TheHeadFL

I purchased these a number of years back (2006) and I never got around to installing them. Now, finally, I'm looking at installing them.



First, I've done this job before, but I did not replace my upper shock mounts. (However I did replace my ball joints) This time, I want to be able to do as much as possible before I tear the car apart. It is not my daily driver, but I like to have things nice and set up before I go tearing into them.

Last time I did this I paid someone to swap the springs for me because we got one done and we were having lots of problems with the spring compressor and time was running short so we bailed.

This time I am hoping to have fully assembled front shock/spring assemblies ready to bolt in before I tear the car apart. Also, I am going to give my existing assemblies (which have 20,000 mile DeCarbons) to a friend for nothing to help him get his car running. In order to do that, I need to get some parts...

Here is what I think I need, and I know I am missing some things:

New GM Upper Shock Mounts (LH/RH) (GM P#??) - $130ish x 2 at GMPartsDirect
New GM Upper Shock Supports (Dogbone, 'Mount Cushion') (GM P#??) - $10ish x 2

Now, looking at the shocks I have, it looks like I also need spring seats/lower mounts... Do these just sit on the shock or do they need to be pressed on or what?

New GM 'Spring seat' ? - $30 x 2
New GM 'Bumper' ? - $10 x 2
New GM 'Insulator' ? - $7 x 2

Any advice?

Element

iTrader: (5)

I just did my front and rear shocks and springs, and it was...fun. Some observations:

The upper shock mounts (the big bit the top of the spring goes against, and that bolts up into the engine bay) is a bit cheaper from Moog...about $45 per side. The "dogbone" is sometimes called the coil spring insulator, and is another Moog part for about $5 each. Likewise, the spring seats can be had for about $10-15 a piece, and should just slide onto the new shocks, and come with the rubber insulator that goes between the coil spring and the spring perch.

If you don't have the front stock dust boots, you'll need either an OEM bumpstop or a similar aftermarket replacement, and a large flat washer with an ID that will allow it to sit on the "step" on the front shock shaft. Moog and KYB both have replacement front dust boots and bumpstops ($15 per at Rock Auto, $25 per at Advance), although I'm not completely sure if they come with the large washer for the shock shaft.

I can grab a picture of my completely-disassembled passenger side spring/shock setup here in a minute and try to label everything...probably make things more clear, and it would have been useful when I was trying to figure out what I needed.

Element

iTrader: (5)

Quick parts list:

Coil Spring Insulator (Moog K6573, $6 x 2)
Strut Mount (Moog K6516/6517 L/R, $58 x 2)
Front Shock Dust Boot/Bumpstop (Moog K90462, $16 x 2)
Coil Spring Lower Seat (Moog K80927, $14 x 2)

Call-out (the only thing missing is the OEM dust boot; mine got mangled disassembling the whole setup, and it would normally sit on/around the bumpstop "hat"):

TheHeadFL

Wow, thanks a lot! That is exactly what I was looking for!

Smalltime

Where did you find these parts for that price

Coil Spring Insulator (Moog K6573, $6 x 2)
Strut Mount (Moog K6516/6517 L/R, $58 x 2)
Front Shock Dust Boot/Bumpstop (Moog K90462, $16 x 2)
Coil Spring Lower Seat (Moog K80927, $14 x 2)

TheHeadFL

I picked them up for pretty close to that at RockAuto.com

udienow

iTrader: (18)

Is that 100% everything you need. In other words will I need to re-use nothing if I buy all those parts? That would completely negate the need for a spring compressor if I buy all new parts... would it not? (if i have new springs and shocks that is).

TheHeadFL

You need a spring compressor to install all this stuff on the new shocks...

But the list is missing one thing... the Moog Dust Boot/Bumpstop doesn't come with the metal bumpstop hat... now I need to figure out where to get one of those.

Also the Moog bumpstop itself is kind of plastic-y. I expected it to be rubber. It isn't very flexible at all.

Ideally I'd like to run an OEM dust boot and bumpstop, but I can't find one anywhere.

System_Error_117

Hey I bought all the above listed parts and installed them on my 99 TA and found it sits way higher then factory. I used every part listed here except I used factory LT1 shocks which looked fine when they were on my stock shocks.

Do these shocks and Moog parts make the car sit higher when used with stock springs?

System_Error_117

What springs did you use on your install? and did you find it sat any lower or higher then factory?