Skyhook suspension issue

[alfacorse]

Got the new springs (OEM) 10 days ago, but still waiting for my tyre-shop to fit them on the car...quite angry about this delay. Should happen end of current week.
In the end I've ordered to a Maserati dealer, paid €190 in total and got them in 1 week time.
Will keep you up to date once fitted.

 

[meerkatproff]

I had the shocks removed from my tire-shop, shipped them out to the suspension guys and received back in 7/8 days, ready for re-fitting on the car.
I don't recall the exact cost, but it was in the range of €1.300/1.500 + VAT for the rebuilding job (+ the cost of removing/refitting on the car + wheels alignment). The bad part of the story is that the car should lay on the lifter for several days waiting for the shocks, and this could be a problem if the garage hasn't the possibility of keeping a lifter busy for you.

Did they put in new bushes as part of the refurb?

 

[alfacorse]

have no idea...

 

[will-w]

I have just stumbled across this thread and reading found myself agreeing to everything.

I have a similar ‘Normal’ feeling of unsteadiness, and the low is significantly lower than the rears.

I have had both ends inspected by Giallo who found no fault.

I would contact AV and ask their opinion but I heard that they were not taking any new Maserati customers?

 

[Bebs]

I have just stumbled across this thread and reading found myself agreeing to everything.

I have a similar ‘Normal’ feeling of unsteadiness, and the low is significantly lower than the rears.

I have had both ends inspected by Giallo who found no fault.

I would contact AV and ask their opinion but I heard that they were not taking any new Maserati customers?

Do you mean the front is lower than the rear?
Does the feeling of unsteadiness disappear when in ‘Sport’ mode?
I’m not sure what the status is with AV, worth a call?

 

[will-w]

Do you mean the front is lower than the rear?
Does the feeling of unsteadiness disappear when in ‘Sport’ mode?
I’m not sure what the status is with AV, worth a call?

Yes, sorry. The front end looks lower than other cars I have seen images of - I am unable to use roads with speed humps without sacrificing the number plate. I have purchased a smaller plate and mounted it higher to try and help.

The unsteadiness does indeed vanish when driven in Sport.

It's hard to describe the difference; on a country road for example in Normal the car points and responds correctly, but uneven surfaces make it feel like it is laterally slipping or wallowing along the road.

Wheel alignment has been done to OE Maserati specs. It has new Pilot Sport 4 S tyres all around. I have also had the spacers removed to try and combat it.

 

[Bebs]

Yes, sorry. The front end looks lower than other cars I have seen images of - I am unable to use roads with speed humps without sacrificing the number plate. I have purchased a smaller plate and mounted it higher to try and help.

The unsteadiness does indeed vanish when driven in Sport.

It's hard to describe the difference; on a country road for example in Normal the car points and responds correctly, but uneven surfaces make it feel like it is laterally slipping or wallowing along the road.

Wheel alignment has been done to OE Maserati specs. It has new Pilot Sport 4 S tyres all around. I have also had the spacers removed to try and combat it.

I understand exactly what you are describing. Mine has the same nervousness on uneven roads in ‘normal’ mode. Moreover, when pushed in third up to 6-7000 rpm, it almost jumps a lane to the left upon shifting to 4th.. very unnerving! This all completely goes away when in ‘Sport’ mode.
I do not have a sagged front though so it may be worth replacing your front springs initially (inexpensive) although I doubt this is the problem. AV engineering have been through everything suspension wise under my car and everything is spot on. They agree from testing it in ‘Normal’ that something is not correct.
The fact that the nervousness goes away in ’Sport’ lead us to believe that the shock absorbers are the issue. We are going to replace both rears on mine and see what that does. There are no obvious leaks but they could have failed internally.
Definitely one of those chin scratching issues.

 

[will-w]

Very odd indeed! I am due a service in the coming months so I might give AV a call and see what they say.

Would be interesting if they come to the same conclusions with my car as they have with yours.

They are only 30 minutes away from me too

 

[dgmx5]

I understand exactly what you are describing. Mine has the same nervousness on uneven roads in ‘normal’ mode. Moreover, when pushed in third up to 6-7000 rpm, it almost jumps a lane to the left upon shifting to 4th.. very unnerving! This all completely goes away when in ‘Sport’ mode.
I do not have a sagged front though so it may be worth replacing your front springs initially (inexpensive) although I doubt this is the problem. AV engineering have been through everything suspension wise under my car and everything is spot on. They agree from testing it in ‘Normal’ that something is not correct.
The fact that the nervousness goes away in ’Sport’ lead us to believe that the shock absorbers are the issue. We are going to replace both rears on mine and see what that does. There are no obvious leaks but they could have failed internally.
Definitely one of those chin scratching issues.

Have you not been tempted to have the shocks serviced by Nagengast? https://nagengast.pl/en/kategoria-produktu/ferrari-en/ferrari-360-en/

Why do they only offer servicing of the rears and not the fronts?

 

[mowlas]

I understand exactly what you are describing. Mine has the same nervousness on uneven roads in ‘normal’ mode. Moreover, when pushed in third up to 6-7000 rpm, it almost jumps a lane to the left upon shifting to 4th.. very unnerving! This all completely goes away when in ‘Sport’ mode.
I do not have a sagged front though so it may be worth replacing your front springs initially (inexpensive) although I doubt this is the problem. AV engineering have been through everything suspension wise under my car and everything is spot on. They agree from testing it in ‘Normal’ that something is not correct.
The fact that the nervousness goes away in ’Sport’ lead us to believe that the shock absorbers are the issue. We are going to replace both rears on mine and see what that does. There are no obvious leaks but they could have failed internally.
Definitely one of those chin scratching issues.

