'92 rear suspension work, struts+K6000+pads=WIN

[crazyd]

About two and a half years ago I bought a set of the Moog K6000 leaf helpers to address the rear sag. I still had the original, worn-out oil-based rear struts back then, and though they brought the rear end back up, the car bounced so badly with the weak struts I took them back out after a few weeks.

 

One of the challenges we all seem to face with keeping these older W cars going is that bigger things will often go wrong along the way and shuffle smaller issues like these to the bottom of the priority list. For me, it was a broken timing belt which trashed the motor, followed by a series of clutch & transmission problems that I had the car disassembled for surgery three times in the next two years.

 

I got these problems worked out over this winter, and ordered a new set of rear struts for it from RockAuto. Pulling out all the stops, I went for the most expensive AC Delco gas-charged struts, knowing that these will improve the ride height a bit. I had them installed in February, and it helped a little, maybe 1/2", but still it looked saggy. Firmed up the ride unbelievably, though - it felt like a completely different car (in a good way!). So I thought I'd try the K6000 helpers again. Reinstalled them a couple weeks ago and now they were actually bearable with the firmer struts. Still a bit more bounce than I would've liked though, and the rear felt oddly out of sync with the front over some stretches of uneven pavement.

 

So, we all know where this story has to go next: the Moog monoleaf isolator pads. After reading http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/21004-Monoleaf-Pad-Thread-%28Part-Number-and-HowTo-Inside%29 I decided to give it a go today. The hardest part was getting the old rubber pads out - mine were stuck to the leaf and I had to separate them with a gasket scraper and yank them out with needlenose pliers. The new ones were stupidly easy to install. Once done, the combination of both the pads AND the helpers AND the struts has resulted in a vast improvement as a total package. The ride height is perfect, the ride itself is factory-smooth, and it dropped the front end back down as well due to the cantilever effect. Plus, I can have people in the back or lots of stuff in the trunk and the helpers make sure the ride height stays correct without affecting the day-to-day ride smoothness.

 

I'd usually blamed the monoleaf for all my rear-suspension problems, but the reality of it is there's not a single thing wrong with it when all of its supporting components are in good condition. For me it was worn out struts and isolators. The monoleaf weighs less than ONE coil spring, and it frees up room for that huge trunk we all love to stuff with giant subwoofers and still have room to carry stuff. Yes it's more expensive because the engineering behind it is a lot more complicated, but properly cared for it will last a lifetime. GM had it right with the early versions of these cars; it's too bad that many of their "improvements" over the years didn't really improve it at all.