Hi from St. Louis, MO! 19 year old with a '94 RMW

Well, I figured I should join since I bought the 1994 Roadmaster Wagon a couple weeks ago.

Like the title says, I'm 19...this is my second car. First was a '97 Park Ave.

86k original miles, over $3000 of work done before I bought the car for $1800. New tires, brakes, engine tuneup, tons of other things.

Problems: No A/C, Some trim is falling off, but the biggest issue is the whole back suspension needs to be reworked, I think.
With one arm I can almost bottom the car out. I've got about 200lbs of stuff in there, 150lbs in the back, 50 spread out over the car and that helps a LOT. I'm not sure what direction to take it...my mechanic says go for regular shocks, but I kinda want to restore it back to factory stock.

I'm not a car guy, and can't do much work at all, I'm mainly an audio guy.

The pictures speak for themselves:








Anyway, I look forward to learning a lot and am grateful that a forum like this exists.

-
vinyldavid

nice ride and welcome to the forum

Pretty car, great price! I like those rims.

Go with the regular shocks. If you want to use the auto-level, do it with helper bags inside the rear springs. If you want them, I can post the link when I get home.

I like the Bilstein shocks. If those are too expensive, a lot of people are happy with the Monroe heavy duty shocks.

When you replace the shocks, buy the EZ shock mounting bolts from Navy Lifer on the Impala SS Forum. I would do that even if I had a mechanic replace them, because it would make your life so much easier if, sometime in the future, you ever wanted to do it yourself.

great start, welcome!! You have the right radio!!!

Nice wagon.... even with the replacement woodgrain on the rear.

Lots of guys run the Monroe SS 550012 shocks for the front and the 550013 for the rears with airlift 1000 helper bags.

That is the setup I have and love it....

Welcome David and you are at the best place for getting the needed halp with your wagon.Very
cool to have a youngster who is into one of our wagons.There is only a few youngsters here on this forum and ite great to have another.Your wagon looks great by the way and it definitely looks
like the previous owner really took great care of it.
Welcome again David
Jim

Wow that the Rare colour! nice wagon!

Wow Pat,thats a new thought!Come on its doesnt matter to David!
Jim

Krzdimond wrote:

Nice wagon.... even with the replacement woodgrain on the rear.

Lots of guys run the Monroe SS 550012 shocks for the front and the 550013 for the rears with airlift 1000 helper bags.

That is the setup I have and love it....

Welcome nice looking wagon, and as Krzdimond suggests go with good quality shocks, and do the airlift bags, you will be happy you did. As for working on it, you will get the hang of it, and there is alot of usefull information, and guys here willing to share helpfull hints suggestions & ideas

NICE wagon.
I would have to suggest Bilstein shocks and airlift air bags. It stiffens the ride up a little, and they needed to be a bit stiffer to handle and ride better in my opinion.
The air lift airbags will allow you to carry 1,000 lbs alone!

Thanks everyone!

Deadmanonduty wrote:

NICE wagon.
I would have to suggest Bilstein shocks and airlift air bags. It stiffens the ride up a little, and they needed to be a bit stiffer to handle and ride better in my opinion.
The air lift airbags will allow you to carry 1,000 lbs alone!

Which Bilsteins? I gotta see what they cost vs. the Monroe shocks. I plan eventually on both towing and loading this thing down with audio gear, so having 1000lbs of extra carrying capacity is a good thing.

And I've been told by my mechanic that the air lift bags leak after a couple years and are more trouble than they're worth.

vinyldavid wrote:

Thanks everyone! And I've been told by my mechanic that the air lift bags leak after a couple years and are more trouble than they're worth.

