'99 Z28 - Strano/Koni Suspension DONE, And Worth Every Penny!
03-30-2010, 03:02 PM
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'99 Z28 - Strano/Koni Suspension DONE, And Worth Every Penny! Short of an alignment the suspension upgrades are done on my '99 Camaro Z28. I bought the car from the original owner with over 185K miles on it. Needless to say everything needed to be replaced so I made investments on good parts and the end result is truly better than I expected.
The rear suspension was done first. It included Koni single-adj shocks, Spohn tubular adj LCA's and Panhard bar, Strano lowering springs, ES poly sway bushings, end-links and some Prothane bump stops. As you can see the factory units were shot and with a little trimming the Prothane units went right in.
More Pics - http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...%20Suspension/
The front got everything, U&L ball joints, Moog bushings, 1LE sway bar, Koni double-adj struts, upper strut mounts, Strano lowering springs, ES poly sway bar bushings, had the rotors turned and installed some new brake pads. Needless to say after a now 186K miles saying that the difference is night and day is an understatement. I still need to get it aligned but I love the way it handles and looks. The front springs will probably settle a little more and I am yet to really take it out with the Koni's firmed up. Anyway the car is coming together very well and I could not be happier.
A big THANK YOU to Sam Strano for all of his help and guidance. He certainly steered me in the right direction and the payoff has been priceless.
More Pics - http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...%20Suspension/
The rear suspension was done first. It included Koni single-adj shocks, Spohn tubular adj LCA's and Panhard bar, Strano lowering springs, ES poly sway bushings, end-links and some Prothane bump stops. As you can see the factory units were shot and with a little trimming the Prothane units went right in.
More Pics - http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...%20Suspension/
The front got everything, U&L ball joints, Moog bushings, 1LE sway bar, Koni double-adj struts, upper strut mounts, Strano lowering springs, ES poly sway bar bushings, had the rotors turned and installed some new brake pads. Needless to say after a now 186K miles saying that the difference is night and day is an understatement. I still need to get it aligned but I love the way it handles and looks. The front springs will probably settle a little more and I am yet to really take it out with the Koni's firmed up. Anyway the car is coming together very well and I could not be happier.
A big THANK YOU to Sam Strano for all of his help and guidance. He certainly steered me in the right direction and the payoff has been priceless.
More Pics - http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...%20Suspension/
03-30-2010, 04:37 PM
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Looks great, but you choice of LCA's with poly bushing on both ends is going to prevent your car from having really good handling. The LRCA's need to articulate freely without any binding to optimize you cars handling potential, And that's just not possible with your bushing selection.
03-30-2010, 08:08 PM
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a couple of questions, if you don't mind .......
i have pretty much the same situation ..... '99 z28 m6 with 183K miles. everything is still stock, although i've recently replaced all four shocks. i actually logged on tonight to research this very topic ..... replacing front and rear suspension parts.
as i recall from changing my shocks, the front suspension pretty much just unbolts, right? the springs and shocks come out as one unit .... i don't have to worry about compressing the coil springs, as you have to do on first and second gen camaros, right? the UCA and LCA's unbolt and i can have a shop press the old bushings out and the new bushings in, correct? and then just bolt it all back together.
re: the rear suspension ..... what all is there to replace? everything pretty much just unbolts and bolts back in? ditto the springs and shocks?
without asking for too much cost detail, do you have an overall cost for the front and rear suspension parts?
thanks
bill
i have pretty much the same situation ..... '99 z28 m6 with 183K miles. everything is still stock, although i've recently replaced all four shocks. i actually logged on tonight to research this very topic ..... replacing front and rear suspension parts.
as i recall from changing my shocks, the front suspension pretty much just unbolts, right? the springs and shocks come out as one unit .... i don't have to worry about compressing the coil springs, as you have to do on first and second gen camaros, right? the UCA and LCA's unbolt and i can have a shop press the old bushings out and the new bushings in, correct? and then just bolt it all back together.
re: the rear suspension ..... what all is there to replace? everything pretty much just unbolts and bolts back in? ditto the springs and shocks?
without asking for too much cost detail, do you have an overall cost for the front and rear suspension parts?
thanks
bill
03-31-2010, 01:04 AM
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Looks great, but you choice of LCA's with poly bushing on both ends is going to prevent your car from having really good handling. The LRCA's need to articulate freely without any binding to optimize you cars handling potential, And that's just not possible with your bushing selection.
