As title says. The ride on my car (never soft to begin with) got noticeably more harsh today while driving. I get to Taco Bell, park, and examine my car...and it's leaning to the right. Look at the rear wheelwells, and the left has a significantly larger gap than the right 
. Looks like one of the rear shocks blew out. So, I'm looking for all new suspension components - I figure I might as well do springs while I'm at it...ever since the motor swap, the front end sits like a 4x4, and it looks stupid.
Money not really an issue at this point - I'm looking for good stuff that performs well. Anyone have recommendations on brands, product lines, etc?
My requirements: Handling>*. Obviously the car is no go-kart, but I want it to handle as well as possible. All else is secondary.
Car is 1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA, 350 V8.
Edit for pics
Left Rear
Right Rear
EDIT 2: Accidentally switched sides in pic names Oops
UPDATE: 05/20
Turns out I didn't have to look too hard to find the problem.
rightspring.jpg
Looks like all I'll need is a BFH and maybe some jackstands? I'm still going to install the SFCs - I may replace all of the suspension anyway, just because.
Thanks all for the help!
UPDATE 6/11, Saturday
Well, finally got a chance to install everything. Drove out to a parking lot (work) that I knew would be empty, and went to work. Started with the passenger side. Everything went well, until I tried to remove the ball joint from the spindle...That bastard is in there GOOD. :| My 16 oz hammer wasn't enough to pop it loose...although I did manage to bend my pickle fork, and put a couple large nicks in it. And I needed a 15/16" box end wrench to get the lower strut bolts out - my adjustable that I tried to use was starting to round the nuts off after slipping a couple times...so I abandoned that plan before too much damage was done.
I didn't attempt the rear shocks + springs yet...I don't think that will be too hard, and I wanted to get the front out of the way.
I went out and got the tools I was missing (boards to place jack + jackstands on, 4 lb hand sledge, 15/16" box end wrench) along with new ball joints. Might as well do those too, at this point. Will probably attempt this again tomorrow.
Parts Installed Today:
One polyurethane front sway bar end link.
Lessons Learned:
Ball joints are teh debil.
Adjustable wrenches = good for rounding off nuts. Not much else.
Rubber ball joint boots will not survive the wrath of the hammer and pickle fork.
A floor jack and jackstands with a 3600 lb car on them WILL sink into black asphalt on a hot day. Hope work doesn't notice.
Bring a cooler and some water when working outdoors in the heat.
Sunblock is your friend.
Make sure you have all of the correct tools in your possession. They will not magically appear when you need them.
Update, 6/12, Sunday
Things went much better today.
Well, I got the rear springs and shocks in place. Those were easy...in fact, I didn't have to unbolt anything except for the upper and lower shock bolts on each side. Once the axle was allowed to hang down, I could just reach up and slip the old springs over the tops of the perches - and the new ones slipped in exactly the same way! (I don't know if that's good or bad...). Oh, and my rear shocks were absolutely destroyed. You could easily compress them by hand...and it took a full minute for them to rebound to their full length :Q. Plus, they were very rusty...I have no doubt that they're the originals.
While I was back there, new polyurethane sway bar end links and bushings went in also...although I did break one of the sway bar bushing brackets that I needed :|. Oh well, it's a $0.99 part, and a 5 minute job to replace it....will probably do that tomorrow after work. Anyways, that much is done.
I then re-attempted the front. Managed to get the ball joint out this time with my B(igger)FH (came out after 4 good whacks)...but didn't have the damn tool to remove the caliper bolts to get the bottom strut bolt out. I got the nut off, but the bolt was rusted inside the strut, and wouldn't budge. I got the top one out with the big hammer.
I did manage to get one of my new front springs in...no coil spring compressor needed. Was a PITA though...the new springs are HEAVY.
The ride back from the parking lot where I'm working was 100x more pleasant than the ride out there. The car no longer seems to fly off the ground when going over RR tracks, is much more responsive, and has much better road feel. And I haven't even done the fronts yet!
Parts installed today
(2) Polyurethane rear sway bar end links
(2) Rear shocks
(3) Coil springs
(1) Polyurethane rear sway bar bushing
Lessons Learned
If you plan on parking close to the grass to get some shade...make sure you know when the sprinklers are scheduled to come on!