NOT the case if they are installed correctly - Had them in a few cars and never had any problems with them. And whats nice is the adjustability of them. Some people use just one feed line - or you can run them seperate (Drag racers like them for this reason) for tuneability/adjustability

Either Bilstein 1104/0929 or 1516/1517 will work. Combine with new coil springs and you should be all set. Moog 5030 cut 1/2 coil in the front and either Moog CC507 or CC505 in the back. The CC505 is a bit firmer than the CC507. The CC505 is stock height, and the CC507 will lower the car maybe 1/4". They are both cargo coils with variable rates. I've used both and currently have the CC505s in the back. Much firmer than stock and you can put a LOT of weight in the back.

Welcome! Another wagon person in my age group, SWEET!


I just put the Monroe SS shocks on my wagon, and I'm in love.

It depends on how you want your car to drive. I believe that my station wagon should feel like a sofa going down the highway, so I didn't want firmer springs. Factory tow package springs with Bilstein 1104/0929 shocks and the Airlift 1000 helper bag (60755) gave me the sofa ride with good handling.

I also used Gerry's fix to hook up the onboard compressor to the Airlift bags. That way, the car is able to use the autolevel feature. I don't know if your car has that.

Stingroo wrote:

Welcome! Another wagon person in my age group, SWEET!


I just put the Monroe SS shocks on my wagon, and I'm in love.

I might end up doing that....if the Bilsteins don't cost that much more I'll do those instead.

These wagons just don't get enough love from our generation....but everywhere I go, I consistently get compliments of "nice ride" and the like.

Nick Danger wrote:

It depends on how you want your car to drive. I believe that my station wagon should feel like a sofa going down the highway, so I didn't want firmer springs. Factory tow package springs with Bilstein 1104/0929 shocks and the Airlift 1000 helper bag (60755) gave me the sofa ride with good handling.

I also used Gerry's Fix to hook up the onboard compressor to the Airlift bags. That way, the car is able to use the autolevel feature. I don't know if your car has that.

I also believe that any BUICK should feel like a sofa going down the road.....fast! I've got the factory tow package and 2.93 posi rear end, so I think I'll go with what you recommend. I'm not sure if I'll keep the autolevel feature, but I'll talk with my mechanic and see what he wants to do (and what it'll cost!)

I will say this, driving my car today with the 15-inch wheels and stock-size tires up front, the Severe Service Monroe's are not nearly as harsh, but as soon as I put the lower-profile 17's back on, you feel the bumps again. I'm still thinking KYBs are in my car's future.

Back on topic, welcome to the forum! If the miles on your car are only 85K like it seems in the pic, you got a smoking deal!

Great color. I also have one in the "Rarest of Roadmaster" colors.

Good to have you here!

-Mike

Welcome aboard! Nice to see some young blood in here!

And I have been using the Gabriel Ultras in my wagons and like them a lot. They were comparable to the ride of the Bilsteins (IIRC, a little less rebound) and are only 25-30 bucks a shock and have a lifetime warranty! I liked them so much on my wagons that I actually just put a set on my 2500HD yesterday, too.

What kind of audio are you going to do? Please tell me it's not a sound wall or a giant box just thrown in the trunk... I have a single 10" in a sealed enclosure in the driver's side rear storage box right now and it sounds pretty nice. Won't win any SPL contests though! As I've, uh, matured... I've leaned further away from the loud stuff into the SQ arena. I also had 2 12's built into a box in the floor in one of my old wagons where the rear facing seat used to be. I kept the "footwell" back there to so I still had my concealed storage space. I still like it loud, but not overly bassy like I used to.

Anyways, it's good to have you and I'm glad you found us! Can't wait to see what you do with the new wagon.

Yes, it does have 85k miles, as seen. Now it's got 86300, I drive a lot...

toomanytoyz wrote:

Welcome aboard! Nice to see some young blood in here!

And I have been using the Gabriel Ultras in my wagons and like them a lot. They were comparable to the ride of the Bilsteins (IIRC, a little less rebound) and are only 25-30 bucks a shock and have a lifetime warranty! I liked them so much on my wagons that I actually just put a set on my 2500HD yesterday, too.

