the car has 97,000 on it, I replaced the sway bar link kits front & rear (they were completly gone)I cant really tell if or when the struts or shocks were replaced, but the car rides pretty hard, it feels fine around corners but man hit a bump and I can find every shake and rattle in the car at once.....are there methods to see if they are bad, without taking it to a shop first?

------------------
1989 IROC-Z Convertible, 305 TPI 5-Speed 97,000 milez. all stock inside and out, No Modz, very clean ride!

 

If you apply your weight on any corner of the car and rock that corner up and down and the car keeps bouncing after you stop, then they are bad. If the car stops about a split second after you do, then they are fine. Just be careful not to dent yer car.

AJ

 

Here's the decision matrix. Answer these questions only after careful consideration.

1. Are they original? If so, proceed to #2.


2. Have they been driven off the showroom floor? If so, they're bad.

Change them out. You won't believe the difference. Replace the springs while you're at it, since those basically fall out while you're doing the other; the stock springs are just as lousy as stock shocks and struts.

All of that kind of reminds me of the days when GM bought tires by the pound... can you imagine what you'd get if you put out bid requests for however many pounds of tires you were going to use this year, and took the lowest bid? Think Wilderness ATX, or Firestone 500, or Firestone 721, or General.... I can't tell you how many people I knew who would buy a new car, and their first stop on the way home with it was the tire store.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

[This message has been edited by RB83L69 (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

I agree; if they're the originals, they're bad. The rear shocks are easy, the procedure is in any auto-store repair manual. The front struts need some different work, but you can still do them yourself. Just remember you'll probably need an alignment afterwards.


------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

I have a 91 Camaro RS with about 126000-130000 miles on it. My springs, shocks, and struts were all original up till a few weeks ago. And you know they are bad when the front end of your car scraps, and the wheel wells are almost touching the wheels. But as soon as I got new equipment installed, it went up at least 3 1/2-4 inches, it's great!