UMD_Jesse
09-29-2005, 04:35 AM
After spending a good amount of time on the phone with Strano parts, I ordered and, just spent a weekend installing a set of Strano Sway Bars and Koni SA shocks. I re-used my factory springs. I followed the install up with a custom alignment.
Results:
The difference in handling is night and day :drive: I now have almost no body roll. I’m not a road racer and I’m not quite sure how to describe this, but the car seems to recover more quickly when coming out of turns. You definitely have a better feel for the road, and by no means would I consider it a "harsh" ride. As a good starting point recommended by Sam Jr, I have the front shocks set at about half full, and the rears are just slightly higher than full soft. I haven’t had much time to play with these setting yet.
The only thing I found myself wanting after this install was tighter steering, but the Alignment fixed that right up. I don’t remember off the top of my head, but I got about 1/2 degree neg. camber and 1/16th inch total toe out.
Install:
The install was pretty straight forward, although it took a VERY long time due to the sole fact that most of my stock hardware was rusted and/or seized in place and difficult to remove. So getting all of the old stuff off was a pain. The only other tricky part was removing the upper A arm bolts on the drivers side because it requires you to loosen and move to the side the master cylinder and abs module. I was nervous about doing this but its was easy and everything work just fine after.
Installing the new shocks was simple, everything was a perfect fit. NOTE: I re-used the factory springs and when removing them from the old shock I forgot/didn’t notice that plastic cup that the spring sits in, So I had to do the drivers side twice!!! If you do this swap yourself, make sure you replace all the correct parts. The sway bar install was simple, the new bushing brackets that came with the kit were slightly too small for my factory bolts, but it only took a second with a file to open them up enough to work.
If it weren’t for the seized/rusted old hardware this job could be done in a couple of hours.
Many thanks to Sam Jr for the time spent on the phone giving advice, and helping with the selection of these parts! I would suggest anyone looking to fix up there suspension should give Strano Parts a call.
Sorry for the long post
Results:
The difference in handling is night and day :drive: I now have almost no body roll. I’m not a road racer and I’m not quite sure how to describe this, but the car seems to recover more quickly when coming out of turns. You definitely have a better feel for the road, and by no means would I consider it a "harsh" ride. As a good starting point recommended by Sam Jr, I have the front shocks set at about half full, and the rears are just slightly higher than full soft. I haven’t had much time to play with these setting yet.
The only thing I found myself wanting after this install was tighter steering, but the Alignment fixed that right up. I don’t remember off the top of my head, but I got about 1/2 degree neg. camber and 1/16th inch total toe out.
Install:
The install was pretty straight forward, although it took a VERY long time due to the sole fact that most of my stock hardware was rusted and/or seized in place and difficult to remove. So getting all of the old stuff off was a pain. The only other tricky part was removing the upper A arm bolts on the drivers side because it requires you to loosen and move to the side the master cylinder and abs module. I was nervous about doing this but its was easy and everything work just fine after.
Installing the new shocks was simple, everything was a perfect fit. NOTE: I re-used the factory springs and when removing them from the old shock I forgot/didn’t notice that plastic cup that the spring sits in, So I had to do the drivers side twice!!! If you do this swap yourself, make sure you replace all the correct parts. The sway bar install was simple, the new bushing brackets that came with the kit were slightly too small for my factory bolts, but it only took a second with a file to open them up enough to work.
If it weren’t for the seized/rusted old hardware this job could be done in a couple of hours.
Many thanks to Sam Jr for the time spent on the phone giving advice, and helping with the selection of these parts! I would suggest anyone looking to fix up there suspension should give Strano Parts a call.
Sorry for the long post