What kind of audio are you going to do? Please tell me it's not a sound wall or a giant box just thrown in the trunk... I have a single 10" in a sealed enclosure in the driver's side rear storage box right now and it sounds pretty nice. Won't win any SPL contests though! As I've, uh, matured... I've leaned further away from the loud stuff into the SQ arena. I also had 2 12's built into a box in the floor in one of my old wagons where the rear facing seat used to be. I kept the "footwell" back there to so I still had my concealed storage space. I still like it loud, but not overly bassy like I used to.

Anyways, it's good to have you and I'm glad you found us! Can't wait to see what you do with the new wagon.

I'll definitely ask my mechanic about those...cheap is good....I'm unemployed with a taste for the nicer things in audio...

I'm a recording engineer for classical and choral work, with the occasional folk and rock project on the side. I also do lots of live sound, and am a raving audiophile at home, I also specialize in digitization of various tape and digital tape formats.

I'm probably going to be keeping the stock Concert Sound II system, as it sounds 'good enough' for my ears, it's the least of my worries.

Ah, I misunderstood when you said you were putting audio in the car. lol

Very cool.

toomanytoyz wrote:

Ah, I misunderstood when you said you were putting audio in the car. lol

Very cool.

Nah, I'm not a big car audio person...if I can hear the tunes with a decently balanced response, I'm okay while driving.

I meant that I would be loading this boat up with gear and hauling with it....I would like to wire up my 2 giant JBL subs (150lbs and 25x18x45" each, single 18") when they're in the back and see what happens...

David its entirely possible those wheels on your wagon are older than you are but then almost
everything is.Its great to have another youth in our group because thats what its going to take to keep these wagons going in the future.Good to hear you arnt going crazy with your sound system and keeping it reasonable.As always before you pay someone for a diagnosis just post
here first and see what happens.
Welcome Again
Jim

welcome aboard david. thats was a great price for that car. its very clean for a midwest car. I'm diggin the rims (very 1990's).

if you're gonna get monroe shocks, get tennco (sp?) instead. they're cheaper, have a better warranty, and are the same exact shocks (tennco is the parent co of monroe). why pay more for a paint job on shocks?

btw, I'm ck1991 on tapeheads (small world, eh?)

cadillac kevin wrote:

welcome aboard david. thats was a great price for that car. its very clean for a midwest car. I'm diggin the rims (very 1990's).

if you're gonna get monroe shocks, get tennco (sp?) instead. they're cheaper, have a better warranty, and are the same exact shocks (tennco is the parent co of monroe). why pay more for a paint job on shocks?

btw, I'm ck1991 on tapeheads (small world, eh?)

IIIIITS a small words after allll....

I didn't know you were on this forum! Cool!

Anyway, I found a friend that can change out the shocks for me, and I'll help him record some music, but before I convert it to standard shocks, what are the original shocks and what do they cost? I like restoring things to original condition when possible, or should i just convert it over and be done with the air ride system? I like the auto-leveling feature.

Sorry I missed this posting. Welcome aboard!

Howdy, most of my tools are twice your age.

Those are Eagle 203 wheels if anybody wants to know, I was checking them out at Summit a few months back.

You can get the stock type AC Delco front shocks and rear leveling system air shocks at Rockauto if you want to stick with GM, probably lots of other places too.
I just put a set of the Delco air shocks on my Custom Cruiser and it rides fine.
Beware of the weird sound the air releasing from the compressor makes to lower the car back down to normal height about 10-20 seconds after the weight is out of the car, freaked me out until I figured it out.
I was blaming it on the dog as usual.

Did the same thing Al but I blamed my brother who was sitting on the tailgate at the time!
Jim

Welcome! I'm new here too but not to these awesome wagons. Yours is super clean and a great color! Smoking deal on the price also with the low miles. Hold on to it and maintain it. You are a lucky guy!!!