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03-31-2010, 06:42 AM
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a couple of questions, if you don't mind .......
i have pretty much the same situation ..... '99 z28 m6 with 183K miles. everything is still stock, although i've recently replaced all four shocks. i actually logged on tonight to research this very topic ..... replacing front and rear suspension parts.
as i recall from changing my shocks, the front suspension pretty much just unbolts, right? the springs and shocks come out as one unit .... i don't have to worry about compressing the coil springs, as you have to do on first and second gen camaros, right? the UCA and LCA's unbolt and i can have a shop press the old bushings out and the new bushings in, correct? and then just bolt it all back together.
re: the rear suspension ..... what all is there to replace? everything pretty much just unbolts and bolts back in? ditto the springs and shocks?
without asking for too much cost detail, do you have an overall cost for the front and rear suspension parts?
thanks
bill
i have pretty much the same situation ..... '99 z28 m6 with 183K miles. everything is still stock, although i've recently replaced all four shocks. i actually logged on tonight to research this very topic ..... replacing front and rear suspension parts.
as i recall from changing my shocks, the front suspension pretty much just unbolts, right? the springs and shocks come out as one unit .... i don't have to worry about compressing the coil springs, as you have to do on first and second gen camaros, right? the UCA and LCA's unbolt and i can have a shop press the old bushings out and the new bushings in, correct? and then just bolt it all back together.
re: the rear suspension ..... what all is there to replace? everything pretty much just unbolts and bolts back in? ditto the springs and shocks?
without asking for too much cost detail, do you have an overall cost for the front and rear suspension parts?
thanks
bill
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...all-video.html
For the rear - pretty much everything is a unbolt and bolt back in. Adjustments are required when you install adjustable control arms or panhand bar.
I'll let the OP answer the price question.
03-31-2010, 07:10 AM
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Maybe I'm missing it but I don't see new tierod ends. I would highly suggest you replace them with a set of Moogs; especially if they are the originals. Other than that, your car looks great. The Strano springs give these cars the perfect stance but then again, I'm a little bias. 
03-31-2010, 09:06 AM
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Thanks for all the compliments guys! My combination makes for a very streetable fun sports car that can also be taken on long trips. When you want to have more fun in the corners just dial up the shocks & struts and you are good to go. I know there are more aggressive setups out there but for bang for buck I think this pretty hard to beat.
On my rear LCA bushing selection, I thought about getting the spherical rod ends but I do not drive the car all that much (a sin I know). Its a weekend/fair weather toy and I have no plans of racing or Auto-X right now. If I step up my activities with the car I may swap them out but for now I am happy with them.
On the cost of it all, this weekend I will get all my receipts out, itemize, and total up what I have in everything to give everyone a realistic dollar amount. I will warn you, it was not cheap but I got the car at a good price and I knew what I was getting in to when I bought it.
SteelCity pretty much answered your question Bill. The front springs do have to be compressed to disassemble the struts. However if you buy new upper strut mounts, springs, and struts you don't have to take the old units apart since you will not be reusing anything. Keep in mind if you go with lowering springs they do need to be compressed a little to make sure the upper strut mount seats properly on the stop of the strut and the spring. With the kind of miles your car has on it I would imagine everything needs to be replaced.
I did not replace my tie-rods because the previous owner had a new rack and rod ends installed about a year ago. They were still in like new condition so they were kept.
If anyone has anymore questions please post up or shoot me a PM.
On my rear LCA bushing selection, I thought about getting the spherical rod ends but I do not drive the car all that much (a sin I know). Its a weekend/fair weather toy and I have no plans of racing or Auto-X right now. If I step up my activities with the car I may swap them out but for now I am happy with them.
