Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

like the title says, car has 130k miles all stock suspension. with job bonus and tax return, I finally feel comfortable dumping some well needed love into my z28. I don't have immediate plans to take her to the track/strip, but I am looking to improve all around. car is stock power levels, as only mods are muffler and lid. will do LT's (SCREW YOU CA) and high flow cats. will add cat back and MAYBE cam down the line.

what ive done already: new rotors/pads, heater hose mod, OEM c6 wheels, minor things here and there. will be rolling fenders as precaution (fender cuts one side, hoping phb fixes but will also be dropping with springs)

I recently purchased a set of 4/3 konis and bmr springs for what I was gonna pick up bilsteins/springs and in the next few weeks will be purchasing the following: Strano sways, founders adj phb, founders adj lca, founders lcarb, and founders stb.

I also will be changing out my rack and pinion and tie rods. its looking like I will have roughly $300 left to spend on suspension, am I missing anything? anything I should purchase to replace worn pieces? I will be trying to install all myself, over 1-2 days so I will want to change all at once.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

upper/lower balljoints and control arm bushings?

romancommander

iTrader: (1)

I'd check your trans mount and motor mounts. The donor car I bought had all 3 ripped. I'd definitely upgrade the tranny mount to poly. Also check your torque arm bushing for wear.

A watts link is nice depending on if you plan any track days or autocross.

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

Lower control arm bushings will come with lca. Will check upper

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

Good call. May do trans and torque arm now. Gonna wait on motor mounts till I do LTs sometime before summer. Nah, no track days planned. Just wanting to give it a better street feel

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

So are you getting front lower control arms as well as rear lower control arms? if not you still want front lower control arm bushings.

if your not doing the front lower control arms (like I am assuming) then you need upper and lower ball joints plus upper and lower control arm bushings in the front, I just placed my order on rockauto.com for these parts last night, they will run you about 200 if you go all MOOG (you don't want poly bushings in the front arms, they cause binding).

then potentially you may need front hub assemblies of which with the right coupon code you can get the Moog hubs for about 80 a piece from advance auto's website.

I'm at 205k miles myself and I replaced my steering rack last year (along with tie rod ends) and a year and a half ago I replaced the front hubs. I also have a order in to Founders (for 2 weeks now and yet to ship) for the 3-peice poly ended non adjustable lower control arms and on car adjustable panhard, I just didn't see the point in getting the adjustable lower control arms.

I have a set of BMR springs and am planning a shock purchase very soon and aside from potential torque arm bushings and motor and trans mounts I will have "rebuilt" the rest of the suspension.

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, I will definitely look into that.
Of course it always ends up being more than I initially figured, but after sways and founders it's only a few minor things left.

romancommander

iTrader: (1)

I highly recommend the trans mount. It is very common for the stock ones to tear. When they go, they start to take the motor mounts with them.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

yeah, but unlike the control arm bushings they don't HAVE to be done at the same time as the rest of the front suspension (so I only have to pay for one alignment), I can have the shop check the mounts when it's on the alignment rack. And if it needs motor mounts then I'll save that for when the oil change comes up and have a new oil pan gasket done at the same time.

But, from what I've seen on here the general consensus is to not use a poly mount at the trans because it causes a bad vibration.

also to the OP, did you totally flush out your brake fluid when you did the pads and rotors, here is what my fluid looked like when I did my brakes.

edit 2: Also be forwarned of possible shipping delays from Founders, I ordered the 3-piece poly end (ball and cup design) control arms on 2-18-14 and at the end of the week I messaged them just after 5pm eastern on Friday, it took till tuesday for them to respond and explain they where waiting on a shipment of the polyurethane ball for the ends and that it should arrive later that day for shipping that afternoon or the day after, well that was LAST Tuesday and they finally just sent a shipping confirmation around 4:30 PM today, where as I ordered the Moog front (upper and lower) ball joints and control arm bushings from Rock Auto at 6:15 AM TODAY and had a shipping confirmation email at 3:45 PM, Now I can understand a product being backordered causing a delay (it's happened on tires I've ordered before) but in EVERY other circumstance I've been contacted via phone or email within 3 days to inform me of the issue and give me my options to wait, switch in something else or cancel the order.

