Im going to redo and slightly upgrade my suspension this summer, question is, what to? I know I want to install front and rear sway bars, other than that and replacing to urethane bushings I dont know what I should do. what have you folks done?

all I want to do is get the car to corner a little better, less body roll, and pice of mind that everything is new, I looking arround 500-600 and from what Ive seen should get the job done, or should I redo my thinking price wise

Im not going to be racing formula 1, but Id like to feel a diffrence

Thanks Guys

Miles

 

Miles,
Bars are the last thing I'd suggest changing if you want truly better handling. Do the poly bushings (A-arms & bar), install the best shocks you can afford which suit your purposes, see to your steering box and idler, and have a precision alignment done. Also, consider lowering your ride heights, upping your spring rates (front more than rear), and adding a spreader bar and heim-jointed rear camber struts. It should go without saying that better tires would make a huge difference.

Then, after doing as much of the above as you care to bite off, only change/add bar as required to check excessive roll (if any) and fine tune understeer/oversteer balance; keeping in mind that bigger bars are essentially a crutch which actually sacrifice grip at the end on which they are placed by increasing lateral weight transfer. A rear bar is not requisite to improved handling, even on a BB, so don't simply leap to the conclusion that you must have one before finding out whether or not you actually need one.

I'll admit to my backside not being the softest around here, but IMHO stories about higher spring rates creating a severe ride are a bit over-stated when the truth is it's as often as not the shocks that are too firm and/or bars that are oversized at the root of many complaints. When spring rate is to blame, the rear rate has likely been disproportionately increased relative to the front. My $.02...

 

poly bushings are junk for trailing arms and strut rods, you should have seen what came out of my car. Apparently they were only 6 years old with very few miles (car had been standing for several years), they were completely shot from twisting.

 

Poly bushings in the front with BB springs (550#) will lower the front a bit. I've got the original F-41 suspension with the bigger springs on both ends. Ride is a bit hard, but it's not something that will beat you eiter, that with Bilstien Sport shocks. It's got the original sway bars and mounts, I haven't seen any need to start tweaking the bars so far, but then, it's a weekend cruiser, not weekend warrior.

 

I had poly bushing in my offset arms and tested twisting them several times. I pulled them back out and the matal washers were deformed from the bushings not taking any deflection. rubber is the best application for the strut rods and trailing arms because they twist.

 

I cant really lower the car much at all, the headers only clear the ground by 3 1/2 inches, and I like the semi-raked stance it has

and as sad as it seems, I like the 15 inch stock wheel look, and really would like to not go to low profile tires



so Ill go with the rubber bushings now that I know that the poly bushings blow

I was thinking of going with just a fron sway bar, and a really small rear bar, if one at all, I know the rear needs to flex to keep gripped

other then that all this suspension stuff is kinda foreign to me I hope you guys can help me out

and thanks for the comments so far!

Miles

 

As V-Twin points out, poly isn't suited to rear struts or TA's where suspension geometry requires movement in more directions than rotation around a single axis. That's why I always suggest heim-jointed camber struts and don't recommend TA's with poly. However, for front control arms and roll bars, where compliance costs handling, poly is far better than rubber.

Better handling is all about controlling what the tires do, so if you keep that in mind this suspension stuff has some logic to it.

 

so what kind of set-up do you think would be best for my application? any brands more favorable than others?

Miles

 

Interesting. I have a very old set of VB&P adjustable strut rods (I cannibalized them to build my heim-joint rods), and those bushings look like new on the inside, though the wear on the outside edge indicates that they saw a lot of mileage. The only place I've EVER trashed a poly bushing was on one of my front sway-bar end links, and I have no idea why that went wrong.

I tend to like spherical steel better than rubber, but some might find it a bit harsh. It's not going to deflect, though.

 

The inside doesn't matter a whole lot when the sides are all messed up, that's where they take the beating from the twisting forces. Once the sides are gone they will be loose.

Johnny Joints are a combo of spherical and urethane. They are avaailable in 2" and use a 7/16" through bolt, wadda ya know, exactly what we need for the trailing arm and 2" fits the arm.

Here's a really informative thread about JJs and other stuff:
http://www.vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=677

 

Summit has an Energy Suspension kit for Vette's- $171 It has everything you need for the front and rear. All the sway bar bushings other than mounts and the front control arms, and T/A's too. Also has a trans mount. I got the red ones, but hey, the car is red too.

I also drilled the front control arm bushings and tapped them so I can lube them if I need to. So far, and with the Bilstien Sport shocks, life is good.

And I do agree that poly may not be the best choice for the rear- I'll let you know in a couple of years. so far, so good..

 

Get you some VB&P and Van Steel magazines and look and see what you want to spend. You can buy the whole setup a lot cheaper at times. The Poly vs rubber thing is a never ending saga............ Both sides have good points...





I run poly!