I am the original owner of a 1989 GTA which has 205,000km on it. It is my daily driver. I am considering replacing the original struts/shocks as they must be getting worn out. I am considering Monroe Sensa-Trac for a daily driver. When do you know to replace the springs. What are some good springs to use.

 

If the car still has the OEM suspension parts, there is a good chance they are worn. You can tell when you are driving the car, if the body movement is excessive and mushy. Example when going over speed bumps, if the car bounces up and down then parts are worn. You can also push down on the rear of the car (hand on the rear hatch) while its sitting still, if it starts to really move up and down or make noises then stuff is probably worn. The body movement should be firm, nothing should be bottoming out. Majority of the time this is an indication that the dampeners (struts/shocks) need to be replaced. Its also possible the springs need to be replaced though, you can guage that with the ride height. You should measure the car from fender to ground on a flat surface, make sure the left and right sides of the car are the same height. I would say to measure and compare to stock, but its hard to find the measurements of the stock car's ride height since we all own 10+ year old cars. When ordering new parts you have alot of choices. You can get OEM quality replacement parts like the Monroe dampeners, just keep in mind these are not for performance, they are for comfort (which might be fine depending on what you want). Other brands of dampeners to consider, KYB, Tokiko, Koni, Bilstien, etc, these can all be found online. As for the springs you can get stock replacement springs by Moog, or you can get aftermarket springs. Just keep in mind the springs and dampeners should be matched, so dont run OEM quality dampeners with 2" drop springs, its not a good match. For aftermarket springs you can get progressive rate springs from Eibach or custom order length/rate springs through most speed shops. I have none around here so I order my springs through Ground Control which gets them made by Suspension Spring Specialists. Information on these places can be found on the Internet. Last thing, and very important, keep your bushings in mind. If you need to replace the shocks/struts/springs, you probably need to replace the bushings too. Bushings are very very important.

 

Thanks for that response. After much research here is what I uncovered for a my car. Probably applies to Camaro Third Gen as well. I did not research drag racing parts, only performance parts.

Shocks/Struts

KYB – AGX
part # 743019 rear $89.95us each Summit Racing Twin Tube design
part #735001 front $119.95us each Summit Racing Twin Tube design

Koni – Sports Series
part # 301265sport rear $107.88us each Summit Racing Mono Tube design
part # 87411030sport front $202.88us each Summit Racing Twin Tube design

Bilstien
part # B723 rear $113.00us each Year One Auto unspecified design
part # B722 front $237.00us each Year One Auto unspecified design

Tokico
Could not find any for third gen F-body

Springs

Mog – Replacement
part # CC635 rear $45.99us pair Summit Racing
part # 5662 front $47.99us pair Summit Racing

Eibach
Pro-Kit part # 3801-140 $259.95us set of 4 1”-1.5” lowering Summit Racing
Sport-Line part # 4-0138 $259.95us set of 4 1.7”-2.3” lowering Summit Racing

Bushings

Energy Suspension
part # 18131G $99.95us for a set Summit Racing

What is the difference between twin tube and mono tube design? Would KYB's rear twin tube design be better? Would this be all the bushings from Energy Suspension one would need for a spring/shock/strut replacement project?