soontobeLS1

so, I see your brake fluid...I just recently flushed mine and mighty vacc'd it...my original fluid was a dark green? Was yours that colour? I upgraded to DOT 4 and is now clean...brakes feel firm...I plan to upgrade my rotors and pads as well...not bigger, just better quality.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

yeah the camera doesn't catch it that well, when you hold it up to the light the old brake fluid is a dark green. I didn't do the vac thing because I've read they can introduce air bubbles (and I didn't wanna buy one), I just took a hose on the bleeder and fed it into the bottle and opened the bleeder and had a friend pump the brakes till clean fluid came out, then did the normal close bleeder, pump brakes, open and re-close bleeder and repeat at each wheel. but I started by sucking out all the old fluid in the master cylinder first and refilling it with fresh fluid.

@OP,

If I where you I think the adjustable lower control arms is a bit overkill for a mostly street car from what i've read on the subject, you could save a little by going with the ones I ordered (non-adjustable, 3 piece poly), you might could skip the sways for now till you get everything else on and decide whether you want things stiffer and possibly even the lower control arm relo brackets till you see where they sit, these are all things that won't require a new alignment, unlike front upper/lower ball joints and front upper/lower control arm bushings and front hubs.

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

ok I may hold off on sways then, gonna be ordering founders tonight as my bmr/konis will be here by monday. I will research more into upper and lower ball joints and bushings. trying to get suspension done soon, as I do need an alignment. thank you, this has been very enlightening. I learn more each day, and it gives me the confidence to do these things myself.

will be looking at those moog pieces then, by chance do you have part #s for the bushings and ball joints? or what pieces you recommended?

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

yeah,

Order these parts from Rock Auto:
Moog K6490 (order 2, 1 set for each side) Front lower control arm bushings
Moog K6689 (order 2, 1 set for each side) Front Upper control arm bushings
Moog K6145T (order 2, 1 for each side) Lower Ball Joints (these are greasable)
Moog K6462 (order 2, 1 for each side) Upper Ball Joints (these are greasable)

if you go on google you can find a 5% off Rock Auto code real easy and that would put these parts at $188.36 plus whatever shipping to you is (was 14 bucks for me)

Order these from Advance Auto ONLINE using promo codes

Moog 513090 (order 2, but do one per order so as to get the most discount possible), I just checked on promo codes, you can either do TRT41 to knock 40 bucks off each hub (doing 2 separate orders) or if you need something that costs $4.01-$10.00 bucks, add that item to the cart (so as to push the order over $125) and use promo code WD10 to knock $50 bucks off and still maintain free shipping if your local store doesn't have any in stock (it would be like saving the 40 bucks and getting an item between 4-10 bucks for FREE, like say on oil filter or something).

these codes knock the price per hub to around 80 bucks (plus tax)

steering rack (reman) from either place is A-1 Cardone 22-150, there within 2-5 bucks the same price AFTER core return (after the core return the LT1/v6 rack costs about 90 bucks), but the advance one can just be taken to your local store (even if it gets shipped to you), thats what I did, it comes with inner tie rod ends so you will need outer tie rods and again the Moog (problem solver, the greaseable ones) are ordered from rock auto and there part number is ES3238RL and they run about 30 a piece.

there are cheaper brands out there (you could cut most of these numbers in half if you went with them) but Moog is known for being the GO TO brand for this type of stuff, and the greasable ball joints will last the longest and in my opinion (based on reviews I've read on other brands) I wouldn't run anything else.

one last thing (LOL), you also want to inspect the Rag Joint on the steering coupler for play (it's located 6-10 inches above the highest point on the rack behind a piece of plastic), if you have slop in the steering wheel this is a possible cause and you'll want to replace it with the Unbalanced Engineering Rag Joint Eliminator (google it), it runs about 45 bucks shipped (this is the only part I have listed in this message that I haven't either installed or ordered for my car, but that is only because after inspection my rag joint is fine).

