RapidC84B

M8 x 0.070" thick


Upper shim


Lower shim


before shim


Before shim. Bushing flanges were touching the sides of the metal bracket before tightening!












Front bar vs stock Z51


Rear looks nice. Nice brackets.


Rear bar vs stock FE3 Z51


March VIR rubbing the air dams off.



Nice parts overall. Used my stock links as this is a streetable trackday car so getting perfect zero'd out preload isn't critical and OEM links are robust and quiet. Based on my experiences with the T1 bars on my old c5 racecar I set them on full soft to start. Going to VIR this weekend to instruct with NASA at Hyperfest. Car feels much better on on/off ramps. First event at VIR in March (bought the car in November) I wore the air dams at 45 degree angles from body roll.

Two main issues, Pfadt was no help here:

1. Their instructions say to reuse the OEM front bolts and torque to 34 lbs. Well the bolts are one-time use torque to yield with a spec of 22 ft + 50 degrees. They wouldn't acknowledge this mistake at all via email... they stopped responding. Glad I checked my service manual. Had to go buy new bolts and redo the front. FWIW they spec 34 ft for the rear bar when OEM spec is 43, but they're not TTY bolts so I just went 35 and marked them.

2. The front bushings are too large and squish badly. Bar was binding bad causing it to be very jumpy when rolling into and through a turn. Shimmed them with a M8 washer with most aurface area possible. We used to do this with C5 T1 bars all the time. Completely fixed the car... feels great with the bar unbound. Rear bar was fine as they provide their own custom brackets. Pfadt told me they couldn't tell me if that much squish was by design because they had no car on hand. Said to add a washer if "it makes you feel better".

Brett Sonderby

Tool,

I'm working with the same Z51 non-magnetic car, and I'm looking to make the suspension more track focused. I've found the spring rates to be a bit too soft for my liking, especially in the rear.
I'm considering the same sway bars, and then changing the springs to FE6 (grand Sport) up front and FE7 (Z06) in the rear, along with the track alignment and appropriate lowered ride height.

I was trying to stay away from coil overs, and retain the stock suspension configuration. Once that is all done, I would consider Koni adj shocks or Bilstein Sports, but only if it needed it.

Have you considered anything similar?

I have not found anyone that has changed the springs.

Thanks,

Brett

RapidC84B

All my research shows that FE3 springs are the same part numbers as the T1 C7 kit. They're not soft springs in my opinion. I had the car running 2:05s at VIR in the instructor group on stock Supersports; brakes pads and fluid as only material mods. I had no complaints on the springs, only the roll stiffness. That said I used to race a PTA C5Z which forced us to use stock springs and stiff bars and I like that kind of car. As NASA killed Vettes in PTA the car morphed into a ST2 car with full aero on coils. Had it doing 1:58s at VIR but was always chasing setup. I will never do coils on a Vette again. There isn't enough room for proper travel and everything becomes harder to work on. Plus, I don't want the load of the car going through the upper shock mount on an aluminum frame with the 2 bolts in sheer. At least with a C5 it was steel and the upper mount was in tension.

I drive mine a lot, do road trips, and plan for 4/5 track weekends a year. As such, going to leave the springs and shocks alone. Not doing any timed competition.

I lowered the front 1/2" to get chassis rake (rear was already a good height) and did a compromise alignment at -1.5 camber front and -1.3 rear; zero toe.

RapidC84B

Oh and I bought the Pfadt bars because they're the only ones who make a kit with adjustability front and rear. LG is fixed rear, Hotchkis is fixed front.

Brett Sonderby

What are your alignment specs?

Were you able to get enough negative camber?

RapidC84B

Edited post above with specs. Enough for a dual use car. No bad wear on track and drove 1400 miles to the NCM and back and had no issues.

Brett Sonderby

Do you happen to know if the sway bars will interfere with this brake cooling kit?



http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum/...duct-kits.html

RapidC84B

Never seen that kit. Works with the OEM duct and shields that bolt to the LCAs.

McCarthy1986

Bought the AFE sway bar kit last year for my C7, bushing failing now after 7k miles of road duty, the rear is worse. Are they also too tight? They will send replacement bushings and spacers.
Any chance to get better bushings somewhere else? Did yours last?