I’m looking to replace my suspension. Although the car sat for 9 years, I cannot remember ever changing the shocks/springs and my dad and I are the original owners. Just looking to get the car driving again. I got the car working a few months ago, and driving it at 15 mph in the neighborhood felt terribly rough. Any recommendations for brands that are decent? Are there other parts I should consider while I’m digging around the suspension?

 

How many miles on the vehicle ? Do any of the shocks show signs of fluid leakage ?

 

My ‘00 had 27k miles on it when I got mine in 2020 and the OEM shocks were bad. I bet his probably are too.

 

I’d probably do new shocks first and see how that goes. Lowering springs will make the ride rougher and the OEM replacement springs that are on the market will make the ride height higher than stock because they’re longer that what you have now. The OEM replacements are listed to fit from 1982 to 2002 F-bodies. But from the factory they didn’t all have the same springs during that time span.

 

The car itself has 155k. I haven’t noticed any leaks, but when I drove it for the first time in a few years, it was a rough drive in just neighborhood. I did notice my axle bumpers were littering the ground underneath the car from dry rot before driving, so those are also on the to-do list. I’m definitely not looking to lowering springs due to the research (and the comment above) saying the ride gets rougher.

 

there are like 6 moog part numbers for F-bodies, however 2 common springs for the front and 2 common springs for the back depending on driveline options. many of the F-body springs are the same as S-10 springs and G-body springs

Front is usually 5660, 5662, or 5664 Rear is usually 5659 or 5665

 

I think the primary problem you are likely dealing with here is old, flat spotted tires. You didn't mention replacing the tires as part of getting the car back on the road, so if it's been sitting on them, in the same spot, for a decade (and probably underinflated too - making flat-spotting even more likely) and they were old to begin with, I'm quite sure they are junk and a significant source of the rough ride.

Don't get me wrong, the car might also need other things to ride its best, but I'd be starting with tires before worrying about springs or shocks in this situation.

 

INDEED!! #1 task should be new tires.

I owned a '96 Z-28. Bought it new and kept it for almost 20 years. Over that time, besides the OE shocks and springs, I had 2 shock/spring combinations. The first was Eibach springs in combination with the OE shocks. I kept the OE shocks in place, because the car was brand new, when I did the spring swap, and I ran that combination for several years. I later swapped to a Strano spring Koni shock set up, and was very happy with that.



Strano/Koni combination. Lower that stock, but not "slammed". Good amount of suspension travel for street driving.

 

I figured tires would be bad and will need to replace them. While I did have the car on stands for a couple of years, I think your point is still valid. On the to do list!! I am definitely not knowledgeable on shocks so I’m am uncertain of what brands are good/bad and what different features mean, ie adjustable, etc. I would just be looking for something to replace the old shocks. Any suggestions on what to look at or not look at?

 

That might be another part of the problem. Unless you had the suspension properly loaded with the jack stands, it's not good for everything to be hanging unloaded for that long period of time.

Bilstein is a great option for shocks without getting too crazy with price.