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Grand Prix GXP shock options


Drummer
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My Bilstein Shocks are completely worn out after 80k miles and my rear tires are showing it. The cheapest I can find replacement Bilstein HD shocks are around 250 a piece, which is a bit steep. Can anyone find these shocks at a cheaper price, or the best alternative to them? I've looked the Bilstein non HD shock and KYB excel G shock and thats what I'm debating about using but all opinions are welcome.

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I believe Bilstien rebuilds most of their shocks/struts. You may be able to pull them and send them out for rebuild.

 

Downside is the car lives on jackstands for however long that takes.

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I installed the KYB's in my brothers '08 GXP when he had it. Car had roughly 90K on it. They weren't shot by any means, so the improvement wasn't night and day, but it did bring it back to right around new ride quality, IMO. He's rocking a '09 G8 GT now, so I'm wondering what that will be like to work on if it ever needs service.

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I have heard both that 1)OEM stock cannot be rebuilt and 2) they can be rebuilt. If you buy replacements there are 2 options. One is softer than the factory GXP and one is stiffer. Those definitely can be rebuilt. I would call Bilstein directly and talk to them. I am not in need of replacements yet on my GXP, but intend to call before making any decisions.

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Are you sure your struts are wore out? I have 105k on mine and while they are as good as new they are not shot. Gxps are known for rear tire wear based on the aggresive negative camber out of the factory. If your tires are wearing faster on the inside, get it alignened with an impala rear camber spec with camber bolts. I did that to.mine and now the tire wears evenly.. you loose some cornering ability but not noticeable and it saves on rear tires. Anyway, amazon has the cheapest bilstiens I think but they are out of stock on them..like 220 shipped.

 

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Well i know that all 4 tires have the inners worn down, but my rear tires have crazy uneven wear on both sides, and look nothing like my fronts. I'll get pics later today.

 

Also where can I get these camber bolts from?

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ACDelco 45K18036 Front Camber and Caster Adjuster Kit

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C9L1KW/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8

 

There are moog ones to but these give you a little more adjustment...take 5 minutes to instal and get an alignment.

 

The fronts I get even wear so you might want to check your wheel bearings up front. I have been through 2 sets of wheel bearings under warranty. Gxps eat those up. Jack the car up and grab wheel at 9 and 3 oclock and shake. If you have play you have a bad bearing or tie rod end...also, check your front sway bar link, I have had 2 of those go bad replaced under waranty by gm. If you can move it by hand its bad.

 

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Is this camber kit just for the front or front and rear? How many would I have to buy? I recently replaced my front wheel bearings as well as my sway bar end lnks so I know those are good.

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You can use them in the front and rear...same part number even though it says front. Most people use them in the rear. You need 2 kits one for each side on the rear. All it does is replace one of thr strut bolts in the spindle to allow more adjustment. Many times on the w bodys alignment shops need to drill out the top of the steut tower to.get it aligned correctly. This allows adjustment with out doing that. Most shops that costs about 50 aditional bucks on top of the alignment charge so this is cheaper and better imo.

 

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Does anybody know if these shocks would be compatible with a non-GXP Grand Prix? I'm thinking I will probably need struts all around pretty soon, and I was wondering if I might be able to improve on the suspension a bit.

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They are but you can get kyb agxs for half the cost.. if you have a 04 plus u need to convert your lcas to 97/03 then u can rin a gmpp sway bar. That set up will be under 700 bucks and handle better where 4 bilstien would be almost 1000 just for the struts depending on where u get them...rock auto has comp g ac delco rear struts which are an upgrade on sale for 35 each which is a great deal!

 

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They are but you can get kyb agxs for half the cost.. if you have a 04 plus u need to convert your lcas to 97/03 then u can rin a gmpp sway bar. That set up will be under 700 bucks and handle better where 4 bilstien would be almost 1000 just for the struts depending on where u get them...rock auto has comp g ac delco rear struts which are an upgrade on sale for 35 each which is a great deal!

