For my Formula, I purchased KYB gas-a-justs for the front and Excel-G for the back and they've just arrived from the Fiero store. I'd noticed since the past month that the car dipped in the back nearly an inch, and on acceleration and braking the nose would push or pull up/down. I had a mechanic check the springs out but they didnt see anything odd.
My question is, would it make sense in this situation to also buy a set of aftermarket springs? For the 88 only lowered options seem available, and they are rather expensive. Then again I dont want to put the work in and still have potentially unreliable stock springs. I suppose the more fundamental question, is A: is an uneven stance indicative of bad springs, or shocks? and B: are stock springs a "wear item" or are they probably good until obviously broken?
I've heard that springs don't wear out, however I just don't believe that, specially if you are dipping too one side or the other. Shocks would not hold the car level that would be the springs. Everyone financial status is different but if you can afford it, go for the whole nine yards and get the springs. At least this way you know you have everything new and it will last for a long while.
I agree with the above post. Springs are what keeps it level and shocks keep it from bounching too much. If the stance is uneven, I would replace the springs
Have you already installed the shocks/struts? If you haven't, do that first - springs genuinely don't really wear out. Hell, people whack coils off the springs and they still do the job. The shocks and springs work in unison to keep the car up and level.
Springs don't wear out, but they do fatigue. Over time they can compress and sag, if the car leans to one side then you may have a spring that's sagging. If not I wouldn't change them.
Hm, these were the responses I feared... man its almost 400 bucks for painted 88 springs at the Fiero store. Im just surprised as to how little consensus there is online - people are adamant on either side of the question.
Perhaps my purchase was premature... just found these from previous threads:
quote
Originally posted by 40oz_Warrior: The front end on the car has always seemed to be a bit high to me ( large gap between tire & fender ) and a number of people on this forum have commented that....yup.....that's just the way 88's are.
Originally posted by sspeedstreet: On a dead stock 1988 GT. I've always hated the nose up stance of the stock '88s. I would say it dropped it about 1.5"."
And here's an image: pardon the terrible quality. Cheap prepaid phone.
EDIT: Just discovered that '88 Fiero's have different front and rear tire sizes. They may have been rotated when I got them balanced... before and after photos seem to suggest this. Feeling a bit dumb now...
[This message has been edited by rednotdead (edited 04-17-2015).]
EDIT: Just discovered that '88 Fiero's have different front and rear tire sizes. They may have been rotated when I got them balanced... before and after photos seem to suggest this. Feeling a bit dumb now...
OMG... How long have you been driving the car this way?
Yeah, in retrospect its quite apparent. I guess one of those things where if you take something for granted strongly enough (that tires are the same all-round), even the truth right in front of you cant easily break that belief. I even thought to myself when ashing it a couple weeks ago "hm, I wonder why the rear and front wheels are slightly different..." and it still didnt come through to me.
Oh well, don't feel bad... the "pro" where you had your tires balanced/rotated obviously didn't notice the difference either. You'd think a guy who earns his living working with tires all day would've been more on the ball.
Oh well, don't feel bad... the "pro" where you had your tires balanced/rotated obviously didn't notice the difference either. You'd think a guy who earns his living working with tires all day would've been more on the ball.
Yup. Another one of those "Pros"...
I had my GT's wheels balanced and an alignment done at a "new place" (not my regular guy). When I picked it up, the "technician" mentioned the steering feels mushy "probably need to replace the steering rack bushings".
Didn't think anything of it, but later noticed the front driver's tire was rubbing inside the fender on a hard lock on the steering. I then noticed that I had a larger rear tire on that front corner and the smaller front tire on the opposite rear corner. (two rear tires on ONE side, two front tires on the OTHER side)
The annoying thing with "pros" - "the customer never knows what he's talking about..."
[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 04-20-2015).]
Originally posted by fierosound: The annoying thing with "pros" - "the customer never knows what he's talking about..."
I probably went to one of the worst - Midas. Ended up taking 3 times longer than they promised, and it was a pretty simple job. ("We'll be working on your car in 15 minutes"- half an hour goes by and my car is still parked... "oh we were just about to work on it" Over and over). When they repeatedly lie about basic things, you know it's time to drop. The ones who will actually explain how something works and show you the problems I tend to go back to.
Going to any mechanic is a stressful and somewhat humiliating experience for me. Im trying to learn how to wrench a bit more than just changing oil, and have some simple tasks lined up (including replacing the shocks), but man it's a full-time "hobby".
Belle tire here is like that, every time my wife takes here van there they tell her the front end bushings are shot. Funny thing is we had them replaced just before she took it there.
I thought maybe it was the angle or something.
