I talked with a guy at Duntov Corvette in Texas that said they put Ride Tech coil overs and then Vette Brakes mono spring/rear fiberglass spring on their C-2 race car and saw no improvement in track times. Then talked to a Ride Tech authorized install shop owner in S Oregon at a car show who said BS, "coil overs are big improvement over stock". Very frustrating but leaning toward upgrading stock suspension with new original style coil springs, trailing arms, new 7 leaf rear spring and gas shocks. Anyone willing to testify that their coil over upgrade on a C-2 or C-3 was worth the money??

 

You're comparing a lot of apples and oranges here. You need to compare similar things. First: Are the spring rates the same? If they're different, then it's not a fair comparison. Are the springs the same physical weight? The seven leaf spring is a boat anchor compared to a fiberglass monospring or a pair of coilover springs. Also, a seven leaf spring has a shitload of interleaf friction, so it won't work as well as a monoleaf or a pair of coilovers.

What's your goal/use for the car? Performance? Bling? NCRS? That has a significant bearing on what parts are "worth the money".

 

 

Depends on what you want to accomplish and how much adjustability you need. If just a touring car/weekend driver stock style setup would be cheaper and satisfactory overall. The mono springs are an improvement at relatively inexpensive cost.

 

Totally agree.
C3s and C7s both have transverse leaf springs, they must perform identically right?


Adam

 

Be careful of who you listen to.
Do more searches here on Duntov Corvette... I did and after I did that I find it hard to take much of anything they say seriously.
-I almost picked up a set of Duntov rebranded Wilwood brake calipers- because they're painted gorgeous Red, they're actually Wilwood calipers, and they say "Duntov" on them and look amazing. Then I realized the warranty was through Duntov and not Wilwood and decided to wait...

Adam

 

I bought the Vansteel set-up- as those guys have been doing suspensions for Vettes the longest- seem to know what they are talking about- have a great reputation...

PLUS- cost wise it made sense to me- as I needed a trailing arm- as one of mine was bent.

So for $1300 INCLUDING a set of new trailing arms- that had the parking brake mount relocated and are offset

BTW- the sharkbites don't come with trailing arms and are a few hundred bucks more...

 

hey Richard, is your rear end lowered about 1.5"?

 

My car is a factory suspension design, changes rear spring 360lbs vb&p spring & 550 front coils. Just because I can run better lap times than a stock C5 Z06 does it mean the suspension is better. No its because I have better tires than the people running a stock c5 Z06 with street tires. For fast track times with sticky tires requires the contact patch of the tire to be maximized as much as possible. Does the factory suspension design C3 do this, I think it does this very well with the right alignment. So what do I give up compared to my C6 Grandsport Corvette (mono leaf design). Street comfort is much better in the C6. For the Street use go for the budget you can afford, the look you like, if you are not sure what you like, then a complete adjustable system will let you change your mind. If you want a soft street able corvette then going with a 300-330 composite rear spring with factory weight front springs (not the 550 lbs units) will also give a reasonable street ride. It will still handle well enough that aggressive street driving is fun. Then the next improvement would be going from 15" wheels to 18" wheels with much better rubber. The tire change will be more noticeable than comparing mono leaf vs coilover design.

 

Notice the coils are ALL the way down- plus there was no weight in the car at the time-had just put it together.. So yes-but the haftshafts need to be level.

I've got the Vansteel delrin bushings to raise the diff-not on yet-

http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...owItem&ID=3904




Here's another way to raise the diff -to lower the rear and keep half shaft geometry correct

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-bushings.html

 

Wow nice and clean under there, nice work.
thats an insane amount of $ for trailing arms, guess you pay to own one.

Not understanding how that Shark Bite system works, the shocks almost move laterally? do the outside mounts move around, any better pics.
Agree the stock suspension rides like chit. With 70 series tires it feels like riding on concrete lol

 

 

hehehehehe you knew why I asked :P I was wondering

 

I have a VB&P mono & Van Steel offset trailing arms plus all the other VB&P goodies for the rear end on my '79. If I was doing it over again I'd go coil overs without even thinking about it.

