DK83

Hello fellow enthusiasts!

I'm hoping to get some confirmation and advice before I go ahead and make my purchases.

I purchased the car last year and this is my first vette. I just had my season opener track day at NJMP and it was a blast! However, I do need to do some maintainance before my next event. I use the car mostly for the track and use it on the street at a very minimum. However, I'm not in a situation where I can tow the car to a track.

Currently running r888 275f and 305 rear. My future plan is to run 18s in the front as well with a square set up.

The car has some suspension modifications and I did my best to look up part numbers, but need to make sure I know what's on the car right now.

1. My front end links are shot. I believe I have the T1 sway bars front and rear. The rear end links are okay, but I might as well put the same ones front and rear. I'm guessing heim joint links, but what would be best with my set up? My current links are adjustable, but have rubber joints.

I see 3 adjustment holes on the rear sways, but none on the front sway bars. Do I have T1 sway bars? The rears are set at the outer most hole(closest to the wheel) Is this the softs or stiffest setting? What setting is recommended?

2. I believe poly bushings are already on the car. Can someone confirm with the picture? I have no idea which brand they are. My alignment guy suspects that my bushings won't hold alignment. Just leave them be or should I replace them?

3. Shocks. The part number I found on the front shock is 12480074 and the rear is12480075. What I read online is that they are t1 shocks. Please confirm?

4. Leaf springs. The part number I found is 22188480 for the rear and 22188479 for the front. I checked on gmpartsdiret.com and did not see these numbers. Do I have T1 springs?

5. Wheel bearings. Before I get into this, I'm currently running ap racing sprint bbk front and rear with ferrodo 1.11 pads. These pads squeel quite a bit and I'm not concerned about the sound. However, I notice the squeels during turns and when I'm not on the brakes at all. Is this what you call pad knock back? I also tested the wheels by shaking up/down and left/right and I have a very small click on 3 out of the 4 wheels. I do not see any play in the joints or rod ends. Could this be related to the brake squeel i hear on the turns?

Are SKF racing wheel bearings the way to go for my needs? I also plan on doing arp studs while I do the bearings.

6. Brake ducts. I remember seeing a post on the forum, but cannot find it again. I think they were called quantum ducts, where the ducts run into the bearings, therefore cooling the brakes and the bearings as well? I also remember reading that those particular ducts did not require removing the wheel bearings(I have to remove mine anyways). Is there a better unit I should consider?

Lastly, is there anything else you guys would suggest while I'm doing all the work above? I may consider doing the clutch just because of the damn slave cylinder. I already did the tick master, but the pedal gets extremely hard and then soft for a second when I'm in high rpms through a few corners without shifting.

Thanks and track days are AWESOME!

Dan H.

It looks like you have T1 bars. The stock sways are black and the T1's are blue and I believe about 38mm thick. I can't comment on the part numbers for the other parts.

Brake ducts are a two piece operation. DRM is the place to go for the part that goes from the bumper and stock duct to the inner wheel well. Quantum/Lambert and LG are the places to go for the part that mounts to the spindle and bearing. Quantum mounts to the back of the spindle without removing the bearing. The LG part does require that you remove the bearing I believe. The difference is the Quantum piece has a mount for a 2" hose and the LG I think has a 3" hose mount. The duct hose that comes with the DRM kit is 3". Its a clunky fit to pinch it down to the 2" mount for the quantum part. I have the Quantum and DRM setup. The LG is just what I've read on the forum, so I don't have any personal experience, you'll want to validate things if you want to go this route.

Mark@AMT Motorsport

Those bushings look like delrin to me. Whatever they are they're not stock, and if they're not stock squishy rubber bushings and you're alignment is changing, it's more than likely your control arm eccentrics slipping on you. May be wise to consider adding a camber kit to lock in those lower control arms. Oh and look what I just found, the best most versatile camber kit on the whole damn planet!!



If you have any questions please let me know and I'll be happy to help. More info can be found on our website at This link

alextz

Those bushings are Delrin AF.

Those Sachs are T1 shocks too.

There are some bar kits out there. Likely front bar is T1. Looks like it could be a DRM kit http://dougrippie.com/products/gm-t-1-swaybar-kit/

looks like you have T1 springs https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...questions.html

If it were me, I would replace front and rear outer tie rods, maybe wheel bearings all around. SKF would be the choice.

Not a bad idea to use some type of camber plates. The stock cam bolts move under hard driving. The AMT ones above look cool, I use an old Pfadt kit. Once you set it, the alignment never changes. great stuff

Alex

crimlwC6

Camber plates are great. I have the Pfadt ones and haven't touched alignment in 4 years of racing. AMTs look the part for sure, no personal experience.

DK83

Thanks for the replies and confirmations everyone. And good call on the camber kits..I never thought of it.

I actually got very lucky last week, because I had an iffy feeling for my last session and decided to get a head start home. Once I pulled out onto the local roads, I noticed that my steering wheel was off center to the right, but the car was going straight.

edit: I searched a bit and found some info on pfdat and hardbar camber plates, but neither of those company websites seem to work. Are they no longer in business?

froggy47

Those are just grease boots on the end links. I would say those are t1 sway bars look exactly like mine. The outer most hole is softest setting (makes the bar longer).

DK83

Thank you for clarifying that! It's currently on the softest setting, so maybe I'll leave it at that. If not, move the the center.

The front end links have just free play and no resistance at all compared to the rears. Isn't that considered a bad end link?

Raith

I never would have thought about doing camber plates, but it makes sense to be able to pick in the camber, sudden alignment changes under stress at a road course or autocross event could be catastrophic

Mark@AMT Motorsport

Here's what that sudden alignment change looks like at Limerock.

https://youtu.be/CJegqJHjvG8

froggy47

Links vary in their degree of "tightness vs move easy vs loose/play". So it's sort of a judgement call & how often do you want to replace them to keep them nice and tight.

I can live with one that moves easier than the others but if you feel "play" then I replace that one. Even when they are brand new some are tighter than others = manufacturing tolerance. Not the space shuttle here.