aux spring popped out while changing struts.

[cutlass1991]

I couldn't find a bolt to compress it so I just figured... hey, that thing is 15 years old, it can't be that springy. WRONG! There is no way I could recompress it. I just installed the new strut and left the aux spring off. What are my options as far as getting it back in there. I didn't do the passenger side yet, but I think I found a bolt that will fit the hole to compress it. Should I leave the passenger aux spring in if i can, or should I remove that side also to make it even and just forget about them?

[99RegalGS]

When I did my struts on the Regal (Regals and cutlasses are the only ones to get them) I just left them out.

[Justin]

Every Lumina I've paid attention to has them as well. I would guess my '92 GP has them too.

[Brian P]

my '95 CS doesn't have them. On my old CS that did, I removed them just to see if it would change anything, it really didn't. I think all it does is slow down the spring action on a rebound, but that's what struts do for it anyway. It just smoothens the ride out more.

[cutlass1991]

thanks for your help guys. I decided to leave em off and drove the car today, eveything is fine. KYB GR2's are awesome, it feels really solid now.

[Brian P]

how is the comfort level? Harsh any?

[Intimidatorz34]

What is it? Just a spring inside of another spring? If so its so they dont oscillate. Sounds like a half assed way for gm to design it, rather than just put on beefier struts to dampen suspension travel.

[cutlass1991]

It's a comfortable ride. Nothing like a caddy, but it is much better than it was. My old struts were original, and when I took them out, I could push the shaft down with minimal force and it wouldn't come back up at all, so I'd say that they were pretty shot. Some of the constant rattle noises are now gone, and it holds the road much better. There are a few spots on local roads that are rough around curves, and every time I would drive around them at more than 35mph, you could feel the back end sort of fish tail and lose contact with the road. Now I can take the bend very well and run over the bumps and it feels like the tires are in contact with the road the whole time, no fish tailing!.

 

I've heard that kyb's are supposed to be stiffer, but I really don't notice a considerable difference. I was actually aiming for the pot holes just so I could see what they were made of, and I think for a 14 year old car with rotted bushings, it felt really solid and smooth.

 

 

As far as I can tell the auxillary spring is just a helper for the strut, which is probably why my car went as long as it did on bad struts.

 

 

Some problems I encountered while working:

 

1. aux spring. i didn't have the bolt to compress it, so it popped out. once it pops out, I'd imagine that the whole leaf spring mechanism would have to be taken apart to get it back in there.

 

2. When I was tapping the lower strut-to-knuckle bolts out, I damaged the tip of the threads on the bolt. I ended up having to grind off the end of the bolt to stop the nut from cross-threading when I put it back on. Be careful when doing this, and maybe put a piece of wood betweeen the hammer and the bolt.

 

 

3. I used the GM w-body strut tool on the front. The kit supplied a T-50 torx bit, but it was inferrior and ended up almost completely stripping the shaft of the strut, making it impossible to remove. luckily I had a good quality T-50 and that got it off. Still, I would recommend two people for this job, because those suckers are really tight.

 

 

 

4. Make sure you have some type of a syphon or pump, because if the front struts are original, then you will have to get oil out of them. The only way to do this is to pump it out. Since I couldn't find mine, I ended up using a hose and sucking on it. Luckily I was too tired to really be bothered by the fumes of 15 year old oil.

 

 

 

 

I don't think I would have attempted this myself if it hadn't been for this board. Reading stories like people putting homemade super chargers on 3.1's really makes you believe that anything is possible. I seriously trust the people on here more than most mechanics because you guys have no reason to lie and try to fuck me out of my money. That, combined with the fact that collectively there is more information on this board than any shop could ever tell you, is enough to keep me wanting to do all my repairs myself. Or maybe I'm just a cheap bastard that would rather risk having a leaf spring fired at my chest than pay someone $300 to put on my rear struts :shock: . They quoted me $450-$500 installed for just the rears, probably using crappy replacements. I got front and rear KYB's shipped for $180. not a bad savings, and i know it's done right.

 

Thanks

[Intimidatorz34]

 

3. I used the GM w-body strut tool on the front. The kit supplied a T-50 torx bit, but it was inferrior and ended up almost completely stripping the shaft of the strut, making it impossible to remove. luckily I had a good quality T-50 and that got it off. Still, I would recommend two people for this job, because those suckers are really tight.

 

 

I made the mistake of using the T50 supplied with the kit when I did my 91. POS broke, now I just use my own craftsman, if it breaks I can return it. The 91s were really hard to get off, but this past weekend the 92 (140k, still original) were easier to get off

[GnatGoSplat]

When I left the aux springs out of my Cutlass and installed KYB's at the same time, the ass end ended up 3/4" higher.

I really don't know whether it was caused by lack of aux springs or the new struts. I've heard from others that have said KYB's increase ride height.

[cutlass1991]

It looks like my car is now sitting higher than it was in the rear too, but now it is even with the front since my spring is sagging and I have a 100lb speaker box in the trunk.

[comptech_69]

Do you mean the aux damper? wtf is that for anyways, I jsut left mine out when I put in the KYBs in my car over the summer... Didn't seem to make much of a difference. The euros and other models that have the sway bar dont have the aux dampers.