ALL of these kits as shown will positively increase the handling and performance when compared to 35+ year old suspension. Night and day.

The discussions are about the fine tweaking for best / max performance. I personally went with the Zip kit because it includes much more overall stuff for the front end as well. Zip allowed me to upgrade the kit to Bilsteins for $110 more. Incentive in my case was that a 2k order from Zip gets you a 10% discount for a full year - and I need lots more stuff.

-W

 

Consider this VBP B36-0222 bilstein front shocks $84.99, B36-0232
bilstein rear shocks $84.99.

 

The Bilsteins are $84.99 each. VBP sells a set of four for around $310 or so.

-W (just sayin)

 

Thats sucks are they gold plated for that price
I guess if one replacment brake rotor for a ZR1 C6
costs $1800.00 to replace. Four new shocks over $300.00
does not sound so bad.

 

I agree that anyone of these kits will dramatically increase the ride and handling of a 30+ year old C3 (personal experience) but as stated above by others and me, I think we are talking about the fine details here about what each kit brings to the table. Sway bar comments in a bit but really no different that I mentioned before as well as others.

Please check my comments earlier on what I have put on my car piece meal over 25 years, not as a kit at one time.

I have the 550 lowered front springs with the OEM 1 1/8 in OEM stock sway bar with poly mounting and poly end link bushings along with Bilstein HD shocks. One kit offers 460 front springs with Bilstein sports and another offers 550 front springs with Bilstein HD's (Sports are 30% stiffer than the HD Bilstein's). Since I don't have 460 springs, I cannot comment but my guess is that the 460 and Sports is faily close to the 550 and HD's in ride and handling. My 550/Bilstein HD's ride great as reference in the front but I still think that going with a 1 in front bar versus a stock 1 1/8 or aftermarket 1 1/4 with anything bigger in the rear than the OEM size rear swaybar is not a great idea, especially with a non stock end links.

In the rear, again, I think that we are splitting hairs with the kits that offer either a 360 spring with Bilstein HD's or 330 spring with Bilstein Sports. I can tell you that I did have Bilstein HD's originally with the 360 spring and the car rode great but I wanted a slightly stiffer rear so I switched out the Bilstein HD's and went with Sports in the rear only with HD's in the front with my 360 spring and yes the ride stiffened up a bit but it still rides very well! I run a 3/4 in rear bar with OEM end links with poly mounting bushings. I personally do not like tapered springs that one of the kits offer. I personally do not like 3/4 in rear bars and 7/8 rear bars (way too big with a 1 in front bar with NON stock OEM end links). I would also stay away, personally, from tapered rear composite springs. Lastly, as others have stated, I would stay away from strut rods with poly bushings. I had OEM strut rods with poly bushings ( non adjustable) for 20 years and they squeaked and limited the natural movement of the strut bars. I really think the best way to go here is competition/heavy duty adjustable strut rods with the Heim joints (one kit had them and they have no bushings, don't squeak, adjustable, hold the camber setting, no strut rod flex, eliminate slop, etc). The real issue for me is that these kits have too small a front bar matched with rear bars that are too big (3/4 and 7/8) with non stock end links. I think that if you want one of these kits either use an OEM rear bar 9/16 in with the 1 in front bar or use an OEM front 1 1/8 in bar/1 1/4 in aftermarket front bar with the Midamerica's 3/4 in rear OEM type swaybar. Of course, you could use the OEM rear 9/16 in bar with any of the front bars discussed.

Hope this helps!

 

IMHO - The $1K for the suspension package was the most bang for the buck I spent. Second was the 700R4 built to BTO stage 3 specs (with their parts) for $3K.

 

I have heard of this problem before about aftermarket rear bars
my only experience was with a 9/16 factory bar explain the problem
with aftermarket bars and the fix ?

 

Not meant to confuse, but rather sharing some basic words of caution about vehicle dynamics, as it is easy to get in over your head should you stray from the typical menu of combos without knowing what's going on. Even then, some kits rely too much on bars and not enough on springs.

In particular, one shouldn't mistake roll as the only consideration and loose sight of the bigger picture that is improved handling. Tho bars are often necessary, spring sufficiently and you won't need as big a set of crutrches (bars) to support it, which can result in higher overall cornering capacity. IMCO, no properly prepared C2/C3 needs a 1-1/4" front bar, and it's worth noting that in some instances, depending on the total package, a rear bar isn't required at all.

 

No expert here, but in my experience, aftermarket rear bars that use a front bar type end link restricts the movement of the rear trailing arms too much, effectively making the bar act much bigger than it really is (3/4, 7/8ths etc). I am not saying that they will not work but coupling a front 1 in bar with a 3/4 or 7/8 rear bar with non OEM end links could cause premature oversteer. The factory 9/16th rear bar uses a vertical hole and different pivot system for the end link than the front end links connected to the trailing versus an aftermarket bar that uses a horizontal hole with the traditional front type end link which severely restricts movement of the trailing arms. I use a 3/4 in rear bar with OEM type rear end links and a 1 1/8 in factory front bar.

I also do not subscribe to no rear bars on C3 vettes since even with the factory 9/16th rear bar on the big block and small blocks with the sport suspension the car was setup from the factory to severely understeer. So, if you stay with the factory spring settings for the street the only way to dial out understeer with the sway bars is to either increase the rear bar diameter and/or decrease the front bar diameter. As an example since my 78 with the F-41 suspension understeered with the factory front 1 1/8in bar (550 springs) with a 9/16th rear bar (360 composite)and I wanted to keep the front bar since it controlled roll fairly well, I opted to add a 3/4 in rear bar with the factory OEM end links in place of the factory 9/16 th rear bar. The car is very neutral now up to 9/10th driving on the street. Racing is a different story! Yes, you can control roll with stiffer springs on the street but at the severe cost of ride comfort which is why the factory used moderately stiff springs and controlled roll with antisway bars with just about every major manufacturer using this technique for road cars. Hope that this helps!

 

Fellas,

Hey I talked to a the speed shop today to find out if they thought these were good kits and whatthe install charge would be and He said something that boggle me... He said it would raise my vette up almost 2 inches and would look like a monster truck?

I thought these kits if anything dropped the car an inch...?

Anyone with one of the kits mentioned that have installed it that can chime in here would be great!

What are you experiences, I want better suspension and handling but do not want added height to the car... I would think raising the car would defeat the purpose of better handling...?

 

Huh??? I'd do it myself, that way you know it would get done right. It's either the wrong kit or that guy doesn't know what he's doing. Heck, I didn't know what I was doing, but I followed some great help and advice from this forum and did it right (IMHO ). Mine definitely lowered an inch and I've read where many others have had the same results

 

Agreed. Do it yourself.
IF (IF) it's too tall after break in, You can lower the back in 10 minutes via the spring bolts. The front IF you need to lower it would require cutting the spring with a cutoff wheel. Not noo bad - easier if you put the spring in the 1st time.

I agree the guy at the "speed shop" is not your man. If you really don't want to do this yourself - just post a new thread with your location and ask "who's the guy to go to" ; I bet someone will steer you straight.

-W

 

jb78L-82, I'll admit that opinions vary as to what may or may not be a harsh ride, but opinions also vary as to what and how much compromise one is willing to make in the pursuit of performance. So, without re-hashing them in response, I'll just stand behind my earlier observations and suggest the more serious one is about the performance end of the spectrum (on or off track) the more consideration they might ought to give to those; including that a C2/C3 can be balanced (it's all about getting the roll couple distribution right) w/o a rear bar. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it...