Ok guys, I put the money down on the gravana coilover system, and decided I needed to go pickup some 95-99 front strut mounts (I drive an 02 LS sedan). Feeling fairly confident in what I needed, I stopped at the local Monroe Muffler to see what they could do... the local manager proceeded to tell me that everyone on jbody that says the 95-99 are a straight "bolt-on" swap were BSing. He tried to convince me that Chevy put 2 or 3 different designs on the 2k+ cavies, and that I would never find the right mounts to swap. After apr. 5 minutes of this guy's bi%c@ing, I turned around and walked out....
I guess my question is, how true is this?
Everything I have seen on here suggests that if I get the 95-99 mounts, I can bolt them in place of the 2k+ ones, but I have never seen any pics of the swap, nor have I personally seen a cavy with the swap.
Any Help in straightening the confusionout would be greatly appreciated!
almost ALL the parts ARE interchangeable strut mounts are included in this list.
the rears are all basically the same, and even fit "some" grand am's. Wild Weasel can confirm it, but people use the older mount for coil-over setups all the time from what I've read. they have many more replaceable parts than the 2000+. i will be getting the older mounts if I find myself needing to replace the current ones.
the guy doesn't know what the frack hes talking about. find someone who does
My thoughts exactly, but he claimed to have just finished up on a "4 day install because none of the mounts we were given matched up." He even claimed to have gotten some 2002 mounts from a local dealer, and they supposedly didn't fit on the 2002 cavy!?!?!
All I can really say is that I won't ever be taking my car to that shop!
Any one else? I would just love to print this one out for him!
well i just today dropped a friends 2000 cavalier, all the bolt sizes are the same,all the nut sizes are that same, mounts, mount locations, torque specs. rubber insulators on the spring perches. tie rod ends. brake lines, A-arms, rotor, calipers, screws for holding the fender well liners. the little rubber cups that are on top of the rear struts. the bump stops, galvanized cap that holds the dust boot. dust boots. the washer that is hidden under the dust boot on the rear (it has an angled top), lug bolt threads, lug nut size unless you got different lugs for upgraded rims. all the same. I have two different manuals that agree with each other from two different companies. and personal knowledge from three different generations of J-body cars, an '82, '91, '92, and now a 2002. if that guy received the wrong parts and it took 4 days to find the right ones, theres nothing you can do about it, dealers are just like us, they screw up too, if you get parts for the wrong gen car then the answer is no they won't fit. second and third gen parts are not interchangeable, there is no question about it, however all third gen mounts ARE.
82-88 1st gen
89-90 second gen phase 1 91-94 second gen phase 2
95-98 third gen phase one 99-02 third gen phase 2 03-05 third gen phase 3
through those years that are the same generation most of the parts are interchangeable with one another. suspension is one of those categories when this is true.
...and dude run from that shop!!!
Thanks man...
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if that guy received the wrong parts and it took 4 days to find the right ones, theres nothing you can do about it, dealers are just like us
I agree on the wrong parts from the dealership taking longer...he was just complaining to me about it...
Quote:
...and dude run from that shop!!!
You better believe that I will... definatly can't respect that shop... scary thing is, I had brake work done there about 4 months ago... maybe they couldn't find the right brake pads to fit on my car
Haha... this sounds just like the whole "You can not swap out your radio with an aftermarket radio, unless you pay or this $120 dollar adapter harness". They are all just greedy or stupid.
Steve W wrote:Haha... this sounds just like the whole "You can not swap out your radio with an aftermarket radio, unless you pay or this $120 dollar adapter harness". They are all just greedy or stupid.
Yeah, except that when I asked if he would swap the mounts out, since he seemed to think I wouldn't be able to do it, he swore at me, then told me he wouldn't touch another cavy's suspension with a "15 foot pole!"
the manager was feeding you b.s. because he didn't think you would know any better. sounds like he just made up an excuse to buy time.
CAR GODS MADE THE 1.6 SOHC TO MAKE US 2.2 OHV GUYS FEEL BETTER.
just swaped my over the weekend.. easy job ...and you can do it without airtools although it is much more time consuming
^^^ Kensedan did you use a spring compressor? do you need to use one?
if your taking the struts/shocks/springs off with the mounts, and putting on new shocks/struts/springs/mounts that are already assembled you won't need a compressor. but if your keeping anything from the old set or the new set isn't assembled you will need a compressor or a stack of bibles.
CAR GODS MADE THE 1.6 SOHC TO MAKE US 2.2 OHV GUYS FEEL BETTER.
Import - Yes and Yes. I did use a compressor. Two different types actually. The fronts I happened to have a friend help who brought compressors. His had claw type grips that hold the spring. A few nights later I did the rears myself and used a type that you have to put U bolts on the spring and then bolt those to the compressor. What a PITA that style is.
I found that the spring compressor you can rent from autozone doesn't work that great on our cars....
Its just slips over the spring and a little pin slides in and locks it in place- The only problem is, this keeps the main compressor bolt thing too close to the spring- and the bolt will hit the perch and @!#$ when you try to tighten it... This is a generic pic.
<img src=http://randgraphics.org/PT_Cruiser/images/spring_compressor_sm.jpg>
Pepboys spring compressor works better- even though it takes a little longer to assemble w/ the u-bolts, it seems to extend the main compressor bolt farther away from the whole thing- keeping it clear of the spring perch.
<img src=http://www.ka24development.com/file_images/spring_compressor.jpg>
If youve done it before- you know what I'm talking about.
<img src=http://www.consumptionjunction.com/i/default03.gif>