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

thanks a whole bunch sir! gonna trudge through my finances and justify some money to get those moog pieces. barring founders not being here by next weekend (fingers crossed) I think next weekend I will end up putting everything on. bmr, konis, founders suspension pieces, moog, and I may just get sways now while I have the money. should be a completely different ride!

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

I goofed, for some reason I thought your car was a 94, if your an LS1 then the steering rack is a different model number then I listed (you can't use the one I listed or your steering wheel will be all jacked up) and you don't have to worry about a Rag Joint, you won't have one. the A-1 Cardone part number for the LS1 rack is 22-185 and while it has a MUCH higher core charge on Rock Auto, it would be best to go with them because after the core charge it is MUCH cheaper then at Advance (even with the best coupon codes it's 65 bucks cheaper from Rock Auto after the core return).

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

Well I bit the bullet and ordered what should be plenty enough for my suspension build. I ordered moog ball joints and control arm bushings, rack and pinion, power steering pump, ac delco transmission mount, just placed an order for Strano sways, just spoke to founders and they will be shipping my adj LCAs, adj panhard, LCARB and STB. and just got my koni 4/3s and bmr springs in the mail today!

Rare96LT1Formula

iTrader: (32)

Sounds like you're all set!

Only thing I would've done differently was order a coilover kit for the rear. Either way though, you should notice a much more "refined" ride as opposed to the presumably stock 130K suspension.

I've recently gone through the same battle on my 117K mile WS6. Threw some 2 point tubular UMI SFC's, Founder's 3 piece LCA's, Founder's Adjustable PHB & Torque Arm, BMR Torque Arm Relocation Crossmember, Viking Coilovers, and all of the Moog items mentioned above (ball joints, tie rod ends, etc.) also energy suspension trans mount, sway bar end links, the list goes on and on. Bottom line though, I'm THRILLED with the ride quality - which at the end of the day is what it's all about. I wish more people here took suspension a little more seriously. Seems like there are more and more guys building their drivetrain before they even address the suspension, which in my opinion, is NOT a good idea with these cars!

Any future mods planned?

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

hey man, just a heads up, be sure and check the contents of the K6462 upper ball joint boxes, both of mine where missing the parts circled in red in the attached picture and I had to do a return on them.

Swoop Dogg

iTrader: (2)

RareLT: yeah pretty much all set, would love to do coilovers but the bmr/koni deal pretty much forced me to get as I was gonna go bilsteins for price. which seems comical now since I just bought all that new in the past 2 weeks
yeah seeing as its stock with the exception of a lid and c6 wheels (not a mod) I initially had the urge to go power but suspension was ultimately first. now that that's done, ill probably go full exhaust; lts for sure, no cats, and then its a toss up to go cut out and leave stock exhaust for stealth look or no cut out and nice cat back (which are expensive in its own right) then after that it will be a torque convertor (looking at yank ss 3600), throw in shift kit while im there. then lastly a DD cam. and should I have another 2 grand burning a whole in my pocket, then heads.

Daniel: good looking out. I have all my stuff shipped to my parents (way easier since I change addresses enough) so I will take a look tomorrow and check and let you know.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

thats what I do to, but for different reasons, I live in a gated community in the mountains, so I thought I would be nice to the driver and not force him to have to drive those roads (that I won't even drive if I can avoid it), the benefit is my parents bought a house less then a quarter mile (driveway to driveway) from my house that has direct access out of the gated community, so I use it as my way out and can just pick up the packages as I leave for work or stick them in the lower garage if they're to big since that is where all the tools I'll use to install them are.