I am new to the Forum. I am still getting the hang of navigating the different posts. W/that being stated, can anyone recommend a complete suspension kit for a 2008 Corvette (base coupe). I drive it on the street. I am looking for a good street/performance upgrade. I don't really love the ride quality right now, but I love the car so I can deal w/it for now. I just looking for some recommendations for an upgrade for ridequality and still maintain great performance handling. Thank you. ( https://www.facebook.com/#!/video/vi...39885929380001 )

 

You said "suspension kit" implying you want a complete, unified package. You also said "I don't really love the ride quality right now" but you don't say if you think it's too firm or too soft.

So, not knowing details, you might be interested in talking to Pfadt about the new Johnny O'Connell package, or individual pieces of it. Here's a description by Pfadt from an earlier post:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1579949510-post3.html

 

Contact Pfadt Engineering

 

There are a lot of options - how much money are you willing to spend on parts, and will you be installing the stuff yourself or having it done?

 

Thank you everyone for the recommendations. I will contact pfadt at some point. Money is not an issue with buying parts. I will be having professionals install the kit.

 

generally speaking, imo, unless you or your knowledgeable installer know of various different component parts that work together, I'd recommend one brand made to function together. pfadt is one source and there are others as well. for instance, w. your base coupe, you can upgrade brakes, sway bars, and shocks by using stock (but upgraded) GM parts such as from the Z51 suspension cars. or Z06.

 

If I went onto the PFADT website and ordered C6 Johnny O'Connell Sway bars and C6 Johnny O'Connell Shocks. Would I have to order any other components to incorperate those parts into my exsisting suspension?

 

Springs:

youre going to need to decide if you want to keep the leaf spring setup or go with coils

upgraded leaf springs are available from the factory in numerous rates. There are charts available that will show you these rates so you can mix and match as necessary

VBP and Hyperco also make leaf springs for the c6

Shocks:

If youre running the leaf type setup, you can run any of the various factory sport shock options or go with some of the numerous aftermarket sets

bilstein has a sport set that get good ratings
DRM sells custom valved bilstein sports
LG sells custom valved bilstein racing shocks which can be converted to coilovers later on if desired
pfadt sells single adjustable inverted shocks
QA1 sells single and double shocks which can be converted to coilovers as well
koni makes a fsd shock setup which is non adjustable
koni sells sport shocks with some adjustment
they also sell custom racing shocks with almost limitless options
Hardbar sells various versions of penske racing shocks which can also be converted to coilovers

as far as coilovers go, moton makes single double and triple adjustable with separate reservoirs. Pfadt has a double adjustable set with separate reservoirs that uses Ohlins parts, they also have single adjustable coilovers with built in reservoirs. As stated before you can get custom non adjustable bilstein racing coilovers through LG, they also make double adjustable coilovers...


Sway bars:
The factory has many options also available on charts here.
LG makes a kit similar to the T1 bars, so does hotchkiss and eibach. Pfadt has their johnny o connell sway setup which is between the T1 bars and the ZR1.

If you want something a bit futher, you can go with the pfadt light rate or heavy rate racing sway bars. They also make new mounts for these bars that eliminate flex in the setup.

Control arm bushings:
You have the option of factory T1 Control arms that have stiffer bushings but only rotate based on flex of the rubber rather than allowing free rotation of the arm

Several companies make polyurethane (pfadt, Zip corvette, VBP) The pfadt include the most features.

You can also go to delrin bushigns for something stiffer than the poly (phoenix performance does this)

Finally there are all metal setups. Pfadt, DRM, and LG sell these. The Pfadt is the cheapest and one of the most comprehensive in terms of what you get.

Endlinks:
Factory - you can run the non adjustable stock or run the T1 heim joint type.
Others similar to the T1 include Zip corvette HD, Pfadt, LG, and QA1.

Powergrid makes adjustables which are sealed like the factory units. These can be purchased straight from the manufacturer, or through Phoenix.

Alignment Adjustment kit:
Also known as camber plate kits - these allow more camber to be achieved, easier adjustment, and lock the alignment settings so youre not having to run the traditional camber plates that slip.

Hardbar sells these kits, as well as pfadt.

Tie Rods/ Toe adjustment:
Most run stock or stock style, but Zip Corvette sells a bump steer kit which includes all metal heim joint setup. This kit allows for further adjustment of your steering - it is recommended for lowered cars.


Im sure I missed some stuff but this should help get you started

 

Wow, I don't really know what to make of all this. There is a lot involved it seems. A lot more than I thought. So, what would you recommend for a High Perfomance Street set up. I don't know much about the suspension. I was hoping for a kit I could buy and not have to rack my brain trying to figure out which parts will work w/what other parts. I have heard good things about the Johnny O'Connell sway bars and shocks. I thought I could just buy the upgraded shocks and sway bars and be done w/it. Thanks for letting me know there is nothing easy about upgrading a Corvette-ha ha. - https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...type=3&theater

 

Yep you can spend anywhere from a few hundred bucks all the way into the 5 figure range.

For just street and goign with the pfadt stuff, you can A) do the joc bars (which come with really nice endlinks) and one of their coilover setups, or B) get the joc bar kit and the joc shocks along with it and then upgrade your front spring to the z06 spring to get a better balance and less brake dive than with your stock front spring.

Either of the above setups should work well together and can use the recommended alignment settings from pfadt.

Id definitely recommend the camber kit just because the alignment adjustment with the stock stuff is pretty restricted.

As far as control arm bushings go, theyre not absolutely necessary but they really transform the way the car feels.

 

So, since you seem to have an idea of a good high performance street set up. Do you have a suggestion of part #'s? For a high performance street set up I would want to put together some kind of kit on my own correct? By part I could get: the J O'C swaybars and shocks & ???? I'm lost for other stuff brother...I don't know what to get after that...I will talk to the guys at PFADT and have them put together a kit for me I guess...Thank you

 

Hey there. It was good to hear from you earlier today. I responded to your email, but just incase you miss it, you're a really good candidate for the Johnny O'Connell suspension package.

We developed that package with factory GM driver Johnny O'Connell as a replacement shock and sway bar combination that were both designed to work really well together. What you will find is that the car rides a little firmer over slow speed small road irregularities than the base car does, but overall the car will feel more confident at turn in, and sportier overall. The small change in ride quality will definitely be worth the time and effort the first time you take an off ramp effortlessly with the new suspension.

There is an adjustable rear sway bar included in that package to help you fine tune the balance of the car if you wanted to take it to the track, but even for cars that never see track time the Johnny O'Connell Stage 1 package is a good choice.

Here is a video we took during development that may help demonstrate the goals of the project. Overall the car will be much more fun to drive than with the factory base suspension parts. There are always other parts that can be upgraded, but as a great first step you should really look at the JO package.

 

+1

 

Keep us posted, I am looking at the Johnny O kit for my Vette and would love to hear your impression of the ride change.