Engine and Suspension Question

[Fuzy Navel]

I have a 88 Lxi A20A3 anyways my check engine light came on and im not sure what it is, but I am drinking more gas, Like on the highway when i do 70 i run around 3,000 even, but now its like 3,800 im like wtf? so i dont know if its a oxegyn sensor or what? any ideas? I just got done replacing my thermostat housing and all the sensors on it but that was like 2 weeks ago and it just now started happening also... it takes like 5 minutes before the light comes on

Suspension question... I got some Tokico struts and i was gonna go put them on yesterday and i noticed that in my springs there are these spacer type things 2 of them on each rear spring (if you want pics i will post them) grandpa said that they are used to raise the car to make it higher off the ground which will make it ride ruff or to help align the wheels. I think the guy that owned it before me put them in there so he would be able to fit a 17 inch wheel in there but thats just what i think, does anybody know why? and if these are bad or good?

I know long post stupid questions but i gotta ask someone....

[smufguy]

post a pic of what you are tlaking about. Im very curious about what it is exactly.


You need to go behind your driver's side seat and flip open the small flap over the ecu cover and count the codes. Then tell us what code (or codes) you get.

[Fuzy Navel]

Its to late today to go out and take a picture of it so i will do it tommrow and i will get those codes for ya tommrow, Also these things raise the car about 3 or 4 inches off the ground, when i first got the car i was like wtf it seems to be higher than my 87 honda but i was thinking since its newer maybe the suspension is differnt but i found out it had those thingeys in there... but ya talk to ya tommrow

[Bglad420]

Suspension question... I got some Tokico struts and i was gonna go put them on yesterday and i noticed that in my springs there are these spacer type things 2 of them on each rear spring (if you want pics i will post them) grandpa said that they are used to raise the car to make it higher off the ground which will make it ride ruff or to help align the wheels. I think the guy that owned it before me put them in there so he would be able to fit a 17 inch wheel in there but thats just what i think, does anybody know why? and if these are bad or good?

Your grandpa is right they have been putting those in cars for 50 years, I know cuz my 70 Nova had them....sad to say your springs are SHOT!! If those are in their then an allignment shop put them their, they prevent your springs from sagging ...short answer NEW SPRINGS!!

[Fuzy Navel]

Hey, Another quick Question i have 17inch rims on now if i put new springs in without those spacers in the middle will it end up lowering the car where it will touch my wheels? there is this like upper control arm i guess thats what it is that runs over the top of the tire anyways if i get lowering springs and get it lower will that arm touch the wheels?
And is Bomza, CM, Sprint, Weapon R, DropZone, springs any good? they are cheap and they say they lower so im like sure why not if i had the money i would get ebiach or HK but i dont yet

[smufguy]

reegardless of the Rim size, the tire profile will lower (for bigger rims) to keep the overall tire size close to the stock size. hence the tire will no touch any of the top or bottom suspension parts.

The only problem you will run into is using wider tires. Wider the tire, greater should be the wheel offset so that the road-facing-side-of-the-rim will not rub against your fender. so for example if u wanna run a 215 or 205 width tire, you need to run a 7" or 7.5" wide rim. Thus the offset needs to be anything more than +45mm. I rum a 35mm offset rim on 205 tires and before i rolled the fender, it rubbed bad.

Also with improper offset on a wider than stock tire, you will experience clearance issues on the front tires from lock to lock on full turns either right or left. So with the wheel turned and you going around a bend and over a bump, you will experience either the internal part of the wheel rubbing on the frame or the tire actualy hitting the fender.

PS: Offset is the distance between the Face of the hub to the middle of the wheel (where the tire sits). positive offset is towards the outisde of the vehicle and negative offset is towards the inside of the vehicle.