1991 FWD wagon sagging... and rides crappy

[91Beater]

The ass end sags down visibly and IMO excessively. I only had about 200 lbs of crap in the trunk and it was making squeaky noise at suspension

200 lbs in the trunk isn't unreasonable in the trunk(HVAC tools)

Do springs deteriorate or just the shocks?

What's the cheapest way to restore the same ride this car had when it was new? I'm not looking to auto-x, track or do anything abusive. Can I get away with new struts without replacing the springs?

[jp233]

How many miles on the vehicle?

Go jump on the rear bumper. How does the rebound damping react? Does it bounce 2-3 times before settling out (it shouldn't)? You can also notice this while driving down the highway, if you look in the rearview mirror you basically can see the rear end continually bounce up and down (unless you're on a REALLY smooth road, straight and flat). If so, the struts are junk. I just went through this on my 93 FWD wagon. It's also very noticeable when going over speed bumps.

Coil springs can deteriorate, but it's less likely unless you're well over 200K and have loaded the car down repeatedly (in my experience).... but there's lots of options in replacing them (Leggy, Outback, Impreza, WRX, etc etc). My 93 FWD wagon has around 200K on it and I re-used my coils, and the car seems to ride great with great response, albeit I haven't loaded it down with a ton of weight to see how it works. I just finished the job a week ago and it's been running around unloaded (technically I don't own the car anymore, I'm just still the Chief Lead Head Mechanic-in-charge on it for a few more months)

Also, do you have a rear sway bar? I believe all the 90-91 FWD's did. Those bushings may be junk (especially the ones that bolt into the rear trailng arm). All sway bar bushings are easy to replace, but those ones at the end links into the rear trailing arm are somewhat notorious (I also had a similar situation with the front sway bar on a Tahoe, the end bushings were toast and the bolts were nearly rusted through). They also can use grease if able (perhaps the big bushinds where the sway bar mounts onto the frame, aftermarket bushings like Energy Suspension may have zerk fittings).

In general, you may be able to get away with just a strut change, depending on the condition of all the strut/shock components (like the bump stops etc).

[evolutionmovement]

With over 200k, I transported an EJ22T long block w exhaust in the back a few hundred miles from ME and it was barely noticeable in appearance or handling (not that I was really hooning it with an engine back there). Original springs, but KYB GR-2s.

[jp233]

From your oil consumption post, suonds like you've got 200k on the clocks. If those are the original struts, I bet they are toast. Replace them and you should be in business. I used el cheapo DTA Ultima struts, $100 shipped for the pair from axlestore on ebay (they are the US importer/HQ for Ultima stuff). They seem to work great so far. If you did both sides at once, you could compare coils and see if one is damaged or is shorter than the other (may indicate if it's lost its ability to handle loads), but chances are the strut is just blown and isn't helping out.

[Legacy777]

I'd start with replacing the struts on all four corners. If that doesn't help or doesn't get things to what you want in terms of the saggy butt syndrome, I'd suggest putting rubber coil spacers in the rear. That's about the only way the rear end isn't going to have the appearance to sag.

Putting the coil spacers may cause some undesired effects with handling as they essentially raise the spring rate of the spring. Stiffer rear springs will make the car a little more tail happy around corners, but it may not be that noticable.