ls1chris

Well i daily drive the car all year round but i am getting to the track more and more these days.And my Stock 100k suspension is really starting to annoy me.It is riding like i have no suspension under the car Dead Solid Thuds when crossing rough patches or road ,Annoying T-top and dash squeaks.


Handling is not a real top priority to me.The car handles great to me but then again i dont plan on 100mph+ on curvy roads.Im more interested in a suspension that will benefit Me on the drag strip and just overall a happier ride quality.I honestly do not know which way to go on all the suspension parts.

I do not want to spend crazy amounts of money just looking for a nice gain at the track and to make me not want to curse every time i hit a Large bump in the road.After all this is my daily driver i do not need a Full out race suspension but it will be raced .My car is Cam,Bolt ons and soon to be heads go help give you a idea .

jsteele90

iTrader: (13)

sfcs will eliminate most of the annoying squeaks from your car. get some sfcs,lcas, and a adj panhard bar.

ls1chris

i had figured to get some Lower control arms and boxed subframe connectors.But what about Front shocks/Struts what ever you want to call them lol and rear shocks

jsteele90

iTrader: (13)

well if yours are bad i would replace them. but until then they will do just fine. if your serious into drag racing you could get some qa1s for the front

tomz28

iTrader: (20)

strange and afco make the best coil-overs for are cars but thats hardcore drag **** ^^^ whats up J

JD_AMG

I don't want to call you out, but thats not what I've (and others) have experienced. The cars with SFC's I've been in(one of which I've been in pre-SFC install) transmit more noise/vibration/harshness into the cabin.