DiscoStudd Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 How did I spend the 4th you ask? I finally got off my lazy ass and replaced the rear struts on the Regal! Everything went smoothly, but I ran into one tiny problem. It seems as though when my driver's side strut mount broke, I lost the Aux spring on that side. When I changed the passenger side strut, I left out the Aux spring so the car wouldn't be uneven. Holy crap, now I have more wheelgap than Rudefyet's GP!!! EDIT: I used the instructions given by Intlcutlass in this post: http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29633 (I actually saved them to a Word document a month or so ago - I had to search for the post in question to give proper credit.) I think it would be useful to remind those members whose cars have the "Figure 8" Auxillary springs to find a 6" long bolt (probably 1/4-20) to hold the spring and spring mount in place while you drive out the lower strut mounting bolts . Here's the wasted driver's side strut and the mount next to it: Here's a close-up of the old mount: Strut out (with new strut all ready to be mounted) : If I don't win the award for "W-Body.com member with the most wheelgap," then I'm sure I'll finish at least 2nd Now I gotta find me a new Aux spring for the driver's side. I wonder if you can go down to the auto parts store and buy one, or if the boneyard is my best bet??? Anyone know where I can pick up a W-Body front strut tool cheap? I gotta change out the front struts one of these days now... Quote
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 Holy crap! :shock: It's jacked up like Joe Dirt's Dodge.. lol I think I gotta get some new rear struts or something.. the front end looks a bit higher than the rear. Although the car feels fine so I'm not gonna do anything about it. Quote
99RegalGS Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 Glad you finally got them on!!! was that last picture taken before you took it for a drive? If so, it will probably go down after a drive to let the suspention settle. Quote
1990lumina Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 You wanna come up to my place and fix whatever is fubarred on my Lumina?? I only hope and pray one day I'll have an even wheel gap lol. Quote
john99gtp Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 i dunno, matts gp is pretty high as well Quote
DiscoStudd Posted July 5, 2005 Author Report Posted July 5, 2005 was that last picture taken before you took it for a drive? If so, it will probably go down after a drive to let the suspention settle.Yep, it was just after I finished. I took 'er out for a spin and it did seem to settle down a bit, but it's still jacked up a bit higher than I'd like it. Maybe when I get the front struts in, it'll jack up the front to match the back It's jacked up like Joe Dirt's Dodge.. lol Laughing "I thought you had a Hemi?" "Yeah, I had to have a, uh, footprint gas pedal installed, so I stole this pile." Quote
DaveFromColorado Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 and you didn't even gimme a call to ask for an extra set of hands to help ya out --Dave. Quote
DiscoStudd Posted July 5, 2005 Author Report Posted July 5, 2005 and you didn't even gimme a call to ask for an extra set of hands to help ya out Sorry bout that man, but damn, the thought never crossed my mind :shock: . Tell ya the truth though, I planned on tearing into it first just to see what I was up against and see whether or not I needed anyone to help me out. Turned out that even though the mounts were rusted to shit, all of the nuts/bolts came right out. I had 'er done (not counting my run to Sears to buy a 15/16" deepwell socket) in less than 2 hours total. Do you happen to have the front strut tool? (I think that was you who said you had one, right?) Maybe I'll give ya a holler next weekend (or the weekend after that) and see what you're up to ... Quote
DaveFromColorado Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 I do have the front strut tools, and I can help ya out with that for sure I'll drive my 'stanger up there too! --Dave. Quote
DiscoStudd Posted July 5, 2005 Author Report Posted July 5, 2005 I do have the front strut tools, and I can help ya out with that for sure I'll drive my 'stanger up there too! --Dave. Cool! I'll drop you a line sometime this week (if I remember ) and let ya know when I plan on tearing into the front ... Quote
DaveFromColorado Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 sounds good, the front struts are CAKE with those tools, you don't have to pull 'em outta the car or nothin'! --Dave. Quote