On the cost of it all, this weekend I will get all my receipts out, itemize, and total up what I have in everything to give everyone a realistic dollar amount. I will warn you, it was not cheap but I got the car at a good price and I knew what I was getting in to when I bought it.
SteelCity pretty much answered your question Bill. The front springs do have to be compressed to disassemble the struts. However if you buy new upper strut mounts, springs, and struts you don't have to take the old units apart since you will not be reusing anything. Keep in mind if you go with lowering springs they do need to be compressed a little to make sure the upper strut mount seats properly on the stop of the strut and the spring. With the kind of miles your car has on it I would imagine everything needs to be replaced.
I did not replace my tie-rods because the previous owner had a new rack and rod ends installed about a year ago. They were still in like new condition so they were kept.
If anyone has anymore questions please post up or shoot me a PM.
03-31-2010, 09:47 AM
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Thanks for all the compliments guys! My combination makes for a very streetable fun sports car that can also be taken on long trips. When you want to have more fun in the corners just dial up the shocks & struts and you are good to go. I know there are more aggressive setups out there but for bang for buck I think this pretty hard to beat.
On my rear LCA bushing selection, I thought about getting the spherical rod ends but I do not drive the car all that much (a sin I know). Its a weekend/fair weather toy and I have no plans of racing or Auto-X right now. If I step up my activities with the car I may swap them out but for now I am happy with them.
On the cost of it all, this weekend I will get all my receipts out, itemize, and total up what I have in everything to give everyone a realistic dollar amount. I will warn you, it was not cheap but I got the car at a good price and I knew what I was getting in to when I bought it.
SteelCity pretty much answered your question Bill. The front springs do have to be compressed to disassemble the struts. However if you buy new upper strut mounts, springs, and struts you don't have to take the old units apart since you will not be reusing anything. Keep in mind if you go with lowering springs they do need to be compressed a little to make sure the upper strut mount seats properly on the stop of the strut and the spring. With the kind of miles your car has on it I would imagine everything needs to be replaced.
I did not replace my tie-rods because the previous owner had a new rack and rod ends installed about a year ago. They were still in like new condition so they were kept.
If anyone has anymore questions please post up or shoot me a PM.
On my rear LCA bushing selection, I thought about getting the spherical rod ends but I do not drive the car all that much (a sin I know). Its a weekend/fair weather toy and I have no plans of racing or Auto-X right now. If I step up my activities with the car I may swap them out but for now I am happy with them.
On the cost of it all, this weekend I will get all my receipts out, itemize, and total up what I have in everything to give everyone a realistic dollar amount. I will warn you, it was not cheap but I got the car at a good price and I knew what I was getting in to when I bought it.
SteelCity pretty much answered your question Bill. The front springs do have to be compressed to disassemble the struts. However if you buy new upper strut mounts, springs, and struts you don't have to take the old units apart since you will not be reusing anything. Keep in mind if you go with lowering springs they do need to be compressed a little to make sure the upper strut mount seats properly on the stop of the strut and the spring. With the kind of miles your car has on it I would imagine everything needs to be replaced.
I did not replace my tie-rods because the previous owner had a new rack and rod ends installed about a year ago. They were still in like new condition so they were kept.
If anyone has anymore questions please post up or shoot me a PM.
03-31-2010, 04:45 PM
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how much do the stano springs lower your car? and, does that lowered height require a shorter-than-stock shock?
i drive my car daily to and from work, about a 90 mile round trip. part of me likes the idea of lowering it slightly, part of me worries that i'll experience problems with speed bumps in and out of driveways.
thanks for the link to the video .... it was pretty good.
i drive my car daily to and from work, about a 90 mile round trip. part of me likes the idea of lowering it slightly, part of me worries that i'll experience problems with speed bumps in and out of driveways.
thanks for the link to the video .... it was pretty good.
03-31-2010, 05:51 PM
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The Strano's lower about 1.25". The stock shocks are not valved to work with lowering springs. It has been done, but the ride is not good. Sam has recomended Koni's with stock springs vs his springs with stock shocks. You can run the front Koni's on the lower perch with the heater hose mod in back for a slight lowering. There are some other shock upgrades besides the Koni's. Best bet is to call Sam.
