Its been a while, but i finally have some money flowing into the bank and will be able to do some maintance/upgrades. First things first, the list of already done so we can weed out the quesetions. Ive redone the front sway bar bushings/links. I have IPD front/rear sways, and the front suspension is pretty solid still.

My rear suspension is horrible. From the pictures of my road trip, the sag is unbelievable. I had 2 people in the car last month and the sag was so bad i hit a pothole and ripped off my exhaust. Time to change. I dont want to upgrade to coilovers or lowering or race due to only having the money to do the rears. but is it likely i can do the springs only instead of springs and struts?

For the bushings. My fronts were metal to metal. replaced those and they are alot better, and my front end alot more responsive and tigther. However, now when ever i hit a bump in the road or a pothole, the whole rear rattles. At first i thought maybe it was my trunk or licsense plate, but realized its all the bushings. What are the likely causes and main bushings to replace. And is that something i can do by myself. Thanks guys.

 

You can do bushings yourself. You need a press with some steel tubes for a pushing and recieving cups. A really long threaded rod or bolt can also work. They can get on your nerves fast. Remember to torque them with the full weight of the car on them.

You can use wagon springs or overload springs for stockish ride height but have slightly stiffer.
If the shocks and struts are good you don't have to replace them, but heavy duty ones are a nice improvement.

 

http://www-ese.fnal.gov/People/wilce...shing_tool.htm

 

any telling if its the shocks or struts? One of the two is gone, just can't decide which. ANy telling? Im going to try do do Overload or Heavy duty springs just to bring it back to stock, no need for lowering right now. Just want to carry more than 2 ppl in my car without scrapping.

 

Thanks Delta, that helps alot.

 

What do you mean? The shocks are in the rear suspension and the struts are in the front. If the car hits a bump And the car compressess and bounces up and down after the car exits the bumps, The shocks or struts are bad and not controlling the movement of the springs. The car should compress and then should rebound to the same position with out any extra bounces. You can easily identify if the front is bad or if the rear is bad. You should feel on side move more than the other. You can also push on the car, one corner at a time, to see which side bounces uncontrolled.

 

alright another n00b moment. So the rear suspension only has springs in it then? And Struts are up front. Alright got that down. The front holds good and doesnt really dip or roll much on turns and doesn't bounce, the rear however does. and Sags alot. So ill just need the springs for the rear then? And how hard are those to change?

 

I'd fit springs AND shocks. It sounds like your shocks are completely gone, worn out shocks on a live rear axle car can cause all sorts of horrible ride conditions, bumps etc. I really like the KYB GR2's on the rear of these wagons.
For what you do, I'd probably just go with some very slightly firmer springs, don't go too firm or you will ruin ride quality and handling on a live axle car.
Another option for you may be airbags inside the rear coils. Nice soft ride when empty, pump them up when loaded.

Regards, Andrew.

 

This might be something for you. http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=223248
You need to be logged in to view

 

I think im just going to stick to some overload/heavy duty springs for right now, thanks for all the imput.