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Vansteel-
-Less money that the Sharkbites
-Can run bigger tires -double offset trailing arms INCLUDED
-just a little welding required for shock reinforcement
-Ask for the Corvette Forum 10% off
Sharkbites-
-look pretty
-have to use your trailing arms AND won't work w/ double offset arms
-some welding is required
Ridetech is even more $$, but I'm ready to consider anything now.
I have the sharkbite rack&pinion steering, it seems that it will work with any of the above setups, or am I wrong?
Ridetech is $2350 for non-adjustable shocks, $2450 for single adjustable.
You also get new strut rods, strut rod bracket and a new differential mount vs the VanSteel kit. And it's 100% bolt-in.
VS is definitely less expensive at $1700 with double adjustable shocks. If your strut rods are junk, though, there's another $240 to get parity. So Ridetech is still $500 more expensive with only single adjustable shocks.
Personally, I liked their promise and I liked the new crossmember with integral upper coilover mounts - so that's what I went with.
I have the Sharkbite, R&P and Semi Coilovers up front with VBP upper arms.
Looking at both rear & front.
My original question was about the rear position of the coilover - tried to understand what is the idea behind the sharkbite mounting angle.
Keep in mind the biggest issue with any of these is to address the toe issues.
Sharkbite does not. I went with the VBP camber arms with the bracket that lowers the arms. You want the Half shafts and Camber arms to be on the same level.
The Ridetech raises the rearend to address the toe issues.
I just did the front and back with vansteels equipment. I'm really impressed with the difference in my 71. Give Dan a call he will treat you right .Buying both at same time will save some.I sent my old t/a's to them they rebuilt my units and diff.Good people....
They don't fix the rear toe problem. Camber gain yes. When you have a fixed location for the trailing arm in the front and the hub moves in and out through travel of suspension you get toe change. Reducing the camber gain for modern tires will help handling a lot along with being able to better tune spring rates through easier change out. Shock adjustment depends on the kit.
BTW you can clearly see in the top picture that the camber bar is not aligned with the half shaft.
That "top" pic is actually my car-
That picture was taken when I had just finished putting it together and the coils were bottomed out for ease of installation- that's the reason for the halfshafts pointing up
The Ridetech IS a neat solution for raising the diff.
But apples to apples- single adjust Vansteel is about $1300 w/ discount- Ridetech is OVER $1K more for the single adjust.
You can do the front and rear single adjust for about $3300 w/ discount
Ridetech-really neat set-up will take your breath away at $5850 but it does come w/ front spindles.
I have been trying to understand for years the advantage of these systems for a street driven C3, not racing, using stock front control arms and stock rear trailing arms, especially in front, which is a coil spring/shock set up to start? I do understand the difference in the rear with the camber/toe issue but not for the street. Clearly the transverse leaf spring has now been used by GM for 4 Generations of cars so they must know something about that setup that works really well. Help me understand why these suspension changes are a big upgrade over maximizing the stock suspension configuration? I would think that a steering upgrade would be more cost effective than one of these suspensions on the front in particular. Just curious.
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Originally Posted by landY
Looking at both rear & front.
My original question was about the rear position of the coilover - tried to understand what is the idea behind the sharkbite mounting angle.
I an planning on replacing both front and rear.
Packaging and "bling".
It doesn't matter what position or angle you mount a spring. It still operates as a spring (it has no idea what position it's in). What matters is the motion ratio that is created when the spring is mounted in a direction different than the wheel travel. This requires a different spring rate to get to a wheel rate equivalent to a spring mounted in the direction of the wheel's travel.
Installing the shock at an angle to the wheel travel (or via a bellcrank) obviously differentiates wheel movement speed versus shock piston speed.
There's a whole bunch more details to all this, but these are the highlights.
landY,
I don't run coil-overs, but the Van Steele setup will work nicely. Sharkbite is more bling than function. Have heard Sharkbite does ride nice, but I cannot see how it improves handling at all.
Ridetech stuff is really nice and I might go with their kit the next time, but also notice that it uses different spindles that require different brakes so make sure to account for this cost too if you go that route.
Originally Posted by 69427
Packaging and "bling".
It doesn't matter what position or angle you mount a spring. It still operates as a spring (it has no idea what position it's in). What matters is the motion ratio that is created when the spring is mounted in a direction different than the wheel travel. This requires a different spring rate to get to a wheel rate equivalent to a spring mounted in the direction of the wheel's travel.
Installing the shock at an angle to the wheel travel (or via a bellcrank) obviously differentiates wheel movement speed versus shock piston speed.
There's a whole bunch more details to all this, but these are the highlights.
Total bling and as I have mentioned before in other threads, this kit with the rubber factory x-member bushings actually increases the toe-steer issue by applying a lateral force to the the x-member in the wrong direcion.
Originally Posted by jb78L-82
I have been trying to understand for years the advantage of these systems for a street driven C3, not racing, using stock front control arms and stock rear trailing arms, especially in front, which is a coil spring/shock set up to start? I do understand the difference in the rear with the camber/toe issue but not for the street. Clearly the transverse leaf spring has now been used by GM for 4 Generations of cars so they must know something about that setup that works really well. Help me understand why these suspension changes are a big upgrade over maximizing the stock suspension configuration?
I intend to go with a coil-over setup if I build another C3 that is even more track oriented than my current car, but I think people under estimate the capability of a leaf spring system. I can pull over 1G in corners (measured using data system) with VBP's dual mount mono leaf. The main things I've did (which were not real easy) was to move the pivot points for the rear suspension to minimize the toe-steer issue and to optimize the camber change - notice I didn't say eliminate.
All other aspects of the RideTech system set aside, do not discount the importance of a good shock. The shocks are the brains of the suspension...they have the greatest influence on ride quality, handling and the overall feel of the car. More info on the differences here :http://www.ridetech.com/tech/coiltech/#cutaway
A couple other differences:
* the RideTech system places the coilover behind the halfshafts...that allows a longer stroke and easier access for adjustments
* The RideTech system uses a new forged front spindle. It replaces an OEM spindle that may be anywhere from 35-52 years old with an unknown history of fatigue and abuse. Yes, it takes a different front brake setup than OEM Corvette, but if you are using a Baer or Wilwood brakes system, you only change the hub and caliper bracket keeping your existing rotors and calipers. If you are using OEM front brakes, it is time to upgrade anyhow.
I am thinking about coilover upgrade for my 1979.
I saw the Vansteel kit where the coilover is almost aligned with the wheel:
Sharkbite's coilovers are in a 60 degree offset- something like the original leaf spring position:
What's the pros and cons of each setup?
I have the Van Steel on the rear and Jim Meyer Racing up front (they offered the coil over conversion for the front before anyone else did). I use QA1 coilovers front and back and havent had a single problem.
Thank you all for your inputs, I've ordered the front and back kit from corvetteamerica.com (its the vansteel) together with new strut rods for the rear end.
I'm just a bit confused... the offset trailing arms will insert my wheels deeper into the body, right?
Coilover - Vansteel vs Sharkbite ?
DSCN4080 by richardhayes454, on Flickr
DSCN3920_zps92fb8c93 by richardhayes454, on Flickr
