Hello!

I've searched the archives on this board, and I'm working on improving my 89 GTA little by little in my spare time. However, I just finished reading the "How can you tell if your rear shocks are blown?" thread, and I have a problem; maybe you guys can help me! Bear with my lack of car vocab, I'm new to cars, and am learning things little by little (with the help of my dad and my trusty Haynes manual!)

Situation:
Whenever I cross over a speed bump or some kind of dip in the road, the front of the car appears to handle the dip/bump fine. However, the rear of the car doesn't. It's almost like there's no suspension at all in the back, because when the rear of the car passes the bump, there's suddenly a huge "THUD" that the back of the car makes.

I've tried passing similar sized bumps/dips at different speeds, whether at 5 MPH, 25 MPH, or 40 MPH; yet, the result is still the same.

I tried the "easy shade tree way" that Camaro_hunter_d pointed out in an earlier thread, and here's the results when I ran that test with the GTA, and when I compared it to my mom's 94 Grand Am (maybe this is like comparing apples and oranges, but it's better than nothing! ):

GTA (front): When bounced, the front puts up quite a resistance.

Grand AM (front): Same as GTA (front).

GTA (back): When bounced, the rear bounces up and down as much as one of those bouncy ***** you buy at the grocery store candy machines for 25 cents. :/

Grand AM (back): Bounces a little bit, but puts up a resistance.

Is it possible that something's wrong with my rear suspension? Or do third-gens just act that way?

Thanks for all your help!

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Silly racers, V6s are for kids!

 

The front of these cars is pretty stiff and hard to bounce to check the shocks. However, is seems like your back ones are gone. It should only bounce once.

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1985 Yellow IROC-Z 5.0 HO, T-5 3.73 Torsen, 4 wheel disks
PFCM pads, GTA wheels, Koni yellows, B&M Ripper, Dynomax