I like that front suspension! Good job on the back too as you moved the shocks to the back of the trailing arms to gain shock travel, I am in the market for your front suspension to go with my Greenwood 5 link rear but have concerns with oil pan clearance of your steering center link compared to a stock one ( I'm doing a LS3 swap and already have problems with oil pan clearances on my stock centerlink. ) Are there any graphs of the bump steer and camber curves on your front suspension? What brakes work with your spindles? ( F body kits? ) Does the face of the rotor end up in the same spot as a stock C3 or will I have to order new wheels? What wheel bearings are used by these spindles?

 

I'm interested in all of the parts shown. But, I don't need a remote reservoir for the front shocks and I'd like a set of soft front springs to match a 315lb composite rear spring. Actually, I can use a non-adjustable front shock to keep the cost down because my car will never see an autocross course.

I also will need to use this with the Steeroids rack and pinion. Any issues with that considering the spindle height and steering arm location?

 

Solid LT1:

oil pan clearance of your steering center link compared to a stock one:
-the center drag link adapter is no closer to the bottom of the oil pan than the stock drag link. We do raise the inner tie rod locations, but the side-to-side clearance is not an issue (opposed to our First Gen Camaro TruTurn where the inner tie rods get quite close to the sides of the oil pan, the Corvette has a ton of room)

Are there any graphs of the bump steer and camber curves on your front suspension?
-I'll dig these up.

What brakes work with your spindles? ( F body kits? )
-Anything that fits a 67-69 F-body or a 64-72 A Body

Does the face of the rotor end up in the same spot as a stock C3 or will I have to order new wheels?
-WMS is the same as the OE suspension, so your current wheels will fit the same as they did prior to the swap

What wheel bearings are used by these spindles?
-bearings for the 67-69 F-body or a 64-72 A Body

 

Steve,

I don't need a remote reservoir for the front shocks:
-No problem, we have a kit that uses the rebound adjustable shocks (no resi)

I'd like a set of soft front springs to match a 315lb composite rear spring:
-no problem either. We offer a huge range of springs. You are free to pick whatever you'd like. We understand getting the correct spring rate for your application, so we typically allow you to exchange them at no cost, so long as they are in good, resell-able condition.

I also will need to use this with the Steeroids rack and pinion. Any issues with that considering the spindle height and steering arm location?
-We've not tested this system with any rack, so I cannot say if it will work or not. I'm not "up to speed" on the Vette rack options, but from what I've seen in other Muscle Cars of this period I'm not a fan of retrofit racks. Most of the time to get them in the right position for correct geometry the rack needs to reside where the oil pan is.

 

So does that mean that a product like this:

http://www.kore3.com/proddetail.php?prod=10083-01

That is designed to adapt C5/C6 brakes to the 67-69 F-bodies would work with your spindles?

 

Amorget,

Yes, those brackets will work with our spindles. Tobin actually has a number of relatively inexpensive OE based brake kits that work well.

I built a subframe display for SEMA a few years back that used the C6 Z06 calipers and it all fit and looked great.

 

One more question, on your website it lists the front suspension as 63-79, but I can't think of a reason why the front parts won't fit 80-82. Is that just a byproduct of the complete kit not working with the 80-82s?

 

I applaud your sense of observation.
You are correct, since we sell this as a complete front and rear kit we only list it up to 79, though the front will actually fit up to 82.

 

I believe there are a number of CF members using the R&P set ups successfully with their C3's. Mine is still in the box so I can't comment, but it might be something to look into since R&P is an upgrade option many C3 owners are interested in.

 

we just had most of the system at LS fest and I was often asked why another corvette set-up, and my answer was there is a HUGE gap between slapping shocks and sway bars on a C2-C3 car for 1500 bucks and buying a 20,000 dollar full frame to improve the handling, and that's what we were shooting for, a system that's priced in the middle with great results in driveablity and performance. I was glad to have Britt get on here and help with the tech stuff, and I was able to build on the frame yesterday and take a few pictures


Hog Head on



building the rear control arms

 

Very very intriguing. Ill be keeping an eye on this.

 

Rear arms are on!!




here is an overhead view so the offset can be seen....

 

You will probably have noticed this by now....your rotor splash shield is on backwards! I like parts of your kit but based on the interference I have now....don't see how your centerlink will clear an LS oil pan. (Passenger side will have clearance problems).....also GM up sized wheel bearings in 69 for the Vette if your spindle takes Gen1 A/F body wheel bearings.....they are pretty challenged with a 15x7 rally wheel....if your doing lapping sessions?.....your spindles use the early wheel bearings? How tall is that spindle?

 

The 72 is on the ground now and looks great, we did some test running last night,

 

on it!

 

good catch Solid LT1 on those plates, thanks

 

good question actually GM upped the corvette bearing because the early corvette one was VERY small and the 69 corvette one was bumped up to now be on par with the current trans Am cars of the day, we use the camaro bearing set.....here are the two bearing sizes- I will say that we have never lost a Front bearing on the RideTech 48 Hour Camaro, with all that cars track days, and I haven't lost a front bearing on my own car (camaro) in the 5 years and MANY track and autocross races

Camaro


Corvette

 

the rear end is all together now, and I will move on to the steering system

 

The timing was right for me a few months ago since I was replacing the frame on my car so I took the plunge with this Ridetech front setup to go with the 5-link rear.

The front brake incompatibility has been discussed here already, but should be considered as it is added expense that I was not planning on. I adapted Kore3 brackets/hubs to work with C6 Z51 rotors and my existing Superlite 4 calipers from the Corvette Engineering kit.

A couple other items to keep in mind:

- the control arms are designed to work with the RT sway bar and linkage, not stock. I have a rod end joint solid linkage on a stock bar and I should be able to update it to work, but once again this is a cost consideration all should be aware of.

- spreader bar bracket rod end mount will more than likely need to be adjusted to fit inside the RT upper control arm cross bar bushings. It was a simple cut/reweld in my case.

SolidLT1:
In regards to your question on clearance with oil pan/headers and steering linkage, I am just about at a point I will test that with a big block and 2" primary equal length undercar headers. I share your concerns, but it will barely clear from my measurements so far.

Overall quality and RT service has been excellent. These are nice parts and my setup measurements so far match what is claimed by RT.

Hopefully this helps from an outside installer perspective.

Phil

 

Very nice set up. What size wheels and tires are the 72 Corvette? Looks like they fit nicely inside the wheel wells. Thinking about getting RideTech's complete front and rear kit for my 69 Vette.