Any pros have rear suspension tips/info?

[Regal]

I am finally getting around to replacing my rear struts. I've had the parts on hand for a while but am only getting to it now. I have KYB struts, but they did not include the bolt needed to hold the dampener together during removal and replacement. I've been calling around, including to the dealer; and the guy there didn't even know what I was talking about. Only one out of three I've talked to did know what I was asking about but he said he couldn't even see any rear struts available for my car(!?). Just wondering if anyone can tell me what sort of bolt/size I need to drive into the dampener .

See this video here to see what I'm talking about, it is first mentioned at about 2:08 in the video.

Has about the same rear suspension as the Cutlass Supreme - but am not sure about other W-bodies. No rear spring (except for leafspring not relevant to this job), just the strut but I need to know what bolt and what size it is I need to proceed.

First strut I'm removing seems seized and won't compress, but that's another issue.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Regal

[RPE1992GPSE]

(1) What year/model is the car you're working on?

(2) Does your rear suspension have a sway bar or what GM referred to as "auxiliary springs," which are figure-8 shaped black rubber springs that sit under a metal bracket bolted to the strut assembly?

[Regal]

Thanks for the reply, actually at GM dealership right now and they don’t have much info for me. Trying to look for a senior mechanic who might recall.

The car is a ‘93 Regal coupe. I believe the answer to your second question is yes. I need the bolt to go trough the rubber piece to hold the assembly together while I take it apart basically. Don’t know what bolt/size I need. Nobody around here seems to know as they don’t make them like this anymore.

[Amanita]

I replaced all 4 struts in my '96 Grand Prix coupe last year. I don't remember needing any specific tools for removing the rear struts, however for the front ones I had to buy a specific toolkit off ebay.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Amanita

[Regal]

Front struts for me can be done from under the hood but that requires a special tool and is something I’ll be worrying about later.

As far as my issue now on the rears; just got off the phone with local parts store and they told me Monroe 181831 comes with a bolt (and also confirmed KYB struts don’t include the bolt). Am assuming that is the bolt I need. At least I can go to a local store and look at exactly what I need, if nothing else.

Believe it is the single bolt shown pictured at Amazon link; can anyone confirm? Unfortunately don’t have any extra hardware laying around I can use for this.

https://www.amazon.com/Monroe-181831-Econo-Matic-Strut-Assembly/dp/B0047DBAXW

Edited July 27, 2021 by Regal

[oldmangrimes]

Can you re-use the old bolt?  

[Amanita]

My strut mounts were pretty shot so I didn't even bother disassembling the strut from the mount when I removed them. The only thing I can really tell you to help is that the nut on the top side is a 24mm, at least the ones that came with my KYBs are.

[Regal]

There is nothing to reuse, the bolt in question is only used during re-and-re of the rear struts to compress the rubber auxiliary springs mentioned by 1992GrandPrixSE. The bolts that are 24 are the main lower strut fasteners.

The auto parts store opened the box of the Monroe strut for me and the single bolt inside was an M10 x 1.5 - 80mm. The fastener business down the street just gave me one. I haven’t really spent any time with it yet but when I walked in the door it didn’t immediately fasten into anything. Getting back to it in a few minutes.
 

Can anyone advise? Apparently this is done with a special tool typically.

[mfewtrail]

Check out that thread.

 

 

[Regal]

2 hours ago, mfewtrail said:

Check out that thread.

 

 

Interesting, thanks. Wish I had longer bolt; might need to find longer all thread. Pictured there it looks like the bolt can be put in from the bottom but for me can only be from the top. Still in pieces in my garage as I haven’t had time today but need to get this done fairly quick.

[Regal]

5 hours ago, mfewtrail said:

Check out that thread.

 

 

The way mine is set up, it appears the bolt is meant to go straight through and thread into a corresponding threaded hole underneath.

What I’m wondering is if I have the correct bolt.. guess I’ll have to go back and compare it with the Monroe one. Because it was partially apart already I went over to the other side and it doesn’t thread into there either despite having more clearance. I can feel the hole through the other side on both sides of the car anyways but this bolt won’t take on either side. This is a Canadian car and the car was made in Canada so should be metric (as is stated in other thread you posted); not really sure but it appears the slightly smaller imperial equivalent would work or in my case may even be the right one? I guess I have to confirm the actual bolt I have also. I have found little things like this that differ on my GM cars from what others have said online but it does seem odd for sure if this is the right bolt and still doesn’t go in.

I have taken a mechanics course (for specific unrelated machines) and changed rear struts before but they weren’t like this! This seems one of those jobs where having the right tools on hand is 90% of the work.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Regal

[RPE1992GPSE]

The bolts included with the Monroe Quick-Struts I replaced on my 1992 Cutlass Supreme coupe were useless for their intended purpose.  One was too short (yes, the struts did not include identical bolts) and the other one seemed long enough but it just wouldn't thread into the bracket.  I ended up purchasing a Kent-Moore auxiliary spring compressor on eBay and it was worth every penny.  Those auxiliary springs are a bitch.  You'll see what I'm talking about once you get the bracket and spring off, because they have to come off to replace the strut anyway.  I'm hoping my Grand Prix and Lumina Z34 both have rear sway bars because that's a whole different (and easier) ball game.  I haven't looked yet (maybe I don't want to know right now).  Good luck!

