Weight transfer f/r

[mjoekingz28]

I seriously need struts on the Cobalt. I am considering rear shocks if they need it. The rear seems to ride fine, but you can tell the front end isnt all there. But I just did the push down test and the rear almost takes as much time to settle as the front, yet the rear rides firm so I would not be interested in changing the rear shocks unless it will help with BRAKING.

For braking, the Cobalt does well but there is some nosedive and I much prefer it to stay flat so I can come to a complete stop and take off real quick without having to wait on the car to settle down. So, my question......

Does weight transfer from the rear to the front under braking come from lack of the rear drums doing their duty or because the rear shocks are freely 'rebounding' or 'de-compressing'?

 

[Fsharp]

It has more to do with suspension geometry than either of those.

 

[bigjl]

Worn shocks front or rear will have a detrimental affect on a cars braking ability.

I would personally only ever change shocks all round. Though you might want to consider changing the springs at the same time.

I have never had a car the needed time to "settle" after stopping.

Not even my (nearly 140k mile) 2005 Picanto on original suspension all round need time to settle after coming to a quick stop.

 

[PolarisX]

There is a few suspension levels for the Cobalt, it could be an opportunity to move to a stiffer setup. I think it was FE1 vs FE3 vs FE5 (LS / LT vs SS N/A vs SS S/C or Turbo)

 

[IndyIan]

Shocks really only slow down the suspensions reaction to inputs. In steady state deceleration shocks do nothing for preventing nose dive, they just help keep the front from slamming down when you slam on the brakes.
I'd just get some new front struts and the car will react pretty much like it did when new which is good enough for anything you should be doing on the street regularly. If you were a high level autocrosser you would want stiffer shocks to settle the car more quickly even on stock springs, but no one should drive that hard on the street to make them necessary.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Shocks are less expensive than struts (although you may well have struts in the rear as well). In any case suspension always works best when all four corners are addressed at the same time. So, unless money is *really* tight, I say do front and rear at the same time. If that's impossible, do the rears as soon as money allows after you do the fronts.

 

[bvance554]

You may want to check/adjust the rear drums. It was a known problem on these vehicles, and continues to be on the Cruze. Mine was nose diving, I learned about this, adjusted them amd it is much better. I think they were supposed to be self adjusting, but for some reason they don't.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
Not even my (nearly 140k mile) 2005 Picanto on original suspension all round need time to settle after coming to a quick stop.


When the strut/shocks went on my Jetta, I could brake to a stop, sit there as long as I wanted, then when I let off the brake the rear would drop a fraction of an inch. They weren't kidding online when they said the OEM struts were only good for 40k (I ran them to 133k anyhow). And that car didn't have very much for nose dive either (it was heavily rear-biased for braking, ate rear pads at 2x the rate of the front for most drivers).

I *think* the replacements did the same exact thing at the end.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Anyone know what this yellow handled tool is for? It has a threaded end.





It is part of the factory jack assembly.

 

[supton]

Not sure why you wouldn't start a new thread...

Where is the threaded rod that runs through this jack? It almost looks like that yellow bit is a protective sleeve over that screw; and that the screw is meant to be threaded into the jack, for usage. But it looks too short for that.

You might have to give more details, like what vehicle this jack went to, and perhaps another pic or two of the jack.

 

[mjoekingz28]

I still dont get alot of the whole forum system. Some sites dont like you to bring up old threads when you search and add to it. I will try to stay on topic better.


So, I adjusted the star on the driver's side drum and checked the passenger side and left it alone. The brakes are pretty great now. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Thanks bvance. It sure was tough finding the right flathead and turning the adjuster.

supton, the car has already been stated. I dont know why you would need to hear it again?

 

[bvance554]

Cool, glad it helped.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Thanks bvance. It sure was tough finding the right flathead and turning the adjuster.

supton, the car has already been stated. I dont know why you would need to hear it again?


'cuz the randomness of asking about a tire jack in a weight transfer thread lead me to believe it could have been for an Cord, for all I knew.

 

[mjoekingz28]

I looked on the Cobalt boards for a bit and it seems they even do not know what it is for. I looked at parts diagrams online and in the owner's manual before I thought ' forget it'.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Anyone know what this yellow handled tool is for? It has a threaded end.





It is part of the factory jack assembly.


The yellow part is just a protective sleeve over the male threads. It is an extension for the tire hold-down bolt, if you needed to secure a full size tire/wheel assembly in the same location as the temporary spare.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Wow dude!