67air

Appreciate the names/#'s for suspension shops/re-builders out there please. Trailing arms & front control arms need a good rebuilding.
I see plenty advertised , but I want it from the horses mouth.

Who do you guys use--??----Good work, good lead times---"correct" ball joints & Parts---& fair prices ??


Thanks very much

Frankie the Fink

Bair's is highly regarded for trailing arms and the like - not sure if they do control arms but they might. Van Steel is another well-known name.

Be careful who you select - I met an old friend at Lakeland that got taken to the cleaners on a trailing arm rebuild by some off-the-wall company...

67air

Thanks Frank----appreciate all the advice.

Revfan

I'd give Gary Ramadei a shout.
He did a write up on Trailing Arm Resto...
http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...rm_Rebuild.pdf

He rebuilt my steering box and its perfect. Pleasure to deal with, GREAT communication and FAST turn around

gary.ramadei@radiall.com

SWC Tim

Gary Ramadel is the man. Definitely the best and a super guy.

67air

Yes---I forgot-----he's from up my way----spoke to him today. Super helpful man, unfortunately for me he's kinda hammered right now. He did however tell me to call him should I need any help with my work via ph or mail. We need more guys in the hobby like him.

mortgageguy

Bair's is great. Did my TA's and diff. If you have the skills to remove these components, you certainly can put the bushings in the control arms.

71scgc

How about yourself?

I love doing suspension work!

Carter

67air

Agreed. When you are dealing with any type of coil spring caution is #1. I can EASILY see my self doing the bushings. ( I've done them before actually)
The big thing with me is replacing the 1/4" ball joint rivets. I'm sure there is a special jig of some sort used here. I don't want to take any chances by doing that wrong. If anyone has found a correct and safe way to do these I AM ALL EARS !!!

The freight to ship these out for replacement back & forth hurts 100% more than the cost to refurbish !!!

GUSTO14

To those listed above, all very good in my opinion, I would just add one more. They are one of the few companies that has continued to do R&D work on the C2-C3 Corvette chassis when most vendors have moved on to 5's, 6's and 7's... Vansteel. They don't just sell components, they also do component repair & restoration. Give them a chance and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Good luck... GUSTO

mortgageguy

You're right, shipping cost me $300 there and back for both TA's and diff. But, I will say, the pain lessens after about a year.

Revfan

Shipping is expensive no doubt... The tools to do them yourself ain't cheap either... so its probably a wash in that regard unless you see yourself doing another set in the future.

mortgageguy

I do regret not doing my own TA's. But, the tools alone are $200, and it would have taking me longer, and I was missing seat time. Can't have that!

Revfan

I "borrowed" the tools from forum members here. I run a thread Called "Corvette Brotherhood Lending "Library" Seat Recovering Tools"

As I assembled all the stuff to do the seats, including the AK video, and all the extra parts from my seat resto... if anyone wants em, pay shipping both ways and have at it.

I thought about doing the same with the Trailing Arm Tools.... I'd buy em and loan em out via the USPS. But since I was able to borrow them myself, I didn't need to buy em.

I did mine, and they turned out great... but I am a cheap skate and stay at home dad with no money, so every nickle counts (I shouldn't be in the Corvette Brotherhood... I snuck in the back when no one was looking).

Living on a US Army Base in Germany doesn't help either as my TAs, A-Arms, and Diff would have been too heavy to ship Back for repair...

But if I was Stateside, and Could have afforded it, I would have mailed em all of to Gary.

That being said, there was a lot of satisfaction in doing it myself....

67air

Well it kinda bugs me too as I love to have everything here in my shop & do it myself, but I'm pretty certain that compressing those 1/4" rivets ain't for a rookie without a press & we are talking steering components here-------------

71scgc

I didn't do my TA's. Don't have the tools or the shop to do them. I work on my cars in a storage unit.
Lars has a good writeup on doing front suspension. You can order parts direct from MOOG, or get the MOOG/Federal-Mogul parts that Willcox sells. I'd steer clear of the kits some suppliers sell, due to the parts in them. Willcox can assemble a kit for you using the good stuff.

Carter

mortgageguy

Amazing, I used Lars write up and Wilcox deluxe kit to rebuild my front end. Their kit is much cheaper than purchasing individual parts.

67air

I'm sorry Mortgageguy----Did I miss something-??----LARS ??

Frankie the Fink

Lars Grimsrud - a forum member and according to Wikipedia:

Lars Grimsrud is an aerospace engineer and performance automobile enthusiast who has become a celebrity amongst owners of carbureted Chevrolet Corvettes and GM muscle cars for his skill at tuning their engines.

Mike Smith

I've used both Bair's and Van Steel - both were great.