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Well Santa came and dropped off some suspension goodies for me, 1.75" lowering springs, and Bilstein B6 shocks. I'm currently about to swap the shocks and springs in the rear, I've heard some people say the rears are a BITCH due to having to removing the back seat and carpeting in order to access to square patches that have the shocks mounts under them? But from what I've looked at under the car it seems like a 15-25 minute job per rear shock...any help is appreciated.
If you think the rears are a pain wait till you get to the front lol......In all seriousness though the rears are about a half hour to an hour job. Taking the seats out isnt difficult at all.
If you think the rears are a pain wait till you get to the front lol......In all seriousness though the rears are about a half hour to an hour job. Taking the seats out isnt difficult at all.
Nah I have just heard some people complain about it. The fronts do look a little more complicated... For now I'm just gonna do the springs. Not the shocks and struts, how should I go about doing just the rear springs?
From: Illinois, as close to "Normal" as I can get...
Originally Posted by Jucas97
Nah I have just heard some people complain about it. The fronts do look a little more complicated... For now I'm just gonna do the springs. Not the shocks and struts, how should I go about doing just the rear springs?
Rear springs are a breeze, jack up the back of the car, put jacks tands on the frame rails and let the rear axle "hang", my springs practically fell out.
I hope you realize you just cant "do" the front springs, you still have to remove the strut assembly to do so, might as well replace the struts while you have it apart.
The hardest part might be finding the front struts on a car that has 4 shock.
^
Rear shocks were 30 minutes per side for me and I did it by myself when I was 17 hah. No need to unbolt the rear seat, just fold it down. I didn't do springs but as you've seen, they're even easier then the rear shocks. Fronts aren't too bad as long as you have a good reference to look to, hit up ls1howto for an awesome write up. 1-1.5 hours a side then tackling the shock/spring assembly is another monster of its own
The hardest part might be finding the front struts on a car that has 4 shock.
It's not hard to find struts for our cars. You can go to any parts store and ask for front struts, or go on rockauto and order some. You just can't get on ls1tech and say the word "strut".
From: Illinois, as close to "Normal" as I can get...
Originally Posted by 1BAD02WS6
It's not hard to find struts for our cars. You can go to any parts store and ask for front struts, or go on rockauto and order some. You just can't get on ls1tech and say the word "strut".
Exactly!
Lets go to the Napa website, 2000 Firebird and look in the "suspension category. The rears are listed as "shocks" and the fronts are listed as "struts"... but of course Napa has no idea what they are talking about...
Exactly!
Lets go to the Napa website, 2000 Firebird and look in the "suspension category. The rears are listed as "shocks" and the fronts are listed as "struts"... but of course Napa has no idea what they are talking about...
And GM calls them shocks. Maybe you should look up what a strut actually is. 3rd Gens have struts, because they are actually structural and eliminate the upper control arm. 4th gens have coilovers with a short arm/long arm configuration.
From: Illinois, as close to "Normal" as I can get...
Originally Posted by 1BAD02WS6
My comment was just poking fun at the people that feel the need to correct a person anytime the word "strut" is used here.
I know and its funny cause here is another one...
Originally Posted by Spartan7
And GM calls them shocks. Maybe you should look up what a strut actually is. 3rd Gens have struts, because they are actually structural and eliminate the upper control arm. 4th gens have coilovers with a short arm/long arm configuration.
From: Illinois, as close to "Normal" as I can get...
Originally Posted by Spartan7
And GM calls them shocks. Maybe you should look up what a strut actually is. 3rd Gens have struts, because they are actually structural and eliminate the upper control arm. 4th gens have coilovers with a short arm/long arm configuration.
Are you sure about that? This is the GM parts direct website and it also calls them front "struts"...
Damn, its 2015 now and people still want to argue that these cars have struts, wow.
They are coilover shocks, not struts. 3rd gens and 5th gens have struts, 4th gen have upper and lower A arm with coilovers.
Left side is strut suspension, right side is coilover, which looks like ours?
5th gen camaro:
Notice no upper control arm? Thats because its a stut style suspension.
4th gen camaro:
Notice the upper control arm? Thats because its a coilover (A-arm) type suspension.
I just get a kick put of people constantly correcting anyone that uses the word "strut"...the internet police will rule the world some day...
I get a kick out of people that try and argue that they are struts, when clearly they are not.
Its one thing to mistakenly call them struts, its another to try argue that they are (using a parts store database none the less).
From: Illinois, as close to "Normal" as I can get...
Arguing with a parts guy is a lot like wrestling with a pig in the mud, after awhile you realize the pig enjoys it...
But GM calls them struts right on their parts website...
Damn, its 2015 now and people still want to argue that these cars have struts, wow.
They are coilover shocks, not struts. 3rd gens and 5th gens have struts, 4th gen have upper and lower A arm with coilovers.
Left side is strut suspension, right side is coilover, which looks like ours?
5th gen camaro:
Notice no upper control arm? Thats because its a stut style suspension.
4th gen camaro:
Notice the upper control arm? Thats because its a coilover (A-arm) type suspension.
Since were already off topic, which design is better from a handling/ performance standpoint?
And most people ask if your car has nos or naazzz, but I'll stick to n2o, or nitrous oxide rather than sound like some idiot thats seen every Fast and Furious movie 4 times each. It's kind of like that bridge your mother would ask you about jumping off if everyone else did.
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Shocks struts and spring replacement 