DiscoStudd Posted July 5, 2005 Author Report Posted July 5, 2005 Damn, I bought everything from TireRack back in February (all 4 struts/mounts/boots) so I don't remember off the top of my head (I think it was somewhere south of 4 bills IIRC.) Update: Here are TireRack's current prices for the KYB GR2 struts/mounts/boots: Front strut cartridge - $47 ea Rear strut assembly - $56 ea Front boot - $14 ea (you'll only need these if you plan on removing the whole knuckle assembly. If you're replacing just the cartridges, there's no way to remove the old boots) Rear boot - $13 ea Front mount - $23 ea Rear mount - $39 ea Front bearing plate - $30 ea (I did not buy these) BTW, TireRack had the best prices on GR2's... Quote
jeremy Posted July 5, 2005 Report Posted July 5, 2005 that sits higher then my explorer does!!!!!!!!! Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted July 6, 2005 Report Posted July 6, 2005 Man, that is one nasty upper mount! :shock: KYB's in general seem to have enough gas charge to raise the ride height. I'm real curious to know if replacing those aux springs reduces the height any. Please measure carefully before you reinstall them! Quote
DiscoStudd Posted July 6, 2005 Author Report Posted July 6, 2005 I'm real curious to know if replacing those aux springs reduces the height any. Please measure carefully before you reinstall them!Will do! I'll post the "results" here when I put them back in... Quote
Euro Posted July 7, 2005 Report Posted July 7, 2005 lol mine sat like that for about 8 days when i had my rear struts done(in January coldass weather) I was like all ghetto pimping, FWD with a RWD car jack-up in the back Quote
Atl530i Posted July 16, 2005 Report Posted July 16, 2005 [quote name=" Why does the wheel look too far forward? Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted July 16, 2005 Report Posted July 16, 2005 It's because W-bodies use a trailing arm rear suspension. The trailing arm is anchored to the body. The wheel would be furthest back when the trailing arm is at 0-degrees with the body, but since the ride height is so high, the trailing arm angle increases and that brings the wheel more forward in the wheel well. It would probably make more sense if you saw a drawing. Quote
EricTkiwi Posted May 7, 2007 Report Posted May 7, 2007 Well, after having new struts, mounts and boots for my 92 Euro for two months(dreading broken mount bolts) I finally decided to install them this weekend. First let me say thanks for those posting directions as posted above. I started with the dirver's side. The mount bolts broke right off with the slightest turn. So after 15 minutes or so, I had the old strut out. I spent the next SEVERAL hours getting the bolts drilled out. INstaed of tappint the hole, I used some bolt/nuts/washer setups to replace the broken bolts. Then I realized my my next problem, the auxillary spring dampner (figure 8 shaped) I do not have the clamp tool called fror in the service manual, so anyone have any ideas as to how to compress and reinstall this thing? Yes it is already reassembled but I wil take it back apart if need be. After a long Saturday, I decided not to fool with the other side untul next weekend. I was curious, does anyone know the size/ thread of bolt needed to hold the Aux dompner assembly together while removing the next strut? Anyone have any ideas as to getting the two mount bolts off the other side without breaking them? I have sprayed PB blaster on them every day for a few days now but dread starting the passenger side replacement. Any advice would be appreciated. Quote
Psych0matt Posted May 7, 2007 Report Posted May 7, 2007 wow, this thread is ooooooooooold I'm sure someone will chime in that knows something about this though, but I'm just kinda being an ass Quote
DiscoStudd Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Posted May 7, 2007 Wow! Funny this thread was dug up, I'm about to take my KYB's out and put in a set of Grandpa struts before I sell the car. I completely forgot about the Figure 8's! Now I'm gonna have to find a set of them at the boneyard to put back in there!!! As long as you're spraying the bolts from inside the trunk where they pop through, they should come out with a little persuasion. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted May 7, 2007 Report Posted May 7, 2007 Dud I wish you would have gotten more pictures thats what I mlooking for . Is that the same layout as a GP? Does that piece on the bottom of your existing strut come attached or is that like bolted to the wheel hub assembly? Quote
DiscoStudd Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Posted May 7, 2007 Same layout for 88-96 GP's. I'll snap some pics when I put the Grandpa struts in. Quote
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