YouTuber Gives Camaro ZL1 1LE Thick Rear Trailing Arm Upgrades
Second phase shows the difference between the lightweight stock units on the Camaro and the stronger aftermarket versions.
Until the C8 Corvette arrives in the showroom, the Camaro ZL1 is the current torchbearer for Chevy-flavored high performance. The centerpiece of this special machine is its supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 — the same used in the C7-era Corvette Z06 — sending 650 horses and 650 lb-ft of torque to the rears through either a six-speed manual or 10-speed automatic.
The 1LE package takes an already extreme machine to its absolute limit, adding track-ready cooling, hardcore aero, and adjustable suspension components to get the most out of the ZL1. For Doris (host of the YouTube channel Woman.Driven), that’s still not enough. Thus, she’s opted to upgrade her “ZLE,” continuing with the rear upper and lower trailing arms arms.
“Today, we continue with the suspension upgrades for the Camaro ‘ZLE,'” Doris said. “Previously, I already installed the upper control arms in the rears. Today, we’re continuing with installing the upper and lower trailing arms.”
Doris adds that she’s upgrading her Camaro’s suspension to improve the feel of the car while it takes “slower and tighter turns,” as it doesn’t “feel as flat and as planted as it should be” to her. Thus, the thick, red aftermarket units she ordered from BMR to replace the stock trailing arms.
“Now that the wheel is off, I wanted to show you what the upper and lower trailing arms look on the car,” said Doris. “This is the upper trailing arm, and this is the lower trailing arm. You can already tell without even having to remove them that these are a huge difference compared to the BMR ones. These are just a thin piece of steel. They have holes on them. I’m thinking that they made them this way just to shed some weight on the car, but in turn, this can cause some possible bending under stress, and some deflection.”
The other issue for Doris with the stock trailing arms is their use of rubber bushings; the aftermarket units use spherical bushings. According to On All Cylinders, the rubber units are good for keeping things quiet, while spherical bushings are perfect for getting the most out of the twist a given engine delivers. As her goal is to turn her ‘ZLE’ into a better track performer, spherical is the only way to go.
“The upper and lower trailing arms are now installed,” said Doris. “I just wanna show you how they look once they’re on, so this is it. I already tightened them and torqued them to 81 foot-pounds. These are just gonna help eliminating wheel hop, any deflection, and it’s just gonna make the car feel way better around tight corners, and just all around flatter. I really do like how they look; I’d say that they look better than OEM.”
The installation process is then repeated on the other side of her Camaro, which Doris says is easy enough for anyone to do with the right tools. The next upgrades include adjustable tie rods, as well as adjustable end links front and rear. Afterwards, the whole suspension will be aligned, followed by a few laps around the nearest track. We look forward to seeing the final result of the upgrade.
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