My wagon has this squat going on where the rear is 2-3 inches or so lower than the front (no load in the back) and I don't like it. It used to sit low all around because the shocks were worn out, but when I replaced them the front picked up and the back didn't much. So my guess is the springs are worn, maybe driving it around with bad shocks shortened their life. I don't want it to be just level again like factory though, I want a slight rake. So I was thinking about using springs meant for a heavier car. Springs for early 70's to 90's wagons look like they would work, but I'm not sure which ones to get. In the parts catalog the '75 seems to be the heaviest, don't know if that'd be too much though. Input appreciated, have you done anything similar?
. Back in the day had great success with Monro coil-over shock absorbers .... and as easy to install as a normal shock . The ones I used were adjustable (the spring part) .... you can set the ride height where you want ..... another thing I really liked was the (softer) spring on the shock carried part of the load and gave a softer ride. Been a few years so I don't know if they still make them . I have also re-arched leaf springs .... hammer and anvil and many hours of noise but cost nothing except my time and new rubber mount bushings. .
Two things I should bring to the table: 1) unless your car came with more-capable shocks (such as 'air-assist' ones, or whatever Buick called them), it's not advisable to use those or coil-over shocks, as the partial vehicle weight and load will transfer to the frame mountings, and can damage them; and 2) if you need to raise the rear, in-spring low-pressure airbags would be the better way to raise the rear, especially if you carry or tow a large load. The vehicle weight is mostly on the springs, and so some weight will transfer to the bags, which will sit where the vehicle weight is supposed to exert force on the frame. An alternative would be to obtain new springs, but be forewarned, even though custom-made new ones are made in this country, supply-chain issues have put delays in their manufacture.
Hi BuickEstate, Your 88 could have been ordered with the factory load leveling suspension. SilverTwinkieHobo makes a valid point about using caution placing some vehicle weight on the shock mounts; but you will be ok in this situation because these cars were built for this application. 1. Put airbags in the springs. I’ve never done this to a car but it is probably the most robust way to do it right. 2. Install air adjustable rear shocks. Manually fill from a schrader valve; the factory load leveling package used this same setup but by manually filling it yourself allows you to go higher than level in the rear. I’ve had these shocks on a couple B-body sedans and they provide a good 3” of travel with nothing in the car. Depending on how high you run these for the look you want, ride quality might get funky. They are made to ride at stock ride height under load with the higher psi. If you run them at max psi with no load, they are obviously extra firm. 3. Install new coil springs. 77-90 wagons use rear coils and new ones will return your stock height but might not give you the higher rear lift you are looking for. The previous generation 71-76 GM wagon are rear leaf springs. You can ask a spring shop about the 71-76 full size coupe/sedan rear coils, those cars weigh a lot more than the 1977-96 downsized b-bodies so those springs will likely add lift on your 88. Or look at the bigger c-body Electra/Ninety-Eight rear coils. The spring shops should be able to help you, they know what coils the Donk drivers use for the “sitting up, limo spring” look. good luck!
I got some new Lesjofors springs from RockAuto. These were the longest I saw, said they fit a '75 Estate Wagon with a 455. I also went ahead and got new insulators. Old springs slipped out easy after removing the lower shock bolt and raising the car. The new ones are a few inches longer but I was out of axle drop, so before I spent much time fighting them I just bought a spring compressor which made short work of it. End result, car gained a few inches in the back and has a rake like I wanted. I think it looks pretty good now, hope it still looks okay after they settle. Hard to really show the difference but here are before and after pictures: Unfortunately I won't be able to see if it drives any different until I swap the engine (old one is knocking).
. I had a 1970 Ford Torino with 170,000 miles on it and it began knocking on a road trip .... it had the higher compression 351 Cleveland engine and I didn't want to abandon it .... and a tow truck would be too expensive ..... so I went to a farm-tractor supply store and bought a gallon of thick straight 50 engine oil .... engine quit knocking and I drove it 300 miles home. .
. I feel a bit foolish now ... I was thinking you had leaf springs .... your larger coils appear to solve the problem ... nice car and the body looks clean and straight. If I was painting that car I would do the upper in the original light blue metallic .... then a dividing stripe on the body ridge along the side and the lower sides in a darker blue . .
My bad, probably should have mentioned what type of springs I was working with earlier. Not sure why RockAuto isn't showing leaves for the older wagons. Getting it painted is definitely one of the things on my list. I had thought I'd just redo the original color, but I really like your two tone idea. Though maybe I'd swap the colors and have dark blue on top.
