delling3

Hello -

I just took delivery of a "new to me" 1996 GT Convertible. As part of my pre-purchase due-dillegence, I had the car inspected by a local mechanic. I know that it needs shocks and struts.

It is a bone-stock car. I know the car came from the factory with quad shocks, and the little I have read about them suggest that they weren't a terribly effective solution to the problem they were intended to address, but at this point I am not budgeting for any significant suspension upgrades. Do I need to replace both sets of shocks, or is it worth spending the added money for the "quad shocks"? I see CJ Pony and LMR both offer kits with struts and either 2 or 4 shocks. Should I save the money and skip the second set of shocks? Or do it all at the same time?

Thanks.

Urambo Tauro

I would do it all at once, they're probably getting about as worn out as the others by now anyway. And they're right there- not hard to get to at all.

Z28KLR

Replace the (4) shocks/struts. When you feel like addressing the quad shock issue just get a set of aftermarket lower control arms which will enable removal of the quads. For direction on good and bad lca's, in the Suspension subforum here there is a thread right at the top of the page titled The Official Suspension Guide which has all the info you'll ever need.

Z28KLR

Even if you never plan on driving the car hard or pushing it's limits you'll notice a nice difference with aftermarket lca's.

99GTvert

I would get new shocks and struts, not the quad shocks. If the car still feels like it's not rebounding well from bumps then you could try replacing those too but I doubt they do much of anything for the ride, and not much either for traction form a low speed.

You can do the LCAs but there's a great chance your car's ride quality will suffer. My 99 has aftermarket LCAs and it rides like sh*t, worse than stock. They are HPMs megabyte juniors (may no longer be around anymore) and set to the stiffer setting but I doubt even the 'lighter' setting would make a difference.