Beach Buggy suspension HARD:

[Willebees]

Hallo All.
In recent weeks I spend a lot of time and money on my buggy's engine, electrics and tyres, and it is running great. However, since I am using it more now, I am picking up another problem: the suspension is rock hard. I realize that buggies can be very hard, but the point is I do not recall mine being that hard and noisy when I bought it 23 years ago or when using it up to a few years ago. Now, when I drive on a smooth tar road and hit a few cm change in height where the surface was recently redone, it feels (and sounds) like hitting the sidewalk. Without pushing the point, it really feels as if the front end is just solid (notably also on rough roads); effectively almost no suspension travel. When the car is standing still, it takes quite some effort to rock it back and forth.
Any suggestions please on where to start? The tortion bars have not been greased in the time I have owned the buggy, so that is first on my list. Worn shocks? But I always thought that somewhat worn shocks will make a buggy softer? Or could they be totally shot and not working at all? They could easily be 30 years old based on what I know of the bug in my and previous ownership.
Again, any advice will be appreciated.

[Dawie]

Link pin front suspension should be greased at 2500km intervals. There is also a time limit. Front should be jacked up to relieve pressure while doing that. The setting should also be loosened and moved backwards and forwards while applying grease gun.

Also check tyre pressure.

[retrovan]

As Davie said,

You need to grease all the nipples till you have NEW grease come out of all the joints.

Then run her on a bumpy road to loosen her up.

Herman

[Willebees]

Thank you for the responses Dawie and Herman; much appreciated and I will start working on it.

[Tony Z]

with a lightweight buggy, you can also drop your tyre pressures pretty low... 0.8bar isnt unheard of on the street

[Willebees]

Hallo All. Some feedback on the hard Buggy:
So I greased the front tortion bars with the wheels lifted - all 8 nipples (went well, took quite a bit of grease on some nipples before old stuff started oozing out). Then also discovered that the bottom nut holding the left front shock was loose. As in several turns away from the stop. Fixed that and then checked those nice new tyres. They were at 2.5 all round!!! Dropped that to 1.8 for now; could go lower. Overall the noise and shakes is 80% better. The other 20% I will ascribe to driving an old vehicle. I guess I willl never know what made the biggest difference.
Now one rattle left: this is a metallic sound, as in something loose lying on a metal surface. Comes from the tunnel, below the gear lever, and some initial experimentation suggests it happens in 2nd and 4th (lever back) but not in 1st and 3rd.

[Willebees]

...problem found. Gear shift-rod guide bush just behind gear shifter is gone.

[AlanH]

Thanks for the feedback.
Always nice to hear if problem was solved and how.