DayUSeX

So i know there is no "best" but I know there can be "it"
On my daily driver my 04 cavalier the Tein SS coilover suspension was the "best" you could buy and I could not be happier.
With the cavalier I knew to get the best suspension, I went coilovers, sway bars, strut bars, and tie bars.

So now im up to modding my trans ams suspension.
What is the "best" coilover suspension.
Do I need to upgrade my swaybars as well??
Do strut tower braces help at all.

Basically I want my first purchase to be coilovers, and i want the "best".

Thanks for listening!!

chupr0kabra

iTrader: (10)

Do you really need coilovers?

Why?

What are your goals for the car?

What is most important to you? Ride comfort? Cornering? Straight line performance?


-Mike

DayUSeX

Well reason I want coilovers is because I want absoultyl the best handling possible.

Cornering is 1st, then staright line, then ride comfort.

I dont know if this applys to Fbodys but on the Jbody your best handling is having the control arms parralel to the ground and the only way to do that was with coilovers.

My golas are basically to build up the suspension as best I can then add boost.

coolformula

iTrader: (21)

Well you can call Samd he will talk to you.

Anway my .02 cents worth and other people have this opinion...Most of the time you dont' need coil overs. If you want to lower the car I would about 1 or 1.25 with a set of Koni's SA and sam strano sway bars. His bars are hollow are and great(think there free shipping right now). I have konis SA and sams bars and the car handles really good. Most people say the STB dont' help a lot on these cars. I have one just becuase there cheap like 80 bucks, but they do add couple of pounds of weight to the car.

These cars need SHOCKS/STRUTS big difference. Then I would do the bars. I would do these and go from there. I think you coudl be happy with that. It handles very good with this setup. Just be careful if you do springs and dont' get one with too high of rates, it can actually hurt handling if you dont' have it set up properly.

I wouldn't put 3k in the supension at once. You want the parts to work together. I would do the Koni's SA and the bars. And drive that for a while I think you would be very pleased. Remmeber some good tires help too.

Hope this gives you a direction in where to go and I think you would be happy with it. I would call and talk to Sam too, great customer service.

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

if you want the best.. and money is no problem... call up Penske... cost you about $3k a corner

DayUSeX

LOL ok somethign within reason

probably no more than about 1,500-2000 for the coilovers and dampeners and mounts.

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

ok so are you a road race type guy? this a daily driver?

Give Sam Strano a call... he owns www.stranoparts.com and is a suspension master and accomplished road racer. He also lurks on this board, but its best to call. Unless you are always adjusting your ride height and stuff.. you dont need coil overs.. but some good springs and some Koni DA's would get the job done for corner carving.

DayUSeX

hm i think sam is the way to go, does anyone have his contract info for him??

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

STRANO Performance Parts
68 White Street
Brookville, PA 15825

Email: arlyn@stranoparts.com
Order line: 800/729-1831
Tech line: 814/849-3417
Fax: 814/849-6305

Ace$nyper

iTrader: (8)

I'd agree to call Sam.

Tein is soooo hype ewww.

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

Tein are good.. my friends who drive Evo's and STi's use them and are very good.. pricey though. Just decide what you want the most out of the car.. what its going to be doing the most.. what you can live with and most important, what you can afford.

DayUSeX

oh cool thanks for the link

Basically this will be an autox car that will be driven on weekends only.

oh no ragging on tein, if you drove my car you would say no way in hell is that a jbody under there

Ace$nyper

iTrader: (8)

Meh at best, any car that can use them for 1/2 the price you can have wayy better.

I've yet to see a car that its worth anywhere the hype they get. Not a bad part but one that I just shudder from. Kinda like MSD oh wait MSD sucks

DayUSeX

LOL idk about lsx engines but on ecotec MSD basically wins be being the only option

Ace$nyper

iTrader: (8)

we rock stock

DayUSeX

yeah I love my LS1 but it has serously been neglected

Its currently got 90k miles on stock suspension, only changed are headers and exaust

while the cavailer is rocking

Tein SS
Eibach front and rear sways
Front and Rear Strut Bars
Rear tie bar
soon to be K brace
and a new supercharger is on the way.


Poor trans am needs love to. Its just hard to enjoy a car that you only take out on weekends ya know.

BIG_MIKE2005

iTrader: (116)

when modding the Trans Am forget the import world. Parts on these high performance muscle cars works differently. On here listening is learning, so don't get so stuck on certain parts just because they are advertised as the "best" out there.

I suggest doin a lot of reading on this site. Then start modding.

BAD99TA

If you want your car to handle I'd definitely recommend getting Koni shocks. Many people feel the DA's are overkill and there's more room to screw up. I tend to agree with that and I opted for the SA's (and they cost roughly $500 less). I would get lowering springs as well if your going to be doing shocks, you might as well lower your center of gravity with some good quality lowering springs (and don't forget about an adjustable panhard bar to help center the rear). The stock shocks on our cars are crap. Sway bars would also help you in the corners as well. Oh, and definitely call Sam, he knows what he's doing when it comes to suspension.

DayUSeX

SO I have decided on getting Koni shocks, what springs do peole recommend??

BAD99TA

Good move on the Koni's! (trust me, you won't be disapointed) As far as springs go, it all depends on how much you want to drop your car. Take a look at the thread titled "For those who want to see ride height after springs" at the top of the Handling & Braking section. That will give you an idea on how much different springs drop our cars. I've got Koni SA's and the Eibach Pro-Kit. The Pro-Kit drops the car about 1.5" total. I hear a lot of people like Hotchkis springs as well, they give a 1" drop.

Here's a link to some pics of the car after I installed the Pro-Kit and Koni's. Just click on a link and you can take a look at the pics. Once you open the pics you can click on them to zoom in to get a better look.
http://members.localnet.com/~rdanna1/TransAm/

edit: Here's some more useful info: http://www.angelfire.com/my/fastcar/suspension.html