[ron350]

The correct bolt should be a 10 x 1.5 mm (about) 6 inch long all thread bolt. Years ago when I did my rear struts I could only fins a 3/8 x 16 sae 6 inch bolt and it worked just fine.

 

The bolt does not thread all the way through, see first picture. That arm does NOT have a hole in it under the bracket.

Edited July 28, 2021 by ron350

[55trucker]

I take it that your Regal has the FE1 suspension & does not have installed a rear stabilizer bar?

As far as I remember those auxiliary dampeners were a poor mans anti-roll bar. They were there to add some anti roll capabilities to the rear suspension.

When cornering the load on the outboard side of the car will cause the car to lean down & the opposite side would raise up, the dampener load increases when the rear inboard (body connection end) lateral link pivots upwards, and the reverse happens when the inboard lateral link end pivots downwards.

They had nothing to do with maintaining the motionless ride height at all.

In your photo I do not see the stabilizer bar, nor the end link that is mounted to the front side of the rear knuckle.

 

[ron350]

Yep just a plain 4 door 96 Regal with no rear sway bar.

 

Here is a picture of the bolt that I used to compress that rubber damper thing. I used a Chevy rocker arm ball instead of washers.

 

The 10 x 1.5 mm fits so tight you can save yourself a lot of trouble and use the 3/8 x 16 threads per inch bolt.

 

 

 

[Regal]

Thanks for the continued replies. Yes mine has FE1 suspension; strangely enough the ‘92 Limited coupe I had seemed to have less options (intentional leather delete?) but in fact had the upgraded factory suspension which I believe was standard with the factory 16” wheels (I added 16s to my ‘93 over its factory 15s).

I do have both a short and long 3/8” bolt with 3 nuts and a washer now that should work and it did thread in a bit quickly but I’m going to get back to it when it cools down a bit later on. Should be about prepared to properly tackle both sides tonight. Worse comes to worse the fastener shop had a 9” C clamp that looked like it would compress the auxiliary springs, and even a much more expensive clamp that looks to work in a somewhat similar fashion to the Kent-Moore tool.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Regal

[Regal]

Already a big difference and I can see why that step is crucial. 3/8 is apparently what fits in mine (possibly these were replaced in the past?) for anyone reading this in the future if you’re having difficulties. It’s also a good thing I picked up a second longer bolt as the shorter one only catches on one side, at least after being partially taken apart.

One question I have is whether there’s an ideal height to compress them to in order to bang the lower fasteners. Hopefully will have them out before anyone sees this.

I guess this piece of junk wasn’t seized, just stuck in place by the now compressed springs.

[55trucker]

You could remove the silly thing altogether & pick up a complete rear stabilizer bar for the platform & install that. It would make a world of difference where the rear handling is concerned.

[Regal]

Well fellas, have not been too crazy about this job but in trying to juggle everything am slowly getting somewhere with these struts and in the meantime even managed to complete another quick job on the car elsewhere. Thanks for the expert tips!

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Regal

[Regal]

Much better! Other side will be a cinch now that I know the procedure. Just hope I can find the time in the day to do the nosier parts of the job or may have to put it off for a minute.

[Regal]

Final update for the job; yup, finished off the other side in no time at all.

Took the car on the highway and at first wasn’t sure what to think but by the end of the ride the difference/improvement was apparent. I hear there may be some break in time also. The rear end has a slightly more aggressive and attractive stance than before (sorry, a bit dark by the time I snapped photo). I think having done this now makes it more obvious that the front struts need doing too! Got those too but need to figure out the special tool situation. Suppose it’s possible the rear leaf spring or its bushings might need attention too (looked ok anyways) but will see what happens now when I get some extra weight in the car.

Forums like this are definitely invaluable and always will be!

Edited July 30, 2021 by Regal

[55trucker]

One Does have to set the camber angle back to where it is supposed to be..factory desired is approx .5 degree negative.

[Regal]

Tell me you’re joking. Been told by multiple shops there’s no alignment or anything for the back. Took the old one out and put the new one in; there isn’t anything else to adjust so not sure about that. On the second side I in fact held the rotor and attached assemblies in place during lower strut fastener removal so getting everything with the bolts to line up again later was super easy. I ain’t touching anything else, if more needs to be done back there it’s going to the shop.

[Regal]

Thinking about it a bit more I believe on this setup with the auxiliary springs (which I did not remove) they more or less should keep everything the same.

[55trucker]

2 hours ago, Regal said:

Tell me you’re joking. .

if I were joking........

 

a rabbi & a priest walk into a bar...............