The Oldsmobile Connection

adma449 · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Ontario, Canada

Sooner or later, somthings gotta give. This somthing happens to be the rear suspension on my '85 Cutlass Supreme. Its not totally shot, but I can definetly tell its going to come. Now the question is what to do? I have bin told to replace the suspension with air bags, but I myself lean more towards the muscle car other then the pimp mobile (not sure if thats one word). I figure I should go to a GM dealer and get matching coil springs for the rear, and then throw on the newest from monroe shocks. Any ideas or comments?

-->Also just ordered 2 flowmaster Super 40 mufflers!

88 Coupe · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:14 am Post subject: Re: Rear suspension

adma449 wrote: ........ This something happens to be the rear suspension ........ It's not totally shot, but I can definetly tell it's going to come ........
We are not mind readers. You must be more specific?

adma449 wrote: ........ I have been told to replace the suspension with air bags ........
Not a fix for anything I know about.

adma449 wrote: ........ Any ideas or comments? ........
First step in solving a problem, is to define it. The more accurate the definition, the closer you will be to the solution.

Norm

adma449 · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Ontario, Canada

The driver side rear shock is bleeding, the springs are old and she's leaning on the driver side.

88 Coupe · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

Going by the information given:

adma449 wrote: The driver side rear shock is bleeding ........
Replace both shock absorbers.

Quote: ........ the springs are old ........
Not part of the problem.

Quote: ........ leaning on the driver side.
See what it looks like after you change the shocks.

Norm

adma449 · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Ontario, Canada

Any preferences on brand? Any insight into quality and design for shock absorbers?

andrewk · Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 1234 Location: Ames, IA

adma449 wrote: Any preferences on brand? Any insight into quality and design for shock absorbers?

Any good quality shock should do the trick. I prefer Monroe SensaTrak, but there are many other good ones out there.

Andrew

88 Coupe · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:27 am Post subject:

adma449 wrote: Any preferences on brand? ........
Any OEM quality replacement. Except for my Coupes, I use whatever my supplier has on his shelf.

adma449 wrote: ........ Any insight into quality and design for shock absorbers?
Hard to improve on a part that was engineered as part of the original chassis. If the suspension is modified, or the car will be used for a different (racing?) purpose, a different design might be needed. At that point, one would pick a design to fit the new application.

Should have mentioned this before. If you can use a floor jack to lift the rear at the differential, you can check the front for a sag on one side. If so, you could have a broken spring on the low side.

Norm

adma449 · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Ontario, Canada

Im pretty certain the sag is in the rear.

88 Coupe · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:41 am Post subject:

adma449 wrote: Im pretty certain the sag is in the rear.
And I gave you a simple way to to verify it.

85cieraholiday · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:29 pm Post subject:

andrewk wrote: adma449 wrote: Any preferences on brand? Any insight into quality and design for shock absorbers?

Any good quality shock should do the trick. I prefer Monroe SensaTrak, but there are many other good ones out there.

Andrew

I just put new Monroe Sensa Trak shocks/stuts in my Olds, they helped the ride and control of the car though they were the most $$$$$ but it was worth it. My old shocks/struts were bad like yours seem to be and it made the car ride like a different car.

88 Coupe · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 8:16 am Post subject:

Hi 85cieraholiday, all,

New cheapos would have had the same effect.

Nothing against any brand. I just don't know that any one is that much better than the next.

Regards, Norm

85cieraholiday · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:38 am Post subject:

88 Coupe wrote: Hi 85cieraholiday, all,

New cheapos would have had the same effect.

Nothing against any brand. I just don't know that any one is that much better than the next.

Regards, Norm

I know that any new shock/strut would have made a difference in ride quality but I did some digging around and found that these seem to be well likes products. I was also looking for a soft ride shock/strut. I already knew that these were the model shock/strut I wanted but I asked the local parts store the question of which model would provide the softest ride (I know they guy who works there personaly so I know that the choice wasnt based on making money etc) and he said the Sensa Trak would be the best choice.

However I am about a picky with my Oldsmobile as can be so even the slightest difference in ride quality can make all the difference and since the Olds isnt a daily driver but a weekend cruiser I wanted to make sure that I got exactly the effect I wanted in order to keep the car enjoyable.

What is important is we need to know what this car will be used for. I took into consideration the fact that my car is being keptm stock so I used a part that I feel mirrored the original model yet improved on it with superior ride quality. If this car is going to be used for preformance a different product may be in order.

adma449 · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 23 Location: Ontario, Canada

For the present time, the car is a daily driver for 3 seasons, so anything that closly replaces or improves the original set. High performance is not an issue at the moment, but possibly in the future.

88 Coupe · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:16 pm Post subject:

85cieraholiday: Good post.

Norm

onfir3 · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 6

adma449 wrote: High performance is not an issue at the moment, but possibly in the future.

I don't mind if someone shoots this down or contradicts me, as I'm not an expert with these cars, this is just my experience.

Since you said perfomance could become a later issue, consider Sport adjustable shocks. KYB makes them (don't know about for your car sorry..) as well as Tokico. I just put tokico sport adjustables on my 85 pontiac 350'd firebird, and I love them to death. Set them to road or track settings, 1-5, adn they work great. 3 is fine for daily driving, 4 is a bit more tight, and what i prefer, but look into it. Tokico runs rather expensive though, so ya know. just my cents.