The last time I had this, turned out to be faulty wiring in one of the front shock absorbers so I’m guessing the skyhook programming couldn’t do its thing in maintaining the dampening coordination between all four shocks. This may not be the root cause but resonates with my experience. I think when the Sport setting was selected, in my case, the effect of the mis-coordination was greatly reduced. Went away when the wiring issue was fixed.

 

[Tallman]

Could this still be to do with the Maserati OEM alignment settings which are toe-in? I have read that they set it up for agile steering with very good turn in characteristics, which is evident and feels really good on smooth roads. However this also makes them extremely sensitive to tram lining and it’s possible the stiffer sport setting may alleviate this to some degree. So it might be worth trying less toe-in, even neutral. It’s a “cheap” thing to try out.

FYI my QPV also jumps around on uneven roads, also with OEM alignment settings and shod with good (ie not old &worn - let’s not start this ) Pirelli Zero’s. Mine has fixed dampers so it doesn’t make any noticeable difference between sport/normal.

 

[Bebs]

Very odd indeed! I am due a service in the coming months so I might give AV a call and see what they say.

Would be interesting if they come to the same conclusions with my car as they have with yours.

They are only 30 minutes away from me too

Ask for Aldous and mention our discussion (Brian with the 360 & GT) on the subject. I saw him yesterday when he replaced a couple of sensors on my 360 and we agreed to try and replace the rear shocks initially on the GT in a few weeks, after I’ve had the headlining and ABC pillars retrimmed.
They are fairly busy and get booked up far in advance. Let me know how you get on.

 

[Bebs]

Could this still be to do with the Maserati OEM alignment settings which are toe-in? I have read that they set it up for agile steering with very good turn in characteristics, which is evident and feels really good on smooth roads. However this also makes them extremely sensitive to tram lining and it’s possible the stiffer sport setting may alleviate this to some degree. So it might be worth trying less toe-in, even neutral. It’s a “cheap” thing to try out.

FYI my QPV also jumps around on uneven roads, also with OEM alignment settings and shod with good (ie not old &worn - let’s not start this ) Pirelli Zero’s. Mine has fixed dampers so it doesn’t make any noticeable difference between sport/normal.

No this is far more than alignment… car literally jumps an entire lane between gearshifts.

 

[Bebs]

The last time I had this, turned out to be faulty wiring in one of the front shock absorbers so I’m guessing the skyhook programming couldn’t do its thing in maintaining the dampening coordination between all four shocks. This may not be the root cause but resonates with my experience. I think when the Sport setting was selected, in my case, the effect of the mis-coordination was greatly reduced. Went away when the wiring issue was fixed.

Interesting, I will mention this to AV and have that checked over. Thank you.
Faulty wiring to the shock absorber or actually in the shock absorber? How was this spotted?

 

[Bebs]

Have you not been tempted to have the shocks serviced by Nagengast? https://nagengast.pl/en/kategoria-produktu/ferrari-en/ferrari-360-en/

Why do they only offer servicing of the rears and not the fronts?

AV have had some bad experiences with refurbished 360 shocks. So they do not suggest refurbishment of the Maserati Skyhook shocks.

Skyhook shocks are £950 each for the rear and £1158 each for the fronts.
Hence replacing the rears first on mine rather than all 4.

 

[mowlas]

Interesting, I will mention this to AV and have that checked over. Thank you.
Faulty wiring to the shock absorber or actually in the shock absorber? How was this spotted?

It was the wiring into the shock absorber, not inside. If I recall correctly, it’s visible if you remove the plastic covers around the top of the shock absorber. May just need a visual check to eliminate.

 

[alfacorse]

finally the new front springs have been fitted, now I'm waiting to get back the car from the shop that is replacing the head-covers gaskets to test it on the road.
The old springs that have been removed were some mm. shorter than the new ones so they were probably worn

 

[Bebs]

Looking forward to hearing your feedback on the handling issues with the new springs.
There was an interesting point raised on this thread earlier to check/inspect the wiring to all 4 shocks.

 

[Bebs]

I understand exactly what you are describing. Mine has the same nervousness on uneven roads in ‘normal’ mode. Moreover, when pushed in third up to 6-7000 rpm, it almost jumps a lane to the left upon shifting to 4th.. very unnerving! This all completely goes away when in ‘Sport’ mode.
I do not have a sagged front though so it may be worth replacing your front springs initially (inexpensive) although I doubt this is the problem. AV engineering have been through everything suspension wise under my car and everything is spot on. They agree from testing it in ‘Normal’ that something is not correct.
The fact that the nervousness goes away in ’Sport’ lead us to believe that the shock absorbers are the issue. We are going to replace both rears on mine and see what that does. There are no obvious leaks but they could have failed internally.
Definitely one of those chin scratching issues.

Well I just dodged a bullet it seems.
I was aware that one of my front alloys had been welded because of a crack and AV did mention that it was slightly buckled.
Thanks to @midlifecrisis I was able to purchase his spare front alloy and I just had it refurbished to match the other 3 and fitted.
My suspension issues and woes mentioned previously here have completely disappeared.. the car no longer jumps half a lane on full bore upshifts and is rock steady and planted. What a difference!
We were going to replace the rear shocks to see if this stabilised things as we simply could not get our heads around the odd movements of the car.
I honestly did not think the alloy could be the cause of all this given there was no steering wheel shake or movement and it was tracking straight ahead.
After 3 years of wondering about suspension issues I finally found the cause.. phew!
Lesson learnt.

 

[CatmanV2]

I wonder how much was 'slightly' buckled

C