And the ride always smoothes out after the car is driven for a while. Any ideas"? Tires? Suspension? Thanks.

Struts do need to warm up weather its 30 degrees or 70 degrees, just at 70 it happens quicker. test drive another forester on the lot (same kind). This will tell you if its a bad strut or just the design of the struts.

 

 

nipper

??? Is it an LL Bean ???

 

Are the tires from the factory still Geolander 900's ? If so they do ride hard and handle poorly. Some get 15K out of them, others over 40K.

 

99-02 had the same suspension ( struts etc are same p/n's )

03-05 grouped together.

06-07 something different also.

 

I do know the 03-07 parts are interchangable, but the struts and springs are different part numbers. Top hats and other hardware are the same.

??? Is it an LL Bean ???

 

Are the tires from the factory still Geolander 900's ? If so they do ride hard and handle poorly. Some get 15K out of them, others over 40K.

 

99-02 had the same suspension ( struts etc are same p/n's )

03-05 grouped together.

06-07 something different also.

 

I do know the 03-07 parts are interchangable, but the struts and springs are different part numbers. Top hats and other hardware are the same.

 

No, it's just a plain old O6 Forester X. But, it does have the factory equiped Geolanders. I think, and hope, that the Geolanders are part of the problem. I remember that the 04 and 05 Foresters were criticised for having too much body lean. I heard the suspsension was "tightened up" on the 06. This 06 is also much noisier than my 99. Maybe the variable timing for the engine made it noisier. Two steps forward, one step back.