shocks?????

I just took my 80 trans am for a 20 mile run after fresh engine rebiuld and i noticed it has a harsh ride!new last year are 235 60 radial ta's.has air shock's last yr i replaced them with oem shocks and the ride was worst so air shocks are back on?ordered new 235 60 ta for the back this week so will have 4 new tire's but i notised my front sway bar rubber on the pass side is missing in action! would that acount for the harsh ride?someone told me to put ajustable coilovers and maybe some shackle kit thing for the rear and with new tire's in rear would solve it??any body out there have any ideas or have the same issue's?????thanx  

A harsh ride can be caused by alot of thing such as weak or worn springs, shocks or low tire pressures.

I would be sure to replace that missing bushing for the sway bar.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

In my experience with F-bodies, the main reason for a harsh ride is worn out/ cracked/ dry rotted subframe mount bushings. There are 6 of them, two at the rad support, 2 at the firewall and 2 below the front seats. When they go bad, the ride goes worse. This happens because the subframe now flexes like hinge in the middle of the car and won't allow the suspension to do it's job.
Replacing them can range from simple to nightmare. If the car has never seen salt or winter, the bolts may come right out and you can change them one at a time. If the bolts are rusted bad enough, the square nuts inside the body will bend their lock tabs and spin. This requires openings to be cut under the seat to access the nuts, weld them to their tabs and patch the floor. Usually the inner front fenders will have to come out to access the firewall mounts. I recommend the poly-graphite bushings as they are less prone to squeeks than regular poly and they are a world of difference better than OEM rubber replacements in terms of life span and performance. It can be a big job, but rewarding. I'm planning on this for my Formula this spring, but I already know that I will have to do the full surgery so I'm not looking forward to it!
Steve  
A little help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Thank for the info but i replaced them last yr with energy suspetion so that can't be it.is there anything else?What do you think of the coil over and shakle idea?  

Coilovers put to much load in the wrong place on the unibody, same as airshocks. Shackles are a bandaid, if the rear is too low for the tires you have, you need new springs, I went with 5 leaf replacements instead of the 4 leaf ones.
I had a sway bar mount bracket bolt break on my left front last summer and it did hit awful hard on bumps, it's definitely worth fixing since it is missing. That might fix it. Double check your subframe bolts, they may have loosened.
Steve  
A little help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Ok thanx ill get on it tommarow and recheck all the bushings and look at the shakles too.also since it is a 4 wheel disk i think it has 5 leaf ???Did you notice a difference with the spring change?They could be worn as old as these car's are?  

Most of these 2nd gen f-bodies are notorious for becoming taildraggers as the years take the tension out of the OEM rear leafs. I actually snapped the drivers side rear spring right in front of the axel when I upgraded the drivetrain and neglected the suspension in my 79 trans am. I then went through the whole suspension system replacing almost everything. I would take Barneyformulas advice and put in the better 5 leaf system. I did this on my car as well. I also replaced every rubber spacer, pad, bushing ect. in the front and rear suspension and replaced them with the poly ones. The ball joints, tie rod ends.and ideler arm were also replaced. The car now has a great ride and handles like a slot car. The shocks are just new OEM type gas shocks. I know other rodders that used airshocks as a simple fix and their cars ride and handle like a dump truck. The shackle thing is what we did in the 70's to "jack up' the rear but it only made the car a bigger hazard.looked cool at the time though.Spend the money and replace the springs at least it will save a lot of headaches later on. Also remember it is a f-body and it was not designed to ride like a cadillac.  

hello people, I'd take barney's advice. since the TA' are sub framed, they sit on bushing, about the size of a donut. If these rubber 'donuts' are bad the your drive train can get out of line..and if the captured nut that is broke lose, bad high. but I'd make you didnt like me buy a previous wrecked car. like i did..lol. make sure all corners are square other wise have a friend follow you to see if car does dog walk or ass end is tracking wrong. not in a staight line ass to front..

if the rubbers are gone..the car flex's to much..kinda like the ass-end of car driving the front...hense rear steering...trust mei I have that problem with..81 turbo ta..with 79k on it, it got hit in rear left quater (ms)..

alot of car in areas that use road salt. killer to body mounts. at like barney said use plenty of wd-40..or capture nut will spin out...bad high.but check square ness of car..front grease zerks..to rear factoy locating holes.  left to right and cris cross..front left to rear right. if geomentty is of.id fix the first....hope this helps...im in the process of dont tbis myself. hope this helps..but barney is the expert. peace Dmann65