I want to get a set of Bilstein shocks and struts for my 88 GTA. How hard would it be to do this myself? I have access to any kind of tool I would need. Does the car have to be aligned afterwards? Thanks for any info! Matt

 

Struts are easy if they've been changed at least once or twice in the life of the car. You will need to get at least the front end realigned. Personally, I'd go for a whole car alignment if you replace the struts and the shocks. DO it all at once too, no sense in getting the fron edn aligned, change the shocks, adnt hen get a whole car alignment done

(someone probably has better adive on this, i haven't actually put my new struts in yet, and it took me a month to get the original struts out because of rusted bolts)

 

The rear shocks are real easy, so do them yourself. Also, by doing the shocks yourself, you avoid having a mechanic messing around on the inside of your car.

The struts are much harder and you probably need an impact wrench. Just have the place who will do the alignment change the struts IMO.

 

both the shocks and struts are cake to do if you have access to the right tools and are somewhat mechanically minded. For the struts its only a matter of 2 bolts that attach the struts to the spindle and the one nut at the strut tower. The rears are even easier so i say do them all yourself. If you need help thats what we're here for.

 

I'd say the struts are very doable, this was my first ever car repair task. Just make sure you get a chalk pen or something similar and trace around the strut mounts. That way you can line it up when you are done.

The hardest part for me was the two lower bolts. I don't have an impact wrench, so my dad and I literally had to beat on the things with the wrench on. I also got clever and used a hydrualic jack to "lift" the wrench and get 2 of the nuts off. Thats probably rather unsafe because of the wound up energy involved, but I always stopped if it seemed too "tight"

 

I have never really done the struts on a modified strut set up like ours, but coil overs are very straight forward. Be careful on the bearing plate, and make sure your dust boot is in good shape reinstalled.

The rear shoks are pretty no brainer; anything you can take off the car and still be able to drive with is generally mucho easy. Toughest is getting the nuts off I suppose, hit them with some penetrating lube early on, then jack it up and what not.

 

If you still don't have a shop manual for your car, at least drop the $15 for the Haynes 82-92 Camaro (or Firebird) manual, found in most "chain-style" parts stores (like Pep Boys). The procedure for both front and rears is inside. Oh and you don't have to remove the upper strut mount unless you're replacing it. And yes, the rears are very easy to do.

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll take a shot at it. One benefit of being in the Air Force, is the access to the base auto hobby shops. They have any tools you can imagine, it's indoors, air conditioned, etc. You can turn rotors, mount tires, align your car, swap engines, weld, etc. They have the tools for all of that. So, getting an impact wrench or any tools I need isn't a problem. he ones I'm the most concerned about is the struts in the front. The shocks in the back are fine, but they're just cheapo shocks. The ones in the front are blown. Could that be what the constang rattlng I'm hearing from my front end is? It's annoying as hell. Thanks for the info! Matt

 

I did my rear KYB shocks last week and it was very easy!! Well if I did it again it would take half as long since I know what to do now. I have KYB struts sitting in my room that I need to do. I Just hope the bolts are not rusted too much!! lol Well good luck its good to see people trying to do work on their car and not just bringing it some where.

Kevin

 

In 9 years of driving and owning cars, I've only taken one to a mechanic and that was once. It was my GTA I have now. After I replaced a head gasket, it wouldn't start. No spark at all. I worked on it all day for two days straight. Wasn't the coil, ignition module, distributor, pickup coil, or anything like that. I had several friends look at it, one whom is an auto mechanic, and they couldn't figure it out either. I finally gave up and towed it to a local dealer. It took them three hours to figure it out. I had taken the plug that's supposed to go from the coil to the distributor, and plugged it into the air temp sensor in the plenum. Then I took the one that was supposed to go to the air temp sensor and plugged it into the distributor. STUPID! Swapped it around and it fired right up. Didn't even need to be timed. Cost me $200 for that. Matt

 

Here's what you're looking at:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/tar...c=ph%26.view=t


Not a bad job, just take your time.

Ed