Hopefully everything will be finished this time next week!
. Looks like one of the rear shocks blew out. So, I'm looking for all new suspension components - I figure I might as well do springs while I'm at it...ever since the motor swap, the front end sits like a 4x4, and it looks stupid.Money not really an issue at this point - I'm looking for good stuff that performs well. Anyone have recommendations on brands, product lines, etc?
My requirements: Handling>*. Obviously the car is no go-kart, but I want it to handle as well as possible. All else is secondary.
Car is 1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA, 350 V8.
Edit for pics
Left Rear
Right Rear
EDIT 2: Accidentally switched sides in pic names
Oops UPDATE: 05/20
Turns out I didn't have to look too hard to find the problem.
rightspring.jpg
Looks like all I'll need is a BFH and maybe some jackstands? I'm still going to install the SFCs - I may replace all of the suspension anyway, just because.
Thanks all for the help!
UPDATE 6/11, Saturday
Well, finally got a chance to install everything. Drove out to a parking lot (work) that I knew would be empty, and went to work. Started with the passenger side. Everything went well, until I tried to remove the ball joint from the spindle...That bastard is in there GOOD. :| My 16 oz hammer wasn't enough to pop it loose...although I did manage to bend my pickle fork, and put a couple large nicks in it. And I needed a 15/16" box end wrench to get the lower strut bolts out - my adjustable that I tried to use was starting to round the nuts off after slipping a couple times...so I abandoned that plan before too much damage was done.
I didn't attempt the rear shocks + springs yet...I don't think that will be too hard, and I wanted to get the front out of the way.
I went out and got the tools I was missing (boards to place jack + jackstands on, 4 lb hand sledge, 15/16" box end wrench) along with new ball joints. Might as well do those too, at this point. Will probably attempt this again tomorrow.
Parts Installed Today:
One polyurethane front sway bar end link.
Lessons Learned:
Ball joints are teh debil.
Adjustable wrenches = good for rounding off nuts. Not much else.
Rubber ball joint boots will not survive the wrath of the hammer and pickle fork.
A floor jack and jackstands with a 3600 lb car on them WILL sink into black asphalt on a hot day
. Hope work doesn't notice.Bring a cooler and some water when working outdoors in the heat.
Sunblock is your friend.
Make sure you have all of the correct tools in your possession. They will not magically appear when you need them.
Update, 6/12, Sunday
Things went much better today.
Well, I got the rear springs and shocks in place. Those were easy...in fact, I didn't have to unbolt anything except for the upper and lower shock bolts on each side. Once the axle was allowed to hang down, I could just reach up and slip the old springs over the tops of the perches - and the new ones slipped in exactly the same way! (I don't know if that's good or bad...). Oh, and my rear shocks were absolutely destroyed. You could easily compress them by hand...and it took a full minute for them to rebound to their full length :Q. Plus, they were very rusty...I have no doubt that they're the originals.
While I was back there, new polyurethane sway bar end links and bushings went in also...although I did break one of the sway bar bushing brackets that I needed :|. Oh well, it's a $0.99 part, and a 5 minute job to replace it....will probably do that tomorrow after work. Anyways, that much is done.
I then re-attempted the front. Managed to get the ball joint out this time with my B(igger)FH (came out after 4 good whacks)...but didn't have the damn tool to remove the caliper bolts to get the bottom strut bolt out. I got the nut off, but the bolt was rusted inside the strut, and wouldn't budge. I got the top one out with the big hammer.
I did manage to get one of my new front springs in...no coil spring compressor needed. Was a PITA though...the new springs are HEAVY.
The ride back from the parking lot where I'm working was 100x more pleasant than the ride out there. The car no longer seems to fly off the ground when going over RR tracks, is much more responsive, and has much better road feel. And I haven't even done the fronts yet!
Parts installed today
(2) Polyurethane rear sway bar end links
(2) Rear shocks
(3) Coil springs
(1) Polyurethane rear sway bar bushing
Lessons Learned
If you plan on parking close to the grass to get some shade...make sure you know when the sprinklers are scheduled to come on!
Hopefully everything will be finished this time next week!
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