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Now that I have the bump steer measured, I think I am thru with my suspension mods.
I had been looking at each part closely, but individually.
It was time to take a look at my whole suspension setup,.
And make sure everything plays nice together.
WOW!
That got so involved I decided to put it in it's own thread: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ion-setup.html
I received and installed by new upper ball joints today in my SPC adjustable a arms.
The supplied one was 1/2" taller than stock. I went back to OEM height.
The taller one did increase the camber gain curve, by .25* neg camber, (at 1" bump) which is a good thing.
But it also increased the bump steer and put a curve back into the bump steer line, making it more dramatic. And it raised the roll center height (RCH) by 1/2".
I want the lower RCH, more than I want the camber gain.
The lower RCH balances the car better (Fr/Rr), and the RC moves around laterally less in roll, making the car more consistent during transitions.
Life is all about compromises!
Then I bumped into these beauties and just could not resist.
I found some aluminum versions of the J56 Caliper Bracket Reinforcements!
The original forged steel brackets were only used on the L88, ZR1 & ZR2 cars with the twin pin J56 calipers.
They are supposed to help during hard braking and racing by reducing bracket bending, vibration, air pumping, pad knockback and pad taper wear.
A vintage race car team made a few sets of these.
I will be using some aggressive brake pads, and auto crossing.
I am not sure I really even need these, but if I wind up with some billet aluminum steering arms, at least they will look good together!
LOL
Last edited by leigh1322; Apr 21, 2026 at 10:45 PM.
I finished measuring the prototype steering arms.
Then I bumped into these beauties and just could not resist.
I found some aluminum versions of the J56 Caliper Bracket Reinforcements!
Nice find!
Any word from Van Steel on the new parts?
Last communication with Van Steel was about a week ago.
Basically I am waiting on prototype steering arm #2..
In the meantime I did get some of the fuel lines run.
Bending them straight again was quite a challenge.
One had 3 u-turns to fit into the box.
Tag suggestion to unbend "this section" on a straight surface turned out to work well and get 90% of it un-bent.
The lines look really nice.
I also panicked a bit when mine arrived and I saw those 180 degree bends in the box.
Thank goodness for videos and instructions.
Finished my shock valving analysis, and installed my double adjustable shocks, preset to 65% critical valving: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...o-experts.html The blue tape is to remind me where I set these! LOL
This rear brake crossover line was annoying. It took some time to bend the ends just right so they would thread easily into the brass blocks. I always use just a touch of anti-sieze on these brake line threads.
A big block with a stock soft 198# rear spring will sit the T/A this hard on the bump stop with a hard launch from rest. With my 330# spring I should have a 1/2" of clearance left over. I double-checked to make sure these shocks do not bottom out, they are fine as shown and have about 1/2" to spare. I also check the half-shaft u-joints at full compression, and rebound, and they do not bottom out, even when the shock does they have .060" to 160" clearance left. So on this car, with these shocks, I can spin the half-shafts while the suspension is in full droop. Yay! I had another pair of shocks that would bottom out before the T/A even hit the bump stop! And I had a friends car that the u-joints would bind at droop. So these things vary by shock.
I encourage everyone to check their shock & u-joint clearance!
There is only 2.5" of travel at curb weight ride height before the T/A touches the bump stop. With two people on board, that drops to only 1.6". The car will droop 1 to 2" on the gas. When it hits this hard, as above, the bumper adds 100# of spring rate to the rear wheel rate. (Yeah I measured it LOL). Making that 330# spring feel like a 500# one. With that in mind, I will not be lowering the rear of the car. And I will run a stiffer than stock rear spring. FYI the half-shafts have a 3.5* downward angle at curb weight at ride height. And with a full load of 2 people on board, the rear trailing arm will be exactly level, from pivot ctr to axle center.
Both stock spring and F41 sprung cars had the same D height of 1.35" when measured this way, when fully loaded. With only 1.6" of bump travel. A 198# rear spring would let the rear drop 2.1" and a 330# spring lets it drop less at 1.25" when on the gas hard.
I am convinced many C3s ride badly because either the rear shocks bottom out, or the T/A bottoms out on the bump stop. Lowering the rear is not recommended. Too many issues.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
