hey there.. i have an 87 camaro.. which rides horrible like a rattle can falling apart.. so i installed some new struts in front but cant get to the rear shocks.. it says in the chilton that you have to reach the bolt from inside the car.. so do i have to rip up all that carpeting and panels just to get to the one bolt???? i just keep running into problems like that with this car so any advice would rock thanks..

 

Yes there is a bolt in the interior of the car. And you dont have to pull up all the carpet, maybe a foot at most just to get the bolt. Remove some of the plastic to get the carpet out, put in new shock and torque it, then put the carpet and plastic in again.

 

You shouldnt have to remove any plastics. Just fold the seats down, and pull up the flap of carpet. You should be able to sneak the carpet out from under the plastics and get to the shock bolts. There will be a contoured piece of foam over the bolt hole...you cant miss it.

If you cant sneak the carpet out, you can remove that one screw that is in the general area in those back plastics. That should allow you to get the carpet out. When youre done, just push the carpet back under...no big deal.

J.

 

ok thanks i will try it tomorrow.. theres another thing too if any of u might know.. my car feels like its ready to fall apart when i drive... it wants to rattle apart i think and the ride is just as bad, everylittle bump in the road feels like my car hit a brick.. theres an inch lowering kit on it and maybe thats giving me a horrible ride??

 

There are a good number of threads on the subject on ride quality and suspension upgrades. Here is a thread just a little ways down the page that has a long post from me and my opinion on upgrading the suspension for ride quality and handling. Its an abbreviated post...I didnt list all the parts to be replaced or what upgrades I recommend, but start there, and do some more searching in the chassis & suspension forum.

J.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...first-mod.html

 

put in new rear springs, i have had two crappy camaros that i have replaced the rear springs in while the shocks were leaking fluid everywhere. I bought the stiff ones from autozone they were like 70 bucks and changed the ride quality and stance immensely(never even bothered to change the shocks). They take about three hours to swap. Jack the back up take off the wwheels and put the car on jack stands, put the jack beneath the diff. unbolt the shocks and the big metal crossbrace thing from one point, lower the axle and change your springs, bolt back up. If you do decide to do the shocks do this at the same time.

 

Wait...you had leaky rear shocks, so you replaced the springs?

I highly doubt that the rattles and noises he is hearing is from his rear springs. They might not be helping matters if they worn out, but the rattle syndrome that almost EVERY F-body has is due to a whole list of areas needing attention. Especially now that the thirdgens are getting to be 16-26 years old. Time to start replacing stuff gentlemen!

J.

 

Did I say the noises were from his rear springs? No, I told him what i did to make my camaro, which I had as a beater, ride and drive a heck of alot better. Did i say I replaced the springs because my shocks were bad? No, I said despite the fact that my shocks were bad new springs made the car ride way better. I think maybe before you be a complete **** you should take a reading comprehension course.
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P.S. If these cars have bad springs on potholes or speedbumps with the back seat stuffed full of high school girls you can get some definate clunking from the suspension bottoming out.

 

Take it easy dude, many of us understood it the way ghettocruiser did, maybe, just maybe, your post wasn't clear. Later.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... Show me where I was being a complete ****** or whatever you typed. You said...and I QUOTE....(never even bothered to change the shocks). And you were suggesting that the OP, thats "original poster" (now Im being a ****), should look into rear springs. Is'nt that right? If not...what was the point of the story? Haha actually your first sentence is "put in new springs". How did I not comprehend that?????

See...this is a message board. We have "discussions" in here. I was merely asking you if you changed springs, but left your leaky shocks. Then while on the subject of springs, mentioned that I didnt think they would cause the noises that he was talking about. And IM the one that needs to take a comprehension course?

You are in high school... So Ill excuse your ignorance, and your grammer, and spelling and name calling when I was just trying to help a guy out. No big deal to me. Ride around with your back seat stuffed full of girls and bottom out dude. Attack me all ya want. I dont really care. Im a nice guy, and was just trying to carry on a convo. But apparently your raging high school hormones got the best of ya. Its cool.

garyjr2889 sorry for the rant. I dont normally give attention to that kind of stuff, but it rubbed me wrong. Good luck figuring out your rattles and shakes, and if you need anymore advice or if you have questions, feel free to post up or PM me or anyone else.

J.