shocks

[silverbird02]

i just bought kyb gas a just for the rear and moog springs the front is next pay day :D but wat i was wondering if i would need anything else to finish the project its all original shocks and springs i have almost 976xx miles on it if anybody have any suggetions please let me know

[Kilted]

Re: shocks

I don't know what year model you have but this is concerning the 99

About the front;

The manual says that you have to remove the master cylinder above the mounting bolts on the driver's side and you have to have some special GM electronic ABS device to do something or other, and therefore it's advised that you take it to be serviced professionally.

It's not easy, but you can get those torx bolts out with a pair of tough ViseGrips.
There's enough clearance for the length of the bolt so that you don't have to move anything.

When it comes time to put them back in, put them on the passenger side and use the passenger side hex bolts under the master cylinder.

I love ViseGrips.

I've also read a write up that says you can loosen the bolts on the master cylinder resevoir thing and it will give you some wiggle room, but I was worried I might break some seal or something.

It's not easy with the ViseGrips, like I said, but it can be done, cause I did it.

I have KYB shocks front and back, with Hotchkiss springs by the way.
They're great.

Oh yeah, (for the rear suspension) the manual says you must support the rear axle so you wont bend the panhard rod. If you let it hang though, the springs will not need to be compressed. You can just jack up the rear, let the axle hang, and pry out the springs with a bar.

Of course, you might bend your panhard rod like the book says. (I didn't, or maybe I did. looks fine to me.)
If you hear sqeaking after the install, your rubber grommits on the upper end of the shocks might have moved out of their hole/holes.
I had a squeak on one side and had to pull the carpet back up to fix it. It wasn't completely off, but when I moved it back, and tightened properly, the squeak went away.

I hope you found some of this usefull.

[cam98aro]

Re: shocks

have some spare money just in case your upper mounts are stubborn and fused to the shock like mine were

i took my master cylinder out of the brake booster and pulled my abs box up.. it was 3 bolts to do all of that, and well worth it trying to struggle with the torx (which are t55 i believe)

the back shocks are so easy to do, the only thing that was a pain was taking the interior panels off so i could push the carpet back to reach the top shock nuts, i had to use vice grips to hold the shock from turning so i could get the nut off

[Kilted]

Re: shocks

Yeah! I had forgotten about the fusing thing.

I had to hacksaw the shaft to get the mounting hardware off the front shocks.

[T-Mill]

Re: shocks

as far as the rear shocks, just make sure to loosen the top nut inside the car before removing the lower from underneath

[silverbird02]

Re: shocks

cool thanks and one more thing would it make a diff if i put the new springs and shocks on the rear and leave the front ones or should i just wait and get the front ones and install them all at once?

[T-Mill]

Re: shocks

Doesn't make a difference, just don't do left w/out right vice versa

[LETZRIDE]

Re: shocks

new strut mounts?...I hear sometimes they seize up and break when you go to take the front shocks out...I bought some new ones when I did mine...