 

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Mother of God...yeah, if I dropped $1000 on anything, it would be a top swap and a tune. Thanks for the tip on the Comp G struts though, I'll certainly look into that.

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Well upon further inspection it seems my front control arm bushings are completely shot. The garage that was putting my tires told me about it and even showed me and I wouldn't of even thought that that could happen. God I wish I had a lift.

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What year is your gxp? U dont need a lift to do the control arms. They are pretty easy.. if you are an 05 or 06 its a great time to put 97 to 03 control arms on and upgrade to a gmpp sway bar then..control arms are 40 a piece on rock auto...then u have the flexability to run any strut up front including agxs.

 

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Mine is an 06 being just shy of 100k. I would consider this but being that I already put on 2 endlinks I'll just keep it stock for now or until my car quits taking money from my wallet lol :lol:

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Will definatly look into those if this alignment doesnt do the trick. I went and replaced my front as well as rear control arm bushings and accidently installed one of the front ones upside down, but the bushing looks equadistant on either side of the arm so i dont think it will make much difference, and It also fixed my loose "tierod" symptom. Hopefully I can get my alignment done tomorrow now.

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  • 5 years later...
On 3/26/2014 at 9:30 AM, carkhz316 said:

I installed the KYB's in my brothers '08 GXP when he had it. Car had roughly 90K on it. They weren't shot by any means, so the improvement wasn't night and day, but it did bring it back to right around new ride quality, IMO. He's rocking a '09 G8 GT now, so I'm wondering what that will be like to work on if it ever needs service.

hello. I have a 2006 gxp and I have been looking for rear shocks or the whole shock assymbly. The originals are way too pricey. I keep hearing KYB but I emailed them and they told me they didnt make any for my car. Can anyone give me the name and part number to comparible quicksets for my car? thank you. 

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If they say that then they are probably full of you know what!!! They said the same thing for my first gen (93) Z34... The same struts interchanged with my 99 Base Model Lumina,,, switched them between cars many times... Front and back have different part numbers,,, possibly 9004 for one end and 9006 for the other... Those are the old KYBs,,, NOT the adjustable ones... I don't know about an 06... I'd suggest checking out Rock Auto.com or some other Parts Site and seeing what is what... Somebody here might chime in and tell you what length strut your car needs... One way or another you CAN find struts for your car!!! Even if you have to match by measurements...

If you don't have any luck post back and I'll see what I can find out... I just got in and am in the middle of something else...

Good luck,,,,

Tom B...

Just noticed this thread is OLD!!! Like 5 years!!! What I said still goes... You might have more luck starting a NEW thread...

Edited by walterdude
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https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/pontiac,2006,grand+prix,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1432257,suspension,strut,7584

With Springs... No KYBs:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalo/pontiac,2006,grand+prix,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1432257,suspension,strut+/+coil+spring+/+mount+assembly,15174

Here's a bunch of options for a Suprcharged GP... Should work on a GXP... You'll have to compress the springs to install... The KYBs don't come as a unit with springs... Not a real big problem... The price is worth the extra work....

Tom B...

Edited by walterdude
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On 7/26/2019 at 2:41 PM, Thewarden74 said:

hello. I have a 2006 gxp and I have been looking for rear shocks or the whole shock assymbly. The originals are way too pricey. I keep hearing KYB but I emailed them and they told me they didnt make any for my car. Can anyone give me the name and part number to comparible quicksets for my car? thank you. 

KYB does not make a "Strut-plus" assembly for the W cars. Moog and Monroe both do.

The Bilsteins are expensive, yes. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of great options for strut sets for the third gen cars due to the sway bar setup in the front.  I would THINK that any 2G GP (97-03) rear strut would work since nothing really changed back there, but the manufacturers seem to separate it by 17-18" wheels and not. As for what that difference is, I have no idea. 

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when I installed the KYB shocks on the rear of my GXP the spring from the bilsteins seemed way to strong for the shock which resulted in the rear of my car bouncing a little.  If anything id get a whole set of GTP rear shock assemblies.  They did clear my 18" wheels

Edited by Drummer
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