I just bought back my old car and it has 250k miles on it now. The suspension bottoms out super easy. iIthink the shocks are blown. Would the springs be ok or should I replace those too?

 

New shocks and springs would be a must, Also Maybe a whole new rebuild kit for your front end since it may be pretty squirmy.

 

I think coil overs are the best way to go... if you've got a few extra thouand$$ layin' around....And if you don't, then, yeah, Springs and Shocks should be replaced together.

 

how do you know if your shocks are bad? i know about tire wear and maybe a knocking or hitting noise when going over bumps.

you should probably replace springs w/ shocks when you have that many miles. the springs must be getting tired and sagging by now.

 

I think there's no better Sign of bad shocks than a tell-tale *KA THUNKUMP* when you go over a hump in the road. haha.
Honestly, I think if your rebound feels slow, and you bottom out easy, that's about all you should need to know to know you've got bad Shocks.... there's probably a more professional answer than this... but... just my .02

 

. ya i could push the back of the car down pretty easy. The springs were/are beefy they're '89 Firebird Formula springs

 

i've heard of all these little things that point to bad shocks, but I haven't heard a 100% shock test without using a shock dyno or something like that. I really wonder because my cavalier has had big problems with tire wear, the insides of the tires get bad fast, but the outside wears fine. its gotten bad, i had a tire blow out friday, chords sticking out on the inside edge of the tire. I don't want that to happen to my camaro so I'm kinda worried now.

 

My car needs shocks, & struts. The only way I knew they where bad was when taking a highway off ramp once the front end started hopping. Yes I came in the corner fast. About sht. Thought I was going to bounce off the road. So the point is that, their is a few ways to tell. Best way that I know of is bouncing the front, and rear of the car, one at a time. If it keeps bouncing then they are bad. Much safer then how I found out lol.

 

If you have to go to a shop. let them inspect the front end. If you want to save the $20 or less for the inspection then, jack up the front. Do not jack it up using anything but the frame. Use a jack stand for one side if needed. Take a long pry bar, & wedge it in the top center of the wheel. Move it up, & down. If it has a lot of play then its ball joints, or a hub bearing. Do the same thing by placing the pry bar so that you can mimic steering. Move it back and forth that way. If its too loose that way then its tie rods. If you do not have a pry bar that will work then you can take the wheel in both hands, and move it around that way. Also any front end work should follow with an alignment. You will need good tires for them to align it just right.

 

My rule of thumb is that if the car is more than 10 or more than 50k miles, then the shocks are bad. But that just me lol

 

Wow... Uhm, You may just need a front end alignment, including Toe and Camber adjustments... Or maybe just new Struts n Springs... or the whole package deal, that's sorta scarey... Maybe just more expensive tires? haha. I Duhno. Good Luck.

 

Why new springs? Springs don't lose rate. They can settle and sag over time, the installed height may change, but the rate never changes. Look up how to calculate spring rates and you'll see what I mean. I hate when people say to replace springs like that. Unless the spring has sagged so far that the car is too low for you, no need to replace it, period.

 

Well he's obviously are having some sagging issues. He says hes bottoming out, I'm taking that as in his springs/car is bottoming out like he has floating/handling Issues. That's why I said he should replace them.

 

Bottoming and poor handling is more often caued by bad shocks and struts than a factory installed spring. If you can't properly dampen the motion of the spring, of course it will bottom and float around. I just don't think people should blame their springs when the spring is almost never the problem. Its lots of extra time and money to replace springs when many times they are fine how they are.

 

I've always been told by my uncle and my dad that the shocks are probably bad if you can push down or pull up on either end and the suspension bounces more than one or two times. two times being max unless your ironman or something

but i have never heard of weak springs,rate wise just that after years of the cars weightsetting on them they will sag and from the way i understand it can effect the way the car handles but that is just one guys opinion vs. another

 

the ride height is fine just it bottoms out on speed bumps and dips and keeps bounching for a while after

thanks

 

I vote you get new ones.

 

if it keeps bouncing after a bump then the shocks and struts are junk, not the springs.