Broken spring

[HM_United]

Hey folks. Been checking these forums for advice for a few years. A broken rear spring, neither produced by GM nor available on rockauto, has finally made me post. (There are posts with part numbers, but I want a bit more research before I potentially order overseas parts.)

My main questions:

1. How do I know which Opel Astra H equivalent I am? There are a whole lot of listings anywhere I go.

2. How do I know if I have a sports suspension already? Talking about all the B4, B6, B8 business from Eibach.

[AstraFasta]

Look in the trunk for a build code sticker. You will see code {XJ2} if you have the sports suspension.

I think there were three basic suspension packages in the US, basically the XE, XR, XJ2.

User Goob replaced all the springs and struts on his car 5-door XR with XJ2 suspension

Note what other people here purchased. I think someone found the Bilstein B8 to be brutally hard. You don't want springs that make your car ride too high or too low.

Also, European cars run very stiff suspensions. European cars in the US ride like a fluffy sofa. So use caution sourcing "racing" suspension bits from Europe.

If I had an XR and were replacing the entire suspension, I would go for the Bilstein B6. The B3 might be a bit soft (we put B3 front springs in a XE 5-door and it feels about the same as the new springs did).

There are a zillion spring and strut packages and I never found an exact match with Goob. I don't remember if the part numbers change for the 5 door. There may be different part numbers for auto transmissions, no-air conditioning, etc due to weight changes. In Europe they had convertibles, vans, heavy diesel engines, some tiny gas engines to confuse things.

These are the threads for springs you can start research.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=228934
http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=238192

Look at your rear shocks to see if they are leaking. Even if not, you might consider changing them whilst under the car.

Good news is that the rear struts and shocks are very easy to change.

Whilst you are at it, check your front struts and mounts. They don't last forever. And if you are importing from Europe, it is easier to get everything together. Changing the front struts is more work.

[C152]

Hello HM_United,

Let's start with a big welcome to you.

Unobtainium rear springs? Been there. Unless you find a dealer that has some unsold rear springs rolling around in the basement, there is nothing available in NA. I would start with asking your dealer what is the GM part number for your car, this should require your VIN number. If you can find an Astra in a scrap yard, that's an option, too. Otherwise, you'll have to look to Europe, I purchased mine from https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/ enter the GM part number, it works and the corresponding Opel/Vauxhall parts will come up. Unfortunately, not sure if they ship to NA. I was fortunate to have a friend in the UK to receive and relay to Canada.

Hope this helps. Don't be shy to send a PM.

[HM_United]

Originally Posted by AstraFasta

User Goob replaced all the springs and struts on his car 5-door XR with XJ2 suspension

That was the question I knew I was forgetting: differences between 3-door and 5-door.

Is the build code sticker the Service Parts Identification sticker with 96 different 3 digit codes listed?

[goob]

Here's a link to the list of RPO codes and a pix of my Service Parts Identification sticker.

https://rparts-sites.s3.amazonaws.co...n/rpoCodes.pdf