Suspension Rebuild
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Suspension Rebuild
No snow yet here so still driving the 92 but plan to replace all of the suspension bushings. All the kits I've seen don't seem to have everything. Can someone point me in the right direction?
Last edited by Mishawaka; 12-09-2015 at 02:40 AM.
#3
Go poly for the front arms, and look into rubber or heim joints for the rest. Poly works for swaybars but I liked the rod ends for adjustability and ease of install. Poly on the rear components can cause binding and not something I would recommend.
#5
I went with the Energy Suspension kit - it had almost everything needed. I believe the Part Number is 3-18122G. Their website should have the full list of what comes in the kit...
#6
Melting Slicks
Most "full" kits will include everything except the sway bar bushings as there are lots of combinations out there. You'll need to measure the diameter of the front and rear bars and order accordingly.
#7
Pro
Thread Starter
DOH! I remember reading that awhile back and forgot all about that. Thanks!
#9
Burning Brakes
Thanks
Hawkeye56
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B.W. (02-16-2022)
#11
I think this is the one I used a while back.
https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/packagedeal068
Took a while to get the sway bar bushings. They were out of stock. Afterward my dog bones in the rear were squeaking pretty good. I took them back out and used a healthy amount marine grease per their recommendation and all is quiet on the suspension now. I would recommend getting some and using it as the amounts they ship with it is not much. I don't daily my car so going with poly on everything was fine with me. I even did the batwing bushings. I did those one at a time so I didn't have to drop the whole rear end. Its a bitch to get the inner aluminum sleeve out of the batwing but just go slow and drive it out with a flat blade. I bought a 12 ton press from harbor freight. The job would have been a nightmare and most likely impossible without it. Installing the bushings into the upper A arms is tricky and you need a metal bar of some sort to support the A arm while you press them in or you will bend it. You can see in this link this guy uses a long socket to support it. I used a piece of angle iron.
https://www.diyauto.com/manufacturer...blackharleydan
I am not sure if you have done this before or not but I recently did mine and while time consuming it wasn't too hard. One of the worst parts was how high you have to torque some of the rear end bolts. I had my local shop align it once I was done and they got those hard ones at the proper amount.
You will want to do the upper lower ball joints and front and rear tie rod ends at this time as well.
https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/packagedeal068
Took a while to get the sway bar bushings. They were out of stock. Afterward my dog bones in the rear were squeaking pretty good. I took them back out and used a healthy amount marine grease per their recommendation and all is quiet on the suspension now. I would recommend getting some and using it as the amounts they ship with it is not much. I don't daily my car so going with poly on everything was fine with me. I even did the batwing bushings. I did those one at a time so I didn't have to drop the whole rear end. Its a bitch to get the inner aluminum sleeve out of the batwing but just go slow and drive it out with a flat blade. I bought a 12 ton press from harbor freight. The job would have been a nightmare and most likely impossible without it. Installing the bushings into the upper A arms is tricky and you need a metal bar of some sort to support the A arm while you press them in or you will bend it. You can see in this link this guy uses a long socket to support it. I used a piece of angle iron.
https://www.diyauto.com/manufacturer...blackharleydan
I am not sure if you have done this before or not but I recently did mine and while time consuming it wasn't too hard. One of the worst parts was how high you have to torque some of the rear end bolts. I had my local shop align it once I was done and they got those hard ones at the proper amount.
You will want to do the upper lower ball joints and front and rear tie rod ends at this time as well.
Last edited by Furias15x; 02-16-2022 at 01:27 PM.
#12
Le Mans Master
The big issue with regular poly is not ride quality, but suspension bind in the rear links. In the rear suspension, the trailing arms and camber strut rod force the knuckle to move in their arcs, but those arcs are oriented 90-degrees to one another. Therefore, every time the suspension moves it is pulling the links out of the arc plane described by their axial bushings. With stock rubber bushings, there is enough compliance off-axis to allow for this without much bind. With hard poly, there is not, and the result is a rising-rate suspension that handles worse and puts stress on the bushing mounts. You'll notice that nobody even sells Delrin rear bushings for a C4, because it's even harder and would make things even worse. The SuperPro bushings are compliant enough that they should minimize this issue, and of course spherical bearings eliminate the problem completely.
#13
Safety Car
If someone is worried about rear suspension binding, here's something to check out: Upgrade your C4 Corvette's rear suspension for better handling & grip (banskimotorsports.com)
I ended up putting the full kit on my 86 a few years back and I'm more than satisfied with the results.
Hope that helps.
I ended up putting the full kit on my 86 a few years back and I'm more than satisfied with the results.
Hope that helps.
#14
Le Mans Master
If someone is worried about rear suspension binding, here's something to check out: Upgrade your C4 Corvette's rear suspension for better handling & grip (banskimotorsports.com)
I ended up putting the full kit on my 86 a few years back and I'm more than satisfied with the results.
Hope that helps.
I ended up putting the full kit on my 86 a few years back and I'm more than satisfied with the results.
Hope that helps.
#15
Burning Brakes
Banski is still around, drove over to pick up a few things not too long ago... only sells the toe rod kit now (which is the more complex and involved kits), but you can make the camber rods and dog bones easily yourself from Coleman Racing parts. Or get them from Exotic Muscle also local to me. Banski: https://www.ebay.com/itm/C4-Corvette...s/154622298093