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I'm gonna work on a 94 Grand Prix for a buddy of mine and I need some help from the W-body guys out there. his driver rear corner is squatting like crazy and it looks like his fiberglass leaf spring is split. I called around everywhere and the only place i could find a replacement was the dealership, but they wanted upwards of $600 thats about what the car is worth if the problem was fixed so...no. so where can i get one of these and what can he expect to pay? I told this guy there are some sort of bushings at the outer edge of the spring that keep this from happening and it would be smart to replace those when we replace the spring also. I learned a little about this suspension from searching but I don't know too much about the rear leaf spring suspension. is it extremely hard to work on or is it a 15 minute job?
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I would check your latteral bars and your trailing arm make sure there is no play in them. Check the junk yards for a replacement. And yes it is a pain to change but nothing you cant do in a coulple of hours. -
I didn't even get a good look at this suspension, i looked at it at night with a crappy flashlight. did anything else have the same set up so I can tell the jy what cars to take from?Comment
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They should have an interchange guide that tells them that.
If you ain't rock and roll, you must be driving a HondaComment
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they should? i don't think any of the junkyards around here have that. i usually have to tell them what i want and what cars it comes off of.Comment
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AFAIK, the 1st gen W leafs are platform specific, and even then, there were a few different spring rates made. contact Crazy K either on this forum, or on w-body.com, he's the evil genius that knows more about this stuff than the GM engineers who designed the damn things.
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Check the image in post #4
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If you ain't rock and roll, you must be driving a HondaComment
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it might be but i gotta get down to the jy sometime soon and see if i can find something for this car. might just find one from another gp and it'll be all good.Comment
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Seriously other than the moog bars you can buy to put on the ends of the transverse spring, can it be replaced with something better or can a coil spring set from another car be used on my gp instead of the trans. .spring? Anyone out there who has successfully done this let me know.
Originally posted by cardot33 View PostComment
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My '90 Grand Prix LE has the mono leaf. I believe the '88-'94 Olds Cutlass Supreme, buick Regal, Lumina(except Z34), and GP's have the monoleaf...Changing it shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours, depending if you have a lift or jackstands. I've been looking around for spare leafsprings, and so far, no luck
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I know you can simply go in the salvage yards and replace them with what you find but I mean has anyone actually replaced the whole monoleaf system on these cars in place of the replacement of springs? The monoleaf can't be all that bad because the corvettes of today uses them and I know they got to be tough ones they use for the accurate suspension they have.
Originally posted by VortexDesign08 View PostMy '90 Grand Prix LE has the mono leaf. I believe the '88-'94 Olds Cutlass Supreme, buick Regal, Lumina(except Z34), and GP's have the monoleaf...Changing it shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours, depending if you have a lift or jackstands. I've been looking around for spare leafsprings, and so far, no luckComment
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Actually the first gen Z34s did use the mono-leaf... There are pads on the tips that can wear out, Moog makes a neat replacement for that.... A lot of us have gone to a coil-over setup... There are instructions/threads about how to build your own for cheap, think there's a sticky on W-Body suspension specs/upgrades (in the suspension section??)... Oh, well, here ya go, http://60degreev6.com/forum/showthre...nsion-Upgrades There is a guy on the site that goes by DOHC (I believe) that makes some items for W-Bodies. He offers a Koni adjustable coil-over setup. Very NICE!!! AND VERY expensive!! But he could probably whip up something that uses KYBs for much less... Here's his site http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/ There used to be companies that sold coil-over setups but, the ones I know of aren't in business any longer.... Building your own is pretty cheap/easy, really...
Hope this helps,,,
Tom.....Last edited by walterdude; 12-28-2010, 08:51 PM.Comment
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Wow i thought the early Z's used independent
...I stand corrected
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all 1st gen Ws (88-96 Grand Prix and Regal, 88-97 Cutlass Supreme, 90-94 Lumina) used the transverse leaf spring. the 1.5 cars (95-99 Monte Carlo, 95-01 Lumina) went to McPherson struts and got rid of the leaf spring. all Gen 2 and up Ws use 4 independant struts.Comment
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All W's from 88-96...regals, GP's, etc have a rear leafspring....there are a few different spring rates, but nothing all that drastic that swapping for a good one from a JY would cause problems. They are easy to get out. two center mounts held on by 10mm(?) bolts then just pop out the rear hubs that the spring is perched on. install is reverse of taking it out...but a bit more tricky.
Nothing a few beers, jacks, and jack stands can't do in an hour....maybe two.
The new Z06 exposes European sports cars for what they really are....overprice, underperforming snobs.Comment
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