I'm buying back my old '87 LeSabre which I regretfully sold 6yrs ago
after taking a company car. It needs a lot of work, one item is the
suspension which I plan to replace with original components.



This car had rear load levelling struts. The GM Dealer wants about 3x the price of an AC Delco parts supplier.



Are the GM Struts the same as AC Delco? Two Dealers I phoned didn't
think so. Are the expensive GM ones made by Goodwrench or somebody else?



thanks,

kite5

 

GM struts used to always be made by their AC Delco Products Division which is now independent and called Delphi. The Delco trademark (and Goodwrench) is still owned by GM, and they can apply it to parts made by anyone they choose.


However, my guess is that for an '87, the "Goodwrench" and "AC Delco" are probably identical. The dealer has a different pricing structure, but you might get him todiscount the "list" price. And he certainly has an incentive to claim the struts are different; if he admitted they were the same, why would you buy his?


Personally, if I were restoring the car, I'd rather have the struts say "AC Delco" anyway. The performance is probably very close, if not exact.Edited by: MrBSS

 

Thanks, I suspected as much. If I can get back the original ride
quality with AC Delco, that would be great...a few years before I sold
it I had replaced with Munro Sensatracs which absolutely ruined the
ride quality.



The next owner has since replaced with some other brand without load levelling, which he tied off.

 

I don't understand the frequent strut replacement.


My 90 SSE Bonne has original load leveling struts.