 

I agree with this ^^^^^^!

Most of the choice comes down to personal selection. The bottom line is the stock C3 suspension design is VERY good and can be made to work great either on the street or racing as our man above proves. I do not race my C3 on the track, although based on my racing experience, I can assure you my Car would be able to hold its own the way it is set up for the street. Could it hold its own to my 10C6Z06? NO but it would be respectable.

One point I would add though is that my 78 L-82 4 speed originally a gymkhana suspended car is VERY different now than when new but uses the stock suspension design and steering throughout but all updated and improved:

Front Suspension:
poly upper and lower control arm bushings-should be too stiff for the street-NOT
Custom Blue Printed/rebuilt OEM steering box
550 front Springs
Front Spreader bar
Stock 1 1/8 inch front sway bar with full ppoly bushings
255/45/17 ZR Ultra High Performance Summer Only Tires
Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks with poly upper bushings

Rear Suspension:
360 lb monospring
Competition Adjustablle Heim Joint Struts-no bushings
3/4 inch Rear OEM type sway bar with poly bushings
Bilstein Sports
255/45/17 ZR tires

The car rides VERY nicely and handles/Steers like a modern sportscar with a VERY comfortable ride using the stock designed components. My 10 Z06 ride is MUCH stiffer. My 78 can easily handle a 420 rear composite spring on the street with my setup and only then would it approach the ride stiffness of my Z.

The point here is my suspension above is actually VERY comfortable on the street, firm but NOT harsh, at all. Karol, on the forum, has been in my car and me in his 78 L-82 4 speed BASE suspension unmodified, and he cannot believe how well my car rides, steers, and handles versus his base suspension with 255/60/15 BFG TA tires which is floaty, harsh, and severe understeer with moderate speeds....Modern ultra high performance summer only tires (W/Y rated) make a tremendous difference in the steering response, handling, and ride. I finally went to 17 inch rims when I realized I could not possible take advantage of all my suspension upgrades using 15 inch mass market passenger car tires.

 

I have installed the Ridetech system on my vette and for me, yes it was worth the money. But that is my own situation.

After working with the Ridetech system, it is clearly a much better system than stock, but you have to pay significantly for it. If you just want a nice car to run around town in, the Ridetech system may not be for you. Depends entirely on what your goals are and your own situation. You can get a nice suspension setup many other ways including a good stock setup.

 

Goals are just to improve handling. Won't be on racetrack again, except nostalgia drags, auto crossed in the 80's. Current suspension is basically F-41 gymktata setup. 350 lbs springs in front, koni gas shocks all around. 1" sway bars front and rear. 7 leaf GM big block leaf spring in back. Car has aluminum 509 Dart motor, w/original small block 327 in my storage shed. Current suspension has not been upgraded in 30 + years. Also have 17" wheels and Falken ZR-255 17 rear and ZR-245 17 front with offset trailing arms.

Duntov also says changing the rear 7 leaf steel spring for fiberglass mono is the LAST place a Corvette needs to shed weight, right over the rear axle steel spring provides needed ballast.

Leaning toward just upgrading suspension with new stuff from Duntov Corvette. Again, they say no performance advantage with Ride-Tech or Shark Bite coil over setup or Vette Brakes mono spring setup although Vette Brake system cuts a lot of weight front and back.

Not concerned about "bling" more into actual applied results.

Regards,

Gitano

Polyurethane bushing all around.

 

What he said!


JIM

 

And yet, every Corvette manufactured in the last almost 40 years has been built with a lightweight fiberglass monospring. Before standard aluminum heads, aluminum blocks, magnesium valve covers, carbon fiber body panels, aluminum frames, etc, etc, etc. Apparently Chevrolet has a completely different opinion on the matter..

I would question anyone who says that a Corvette needs ballast.

 

What he said^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!