Front suspension questions

[blackbombshell95]

i have a 95 2dr grand prix..

several months ago my buddy(not anymore) hit a curb or somthing about 80mph and busted the lower control arms(front) and bent the strut... plus my rear monoleaf and struts are worn so my car is like floating like a boat(after the lower control arms were replaced, car couldn't drive without new ones). i have the ffp rear coilovers with kyb struts in my garage not installed yet, so tomorrow i'm going to order the ST springs from jcwhitney and kyb struts from a local store, now should i replace anything else within the front suspension?
how about the strut housing?
when i drive around 40mph to 48mph my front suspension makes a grinding noise in the front end? what is that?

plus when i go in reverse my front end makes a weird grinding noise for about 1 sec then stops. i just noticed this last week. anyone help me out?

[SappySE107]

Reverse is probably the brakes. Mine like to do that sometimes. I would get the GMPP trailing arms for the 97+ grand prix, as it is much better than the stock crap we got. 40 bucks for the pair is a good deal IMO.

Check your tie rods and ball joints as well. With that kind of abuse they may be damaged.

[blackbombshell95]

cool thanks... what exactly are trailing arms? i've heard about them but not sure what they are. and they only cost $40? nice....

i just bought kyb gr2 front struts. so i have those to install. and my rear ffp coilovers with kyb struts. haven't installed those yet. just installed my front and rear rsm strut tower bars... i took off my buick s-bar off and put on the rsm front and their is a big difference. rsm feels better. then i put the rear on but haven't tried it yet.


should i get front st lowering springs or eibach springs?

[SappySE107]

I would rather have eibach but I have no experience with either. From the reviews I read on other cars, the eibachs were better for normal driving than the ST and both were great for handling.

[blk92z34getrag]

I like my Suspension Techniques very much. Rides very similarly to the stock springs, and handling is improved. I'd go with ST just because you can get them in pairs, the Eibachs you have to get all four together I believe.

[blackbombshell95]

are their any springs out there that drop 2'' or more?

will any lowering springs for a 95-99 monte carlo work just fine on my car?

[Lyle's GTP]

If you go to www.heldmotorsports.com they have front and rear coil overs. You could drop that bitch to the ground with those if you wanted.

Lyle

[blackbombshell95]

hahah. i have rear ffp coilovers. lol.


eibach or ST springs? which is better quality. forget the price! anybody have eibach springs here?

[tranceokido]

about that grinding..you said you replaced your lower A arm correct? I remember hitting a big ass log that fell out of the back of a truck and it fucked up my FP side suspension. I had to get new strut, new lower A arm, tires, alignment. $$$. Make sure anything isn't bent where you lower A arm connects..mine was grinding at times because the A arm itself was bent pretty bad.

[blackbombshell95]

ok. my new struts and springs are going in next week.

[PaulGTP]

Rear parking cable coversion

Parking Brake Cable Install

These are the instructions on how to get your parking brake working again with the new calipers. This DOES require welding. You will need the following parts:

Park brake cables, either from GM or Raybestos (YOU DON'T NEED BOTH SETS!)

GM Dealer List GM Brake Cable Lt 10275628 $26.00
GM Dealer List GM Brake Cable Rt 10287296 $20.35
Raybestos Brake Cable Rt Wrenchhead.com BC94727 $11.06
Raybestos Brake Cable Lt Wrenchhead.com BC94728 $13.45

You also need the equilizer:

P-brake Equalizer GM Parts 15640543 7.38

Finally, you need the brake cable bracket. I haven't found a GM part number for this yet, so you have to use a chisel and hammer to pop it off a donor car.

Remove the existing parking brake cables. The drivers side is easy. The passenger side runs on top of the gas tank and is held in with clips. I used a long pry bar to bend the clips and pull the cable thru. If you feel ambitious you can drop the gas tank.
If you are reusing your original parking brake lever, tie up the front cable after separating it from the rear cable. Keep the clip that is already on there.
Using a cold chisel or screwdriver, remove the existing bracket (next to the trailing arm) from the underside of the car. It uses 4 spot welds, don't worry about being really neat.
You will have to have the new bracket welded on. You can either drill out the existing weld spots, and have them spot weld it in, or have them weld around the perimeter. It doesn't need to be heavy duty, you're not towing the car with it. My guy got carried away and ran a bead around the whole perimeter, I would have preferred spot welds.
Route the longer cable from the passenger side, behind the track arms, and curve it around behind the drivers side strut towards the welded bracket. Midway along the cable there will be a tab that came with the cable. This attaches to the center track arm mount. You will find a hole on the top side of it where the tab will line up. Use a 6mm self tapping bolt to hold it in.
Route the drivers side cable from the caliper to the bracket.
The cable with the threaded end goes thru the smaller hole in the bracket and snaps in place. Run the other one thru the larger hole. It will clip into the equalizer
Thread the cable into the equalizer about 1/4 of the way. The equalizer will be facing away from the threaded cable end.
Route the other end of the cable thru the remaining hole in the equalizer, this one will be farther forward than the first cable.
Now clip the other ends of the cables into the calipers.
Undo the cable coming from the parking brake lever where you tied it up. Connect this end to the end coming from the equalizer.
Now set the parking brake lever 3/4's of the way down. Adjust the equalizer until the cable is tight. Release the lever, and make sure the parking brakes release properly.

Courtesy of "Turbo Grand Prix Garage"

I have done it myself, work great