Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
Tirwin, I realistically might only ever do DE/AX a few times (not very convenient or local for me), and at a very casual "Sunday fun" level. It's quite firm already for basic street driving. So, I think keeping the suspension stock is best.
I think I will skip the replating, ad the car is low miles and pretty clean. (That rusted right spring plate sticks out like a sore thumb, and might have been replaced)
I will come back with some more questions in order to narrow down what to replace.
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You may find that the rust on the inside surface of that cover is worse than on the outside. I'm on the back-half of a rear suspension refresh on my 87 cab having done the front suspension last Spring. The front refresh included all the "while you're in there's" and the improvement in ride and handling was very noticeable. I stayed with new stock-performance Sachs shocks, ER a-arm bushings, turbo tie-rods, new ball joints and swaybar bushings. The front end feels much more responsive and lively.
My rear spring plate bushings, like yours, were shot. My spring plates are now cleaned, and I'm in the process of deciding whether to rattle-can or plate (if I can get a plater to return my call...) I'm really not interested in plating for the bling, it's more for the functionality and corrosion resistance on the plates and the hardware.
I also replaced the trailing arm bushings, which many on the forum opt out of. Once it's all back together I'm done for life suspension-wise.
The while-you're-in-there syndrome exists for good and valid reasons especially on cars with 25 to 30 year-old components, but we all need to act within constraints of time and budget. In my case, I really should have done the rear refresh two years ago when I did the rear brakes, CV joints and bearings, but I decided to defer the suspension refresh. I love working on the car so doing some double-work isn't so bad...
Good luck!
GK