SUSPENSION QUESTIONS

[CANADIANCADDY]

Hi there

I need to replace the front (struts or shocks?) and the rear (struts or shocks?) on the 98 STS I just bought my wife who drives very little on an annual basis.

I was thinking about going with passive units for her car and wondered about the following.

Are only the front struts or shocks road sensitive and adjusting or are the rear ones as well. I was under the opinion that the back ones were merely load levelers like I had on my old Olds 98 Touring Sedan but a friend said they are also road sensitive and are constantly adjusting as well ------ is this correct?

I was thinking about installing Strutmasters all around but I am worried that if I do so the car may be too low too the ground if we put any load in the trunk. In addition the Cadillac dealer says if I don't use his OE equipment, my Drivers Information Centre will constantly show a service message ------- is this the case?

Many thanks for any advice you can give me on thiis subject

Paul

[JasonA]

Yes -- all four corners have active dampers -- meaning the front and the rear are always adjusting on a continuous basis for irregularities in the road surface. The rears ALSO are load levelers.

It's true that if you remove the struts and don't replace them with something equivalent, you'll see a message on the DIC -- that's the car telling you something is wrong (indeed -- it's not seeing a signal from the struts). There are some work arounds, but I haven't seen one for a '98 yet.