Rear Suspension Questions

[project 92z]

Ok, 91 Z34 is running pretty good now. Only one major glitch with the engine swap- the rear cam jumped almost 180° out all of a sudden. Reset it and so far so good.
What's next on the list is the rear suspension. It squeaks all the time. Shocks seem ok but the leaf spring is bare on the ends. I looked at eBay to figure out what I needed but not sure if I need insulator(black end cap) or helper ( white moog plastic part) or both. Any advice out there?

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[robertisaar]

the factory style is the rubber pad that gets glued to the knuckle. I've seen the plastic blocks rub the leafsprings enough to thin and then crack the ends of the leaves. not sure I would recommend that route.

[carbon]

I still can't believe there was a mono-leaf back there on those things...

[robertisaar]

why not? corvettes from 1963-current use them.... they have their advantages. they have downsides as well, but they aren't inherently terrible.

[project 92z]

I've read that about the vettes too. But you're recommending the OE style? I don't have much sag maybe a inch. I notice it mostly cause I actually want a lil forward rake. Will that cause the rear to squeak, though? Or is it more likely bad bushings or other hardware? I've also noticed that on turns, everything back there bounces like in sliding in gravel.

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[Schurkey]

There was a time when I thought the plastic blocks were intended to be a replacement for the rubber pads. I no longer think that way.

The plastic blocks should raise the rear about half-an-inch, or whatever the thickness of the blocks is. You should retain (or more likely replace) the rubber pads at the ends of the spring.

If the back end seems "unsettled", you're likely looking at rear struts and potentially an alignment. Of course, you'd want to verify that none of the suspension rods is bent. The trailing arm from body to the hub casting is often tweaked.

[robertisaar]

so much could cause squeaking.... I chased a rear suspension squeak for probably a month before I smashed my head into the muffler and found the squeak there. sloppy rear end, I would look real hard at the lateral links to make sure they're not bent/cracked or the bolt used for toe adjustment didn't slip around in its slot. if not that, trailing arms/bushings/mounts.

with sag, the plastic blocks might help a little, but if you really wanted to, rear coilovers can be done for less than $300 and you'll have all the adjustment you might want.

[project 92z]

The bouncing (unsettled sounds too mild) is on turns in either direction and after taking of one strut, they seem almost new. I think that was the previous owners thought too. I haven't noticed any major bend out kinks in any of the arms. Only dried out bushings. I'm trying to get a better than throw parts at it till it works plan. The ride is also bumpy. Since I have them anyway, maybe I will throw the struts on. I'll keep you posted.

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[project 92z]

Ok. I found the bouncing. Silly me- I put my 18 inch rims on. Well because the offset is wrong, I had spacers and ET lug nuts for the fronts. The spacers wasn't needed in back so the nuts were too long. A 1/16th can reek havoc. The spueeks subsided with the new struts.

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