hi, im 18 and ive been a tinkering mechanic most of my life. ive been wanting one of these cars for years and finally last summer i picked up a beautiful 1989 firebird from a guy down in courpus christi, tx. i have nothing but good things to say about this car so far, besides the rusted driver floorboard and the water pump i blew out shortly after i got her . its got about 84,000 on the tach and slowly climbing. im assuming that its got the original suspension in it so i was going to see what other owners would reccomend? it says its got the ws6 suspension package, but when i ran the vin #, it was not produced as a formula, but instead a standard firebird. was it possible to upgrade the suspension at the dealer after it was made? i dont know a whole lot on the history of this car so im trying to dig up as much info on it before i spend the money on redoing the suspension. also, will it be a good idea to replace my springs along with the shocks and struts? if so have any reccomendations on a set that will not lower the car any? i already scrape enough as it is.

thanks! i look forward to reading up more and learning more about this car.

heres a picture of her. i have a more recent one, but this one is right after she got a good wax coat.

 

Welcome to the boards, I hope you enjoy yourself. We are by far the most knowledgeable and respected 3rd Gen site on the planet.

The picture you have there is a Formula.

It is very possible to take a Base Firebird and make it look like a Formula, by installing the Hood, Spoiler, 16" Wheels, and the Decals. And a "Performance suspension Badge on the passenger side lower dash"

By looking at your picture, chances are that you have a Formula.

The Title may just say Firebird. Keep in mind that the Firebird was available with the LO3 V8 TBI Engine. The BASE engine on the Formula was also the LO3 engine. THere are no distinctions in the VIN between a Firebird and a Formula so the Title may simply state Firebird.

The 1989 Formula Formula featured
1) LO3 5.0 Liter V8 Engine with TBI
2) Air Conditioning
3) Body- colored aero rear deck spoiler
4) Dome Hood
5) "Formula Graphics"
6) Special Level III Performance suspension (WS6) that included 36mm front and 24mm rear sway bars, special gas-filled shocks, Deep dish High-Tech Turbo aluminum Wheels with P245/50ZR16 Tires.
7) Two tone paint and striping (deletable)

If you still have your RPO sheet or SPID sheet in the center console, look for WS6 (suspension) and W66 (Formula Package)...

WS6 suspension came with 36mm front and 24mm rear sway bars. WS6 Also included special gas-filled shocks & struts, springs, and 16" Wheels. All Formulas got this.

John

 

Welcome! My info agrees that while The Trans Am was a separate model, reflected in the VIN, the Formula was, in those years, simply an option for the base Firebird. If you don't have vernier calipers to measure the anti-roll bars, wrap a string or something around them, use a sharpie to mark it, then lay the string out flat, measure that, and divide by 3.1416, them multiply by 25.4. For example, 36mm should be nearly 4.5" of string to go around it.

 

Oh, your springs: WS6 springs have a pretty good rate, and yours are obviously not sagging, so there's no point in considering replacing them. If you want to freshen your suspension, plan on just cleaning and repainting your current springs and anti-roll bars, if it turns out they are WS6 pieces.

 

thanks guys! another thing i forgot to mention is that i have the tpi instead of the tbi. not sure if that would change anything in the package? anyways, ive been debating with a buddy on my springs and he swore up and down to me that if replaced my suspension and not the springs then id just blow them. i really didnt see a point to replacing the springs anyways, the suspension is still pretty good, i just want to replace it before it completely goes out. if its dry outside ill grab my calipers and see about those sway bars.

 

The Base Firebird was NA with the TPI, only the Formula, T/A and GTA had it as options.

Briefly in 1989
LB8 2.8L V6 - S-Firebird
LO3 5.0L V8 - S-Formula, S-Trans Am, O-Firebird
LB9 5.0L TPI V8 - O-Formula, O-Trans Am, O-GTA
L98 5.7L TPI V8 - O-Formula, O-Trans Am, S-GTA

John

 

Your buddy is, um, how can I put this nicely? Your buddy is badly misinformed. Blow the springs? That's a laugh. Leaf springs sag over time,and valvesprings are wear items, but these springs are good for much, much longer. Laugh at your buddy, and don't give your springs a second thought.

 

Agreed, The Springs are FINE... If you want to update your suspension here is where to start. NOT ALL SPRINGS ARE THE SAME. There is a way of thinking that sais ALL springs sag over time. For some cars this may seem true, but not always. I do know there are some compositions of springs that WILL NEVER SAG. Buick used to have springs that never needed replacing due to sag, but GM told them to not use them any more to save $1 per car. I must admit that none of my 3rd gens have sagged over time, I have never had to change out the springs in one of my cars.

IF you want better handling start here:

1) Get a steering brace aka "Wonderbar" you can get them from www.top-downsolutions.com A MUST have, especially for $55.00 http://www.top-downsolutions.com/pro...products_id=45

2) Get a strut-tower Brace. There are several brands out there, I have a Hotckis and I noticed a difference, especially with the Steering brace "Wonderbar".

3) Get some sub frame connectors, especially considering you have T-tops you will notice less body roll and the suspension acts more like it should. I got SSM weld in type, I am very happy with them... Unfortunately they no longer make them... I see Lon has them on his site www.top-downsolutions.com

4) Tires are a HUGE part of handling, Get a good quality brand of tire.

At this point you should be getting about .95G in the turns. If you want more then at this point start working on other things. The WS6 Suspension is a great starting point, which you already have.

 

That's all great, but before buying upgrades, you need the solid foundation. Your 20 year old suspension's rubber bushings are likely rotted and cracked. New poly ones From Energy Suspension are cheap and worthwhile. How are your balljoints? Tie rod ends? etcetera. Make it like new before buying improvements.

 

To the best of my knowledge there are no replacement bushings for the 36mm front sway bar. You can get the end-links but that is it.

What I did was take some Rubber from an old inner-tube that I had laying around, cut some strips and wrapped it around the sway bar where the bushing was, and then put the warn bushing back on over the rubber strips to tighten things up. works like a charm.

John

 

I know energy suspension makes poly 36mm swaybar bushings, I have them on my car, I bought them from Hawks.

Did you mean , by 'replacement', that there are no rubber ones available?

 

Correct, no rubber ones. I did not even know that Energy made them.

John