ok, when i first purchased my Bonne the previous owner must have been doing some off-roading with it because the suspension was shot to hell. the 2 front struts were at an angle and the driver'* strut must have landed on something or hit something really big and hard because it seperated the wheel well into 2 peices. long story short i had reinforced,spot welded and got 2 new front struts. the question im wondering about is what would the grade of the front struts be if i got them off a 99 Olds 88? would they still be FE1,FE2 or higher because i have no clue as how to go about checking them. Thanks

Struts aren't rated as part of the suspension. Only springs and swaybars. In the long run, used struts are like used tires and wiper blades. They've already given up part of their service life by the time you put them in.

alright i understand that. so still with the new(used) struts comes the different springs correct? How would the ride quality and handling be determined if they lost some of thier life on the 88? Im just wondering because i dont want the chages i did to be in vain because i still have the original sway bar. if im not mistaken.

I would expect that 88 to have FE1 suspension. If you left the springs on them, that'* what you have. However, you can't be sure until you check the RPO codes on the donor vehicle.

I'm not familiar enough with the Olds 88 to be able to tell you what the odds are that you got FE1 vs. FE2 vs. F41.

thanks. 1 last question i had was about my strut bar,stabilizer bar which ever you want to call it. the one i have now is ok but to me it looks a little bit small and weak compared to one i seen on a 95 SSE. i know that if i replace this along with the sway bar the handiling will get a good increase from what i've been hearing. but how big should the strut bar and sway bar be in order for this upgrade?

Sorry to jump in but is there a post somewhere that tells the difference between the three types of suspensions?

Nobody on this Forum has ever upgraded the Strut bar. I've considered it for the Zilla, but that'* a totally different animal.

If you're considering upgrading the front SWAY bar, you need to do the front, rear, and all 4 springs to FE2 to maintain a balanced handling setup.