Hello,

I'm getting ready to have the suspension fixed on my 95 850 T5R Wagon (96000 miles), and was hopeing to get some advice and hear your thoughts about what to get. I finally got around to taking in my into Midas for a suspension inspection today. Ive known the rear suspension was shot ever since i bought the car. It seems to ride really low in the back, and whenever i load up with stuff in the back, it's a lot worse, and the tires do a lot of rubbing whenever a small bump is hit. When the car isn't loaded down, it is still very loud over bumps and cracks in the road. some of this might be from the loose tailgate latch i have, but a lot sounds like it's coming from under the vehicle.


Anyway...I was told that the Rear coil springs were bad, which i was pretty suprised to hear. From the very little i know about suspension, i've heard that springs typically do not go bad, but it's generally the shocks that fail first. Is this really the case, or am i misinformed? Does anyone know what could cause the springs to go bad? (I'm trying to determine if bad springs are symptomatic of another problem).

After seeing it jacked up on the hoist, i could also see that the wheel well liners were totally chewed away from the rubbing, where they attach to the wheelwell. Should i be overly concerned with that?
It's probably also important to mention that i currently have 16" rims w/ 205/55/16 tires. Could it be that the overall diameter is larger on this setup than the from the factory tires/wheels which might be worsening the rubbing condition?


The shocks are fine according to Midas, but they warned me that if i continue to drive on the bad springs that all the weight is transferred to tthe shocks which could damage them. I know I've put at least 4000 miles on the car since i've had it and it's always had the bad springs, so i'm also wondering if i may have already damaged them. Driving around bumpy, pot-hole ridden, rodes of Michican can't be good for that i'd imagine.
What happens when shocks fail? Do they just leak or could they fail and it not be easily noticeable?


So onto the repairs...

I'm wondering what items I should replace. I'm guessing the springs are a must...but wondering if i should go ahead and have something else done at the same time as the springs.

Also, i was wondering if i should go with the Factory replacement springs throught the dealership...or if i should think about upgrading to a better performing spring. I've never had suspension problems on my vehicles, so i'm kinda in the dark for knowing what to look for and what would work well on the car.

I plan on eventually going back to the stock 17" wheel/tire setup, but would like to keep the 16's on there for winter tires. I like the thought of using a sport spring to lower the car to hopefully improve handling but not sure if the existing wheels/tires i have would still fit if the car was lowered.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

I would buy performance springs and shocks and install them at the same time.


The shocks leak when they go bad or just sag really bad.

 

I would think you'd want to go ahead and replace the shocks/struts and rear springs and bump stops. While you're at it, replace the spring seats and shock mounts. They are a common source of squeaks, etc. The labor will be the same since everything will be out of the car anyway.

I went with Bilstein HDs and kept my stock springs because they were fine. Many others have been happy with aftermarket springs (H&R, Eibach) but I was afraid of compromising ride quality since this is my commuting car (I have an auto-x car for that sort of thing anyway). I am very happy with my setup. If I had money to burn, I might put in a set of IPD sway bars at some point.

 

Apparantly, the T5r Wagon came w/ a Nivomat Strut on it and matching spring. i guess the spring paired w/ these are a lot softer as the shock supports more than a typical shock. At somepoint, the previous owner put on Bilstein shocks but prolly didn't replace the springs. According to a guy @ IPD, this would cause the car to drop about 1-2" because the Nivomat shocks aren't there to support the weight and the old softer springs can't take the full load so they compress more than a 'normal' spring.


I've been doing a lot of reasearch and asking around, but can't seem to get this concern answered:
The strange thing that worries me the most is that the RH Rear Side sits about 1" lower than the other 3 corners (this is the side that rubs on the wheel well and has actually chewed a hole in it). I measured this w/ a scale from the ground to the bottom of the ground effects. I was getting 8" clearance everywhere except the RH RR which was only 7".
Is it possible that this one spring has worn out quicker than the others causing it to sit lower? Or could there be a more fundamental problem causing this?

I know the vehicle was involved in an accident at some point, but don't know the extent of the damage. my Carfax report didn't mention that it was a 'demished value' wreck. Someone @ IPD suggested that 1 corner being lower could be caused by a bent frame..and if that was the case, i would have to have some type of shim to raise the spring up about 1".

Anyone know of a way that i could check this out to find out if the spring is just really bad or if there's something more fundamentlaly wrong w/ the suspension in that corner of the vehicle?

Thanks!

 

I would try to measure the springs while the car is sitting on the ground(Hope you are very skinny!!!)
Then that should tell you if one is sagging more that the other.

While you are under there look for signs of damage.

 

Well, thankfully i was able to get my skinny butt under the car and i was able to measure the springs. Well, i actually measured from the top of the spring to the bottom of the metal cup that holds it. I measured ~8.75" on the LH Rear, and 9.75 on the RH rear. it looked like the bumper stop was pretty much touching the bottom on the lower side (maye 1/4" gap at most).

Not sure what signs of damage to look for, but as far as i know nothing looked majorly broken.

Would this be an indicaiton that just the 1 spring on the RH side could have worn out much quicker?

 

That shock could have gone bad and then made the spring go bad.

I would replace both sides to be safe.If not then the new one might be taller that the used one.

Were they original? You can tell by looking at them they are black and have undercoating on them if they are original.

 

Have you considered taking your car in for a four-wheel alignment? My concern is -- Does the camber reading on the rear LH side match the reading on the rear RH side? If there is a larger difference, then you have found your answer.

Since you have a wagon and are concerned about handling, I would go ahead and replace springs. If you choose aftermarket, just make sure that they are progressive rate springs -- that is they are soft over the little tiny bumps and become firm the more that they are compressed.

 

What is the difference between gas-adjust rear shocks, and regular shocks?

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com...tion=000304067

 

Not 100% sure but the gas adjust might be like the Nivomats. As driving and going over bumps they stiffen up to help the ride.

 

Compared to the common use of springs, struts, and shock absorbers in a car suspension, Nivomat replaces all of these components with a single unit per wheel which provides damping, ride control, and a self-leveling function.

The "Gas-a-just" is not manually adjustable for ride. It's KYB's way of saying it's design automatically adjusts to driving conditions. It does not do anything to help level the vehicle.