Hello, I live overseas and have a 1991 Camaro RS. I was changing the FRONT springs on my car when I noticed that rubber piece that is supposed to be at the top of the spring is missing. I remember you guys telling me it should be there when I pull the springs out. Parts are hard to get over hear where I live because I have to ship everything in from the States so my question is do I really need this?

Also I got some new springs at NAPA because my car sat to low to drive. The new springs are quite a bit taller than the old spring. Do you think I got the wrong spring or were the previous springs lowering springs or shot?

Thanks guys!

 

I think that spring rate is more important than actual length of the springs. Even though they are longer, they could compress more easily.

 

It's common for the car to sit really high after swapping the springs, but you may also need to check that they're seated properly. There's a notch in the A-arm for the end of the spring that it needs to be aligned with.

The rubber piece you're looking for may be stuck up in the K-member still. This would also have an impression in it that it would need to be aligned to. Many people tape the rubber piece to the spring when reinstalling it. If you don't have anything else, some people have used a piece of heater hose in place of it, but most of the time it's done to help lower the car.

 

The front insulator doesn't need to be installed in any particular fashion, though the springs require indexing as mentioned. Spohn sells new insulators, but if yours are still in the k member as Scorpner suggests, I'd reuse them.

JamesC

 

You're right about the insulator, I was thinking it would help with the height with it not having to settle into the rubber again.