im posting alot lately with crazy little questions, i work nights so it gives me time to come up with questions for the forum. Questions that arent meant to pick your brains as much as they are meant to help me plan and price out my restoration, and help others who may have the same questions and dont know to ask. the main question about the suspension now is how easily are the components swapped out? I want to make my 85 Caprice ride and handle like the buick version. ive checked part numbers and the only difference is in the front coil springs. I noticed that the Chevy Spring part number says with AC. Listed under Buick. the same part number is for the Buick W/out AC. and a different part number listed for a Buick w/ AC. I guess my question is what does the AC have to do with the springs? i figure ill buy the buick part number to have installed on my chevy, but i dont know what is the difference in the spring itself if its meant for AC or not. (also noticed that a 95 Caprice Wagon has the same coil spring as an 85 Caddy fleetwood heavy duty spring)
I can only assume the extra weight of the AC is compensated for. All told the AC system, compressor, evaporator, condesor and hoses probably account for about 200 lbs. Also consider that half of the weight is forward of the front axle so the "moment" moves forward. This is a balance term used for aircraft but to understand, knell on the front bumper, the front springs will compress more than if you sit in the driver's seat. Thus the moment is forward and the springs would need to be stronger to support the extra weight and still maintain the proper ride height of the car. I also cannot imagine a Buick without AC. I thought it was standard equipment so it's surprising that without AC part number springs are even listed.
what confuses me, is that the chevy w/ AC part # is the same part as the Buick Without AC part#.... maybe the buick springs are a little softer? guess i need to call the spring company and grill them
I'm not sure which engine you have but rockauto.com has a good site to compare parts. Here's a link: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1036831,parttype,7512
What do you want to achieve? Soft ride like a Buick or well kind of soft ride Chevy ;-). I have Tow Package and Grand Touring Suspension on my 95 Roadmaster wagon but I kind of still think it's too soft if you want to drive hard. The setup is perfect for the freeway cruising in 50-70mph for hours at end... There are plenty of ways to get it firmer and sportier but if you want the soft but still pleasant original feeling then just use new parts, original GM preferred since it's a lot better stuff and also engineered for your car - expensive although -- hence I would not do it but then I'm kind of tight fisted Cheers Dyna
Jase are you wanting a performance suspension? Just do a search and most times you can find the answers and talk more indepth if you want. http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1155&highlight=suspension http://stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1336&highlight=suspension
Recently, on a Park Avenue owners forum I belong to, we had a discussion about replacement struts on the 97-05 Park Ave's. A couple of guys tried the GM struts and were very unhappy with them. They apparantly were very stiff and did not return the owner's Park Ave to it's original ride. A moderator there said that the GM struts were sort of bargain basement quality and were not the same as the originals that were installed at the factory. I'd have to go back through to find out more on that. I had installed Monroe Sensa-Tracs on mine, as did other Park Ave owners. They were happy. I am only about as happy as I am going to get with what was available...but still wish for a softer ride. Most people these days are not looking for a softer ride, but instead are looking for sportier rides...so the parts that are out there are more tuned for performance driving. I, myself, am more of the "as soft as you can get it" type of guy. On the 95 Roadmaster sedan I had before the Park Ave, I had the same setup as Dyna, with the Gran Touring Suspension (FE2) and tow package. It was definitely softer than the Park Ave (and the Park Ave has the "soft ride" FE1 suspension). I have driven a Roadmaster sedan with the FE1 soft ride suspension. It is definitely more comfortable and smooths out the potholes and bumps of city traffic. Buicks are usually set up to be a softer ride than their Chevy counterparts. Since the Chevy springs have the same part number as the Buick model w/o A/C, it would seem that the Buick soft springs would fit your Chevy. By the way, IIRC, Chevy changed their Caprice's suspension a little, starting in 86. The Caprice Classic Brougham was supposed to have a much-improved and smoother suspension. I had an 86 Caprice Classic Brougham, but honestly, I can't remember what the suspension was like on that car. I don't remember it being bad...
if your going Performance?...then check out these guys good stuff...i sell alot of it http://www.hotchkis.net/
contrary to what most guys want to do with their wagons, i want mine soft like its supposed to be. I like the soft ride with good handling of my friends 95 Roadmaster. And i had an 88 Electra Estate which i stupidly sold. Now ive had to take what i could get and buy an 85 Chevy Caprice Estate. The only suspension component thats different is the front springs. Will i get the same ride if i just use the springs for the 85 Lesabre Estate? of course i know the Chevy is minus the upper control arms also. i feel two different sensations when it comes to suspension. i feel the float or bounce. and then i feel the road harshness as in rough or smooth. In our part of the world our roads are mostly pot hole free, but they are really rough. i want a smooth ride without alot of bounce. the heavy duty springs that are on the rear now, pick up every little crack in the road, and transfer it through the whole car for a great rumbling noise along with the bone rattling that goes with it. all big gm wagons came with the same rear suspension part numbers, wth different fronts. and i want something that takes the rough roads smoothly, but im afraid if i put the buick softer springs without the extra control arms ill have too much bounce.
Hard to believe, but the company that made them has a Springa FAQ and other tools (Coil Rate diagnostics, etc.): http://www.eatonsprings.com/atqMainPage.htm Another good ANSWER site with parts: http://www.springworks.com/faq.html Hope it helps...
Jase, As I mentioned above, I am also more interested in the softer ride, except that I don't mind the floaty bouncing as I'm going down the road. Another thing you might consider doing, either now or at least when it's time to replace them, is tires. On my Park Ave, I replaced the touring tires that were on it (they were not in good condition anyhow) with Goodyear ComforTred tires. They are rated as being the softest and quietest tires available. I noticed a difference with reduced noise and roughness right away. They are made to look new, even after being on the car a while. Mine still clean up very nicely. They also come with a thin white stripe if you are looking for the whitewall look. I have been happy with them, after 30K miles/2 years. The only gripe that I have is that, although they have an 80K warranty on them, they seem to be wearing faster than that. I suspect that I will only get about 50K out of them before having to replace them. I have already talked to Goodyear, and they say that the company is good about honoring their warranties.
TopherS is right about the tires also look into some good Monroe shocks that will soften up the ride.Those 2 things are the main things to look at for softer ride. Heavy duty springs are only going to make a harsher ride.
i love the float in my lincoln, but i really love the ride i learned to love in my Buick Regal. It was the middle suspention, it wasnt the soft ride, and not the sport suspension, but the grand touring deal. i didnt have the Gran Sport model, but almost and it was very smooth with a controlled bounce. as soon as i can afford it the entire suspension on the Caprice Wagon, along with bushings will be replaced. I really wish i could find a buick wagon, but i saved this Chevy from the Junk Yard, so i guess i should just be happy i even found a box wagon thats totally rust free. and everything except the rear dome light works. the heavy duty springs were on it when i got it, so i cant wait to get rid of those. the tires are fairly new, as are the front shocks, but i want a whole matching set, and Sears has all Monroe products half price this week. Guess where im going Saturday! As far as the Goodyears. i fell in love with Goodyear tires several years ago with the Regatta II. At the time that was Goodyears top of the line, they had the highest ratings for wet and dry traction, highest mileage warranty and highest rating for ride and noise. Sadly they have discontinued my beloved Regatta II's. I have Regatta's on my Lesabre and my Chrysler Minivan yes, i said minivan... but they really make for a good ride. I have Michelin Symmetry's or however you spell it, on an 89 Towncar and they also make for a good ride. Too bad its so hard now to find a good tire with a decent white wall. Anyhow.. now that im way off subject, ill probably buy the springs from partsamerica or advance auto. i havent checked much into Eaton, but i will with Stormin's link. And again ill head over to sears saturday and get shocks for 3 vehicles that need them.
Ok here's what I know. I own a 1984 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. It has 255/60-15's on all four corners. It handled extremely well considering it's size. I was pleasantly surprised. Now I have always liked roadracing and have done some of that as well as AutoXing so I like a car that can corner. And like I said I was surprised how well the wagon handled considering how soft the ride was and that the suspension was stock. Now since then I have lowered it using Edelbrock/Eibach spring kit. It was super easy to put these in and out. Although you do have to pay attention when putting the front springs in as there are these little triangular teeth like things in the upper spring bucket that the spring must go around. The rear ones I could almost do just by jacking up the rear. But it is tons easier if you undo the bottom of the shock. Now these springs were supposed to lower the front 1.25 inches and the rear 1 inch. To me it looks like it was less than that. Now i was expecting the ride to be stiffer but to me it feels softer. Now I am planning on a bigger front swaybar. I have a front one off an LT-1 Caprice that I think is larger. But the rear swaybars for the wagons are totally different. In fact I am not sure they even made one for the GM B-Body wagons. I took one off a cadillac Fleetwood as they have the same swaybar setup. And for those of you that don't know it is a unique setup. A normal swaybar setup is the bar is bolted to the axle tubes. then there are links that go between the bar and the frame. On these cars the bar ends have these channels that bolt to them and these channels slide into the lower suspension arms and then bolts come in from the sides of the arms to fasten them together. The swaybar is not bolted to te rear axle or frame in any way. So because the rear of these wagons are wider than the sedans they are based off of the sedan swaybars will not fit the wagons. But I think there is a way around it. I am simply going to weld a plate onto the channel that slides into the suspension arm and bolt the swaybar to that plate. I would love to get my wagon lower. But because of the super long wheelbase I am not sure this would be a good idea unless I went with airbags.
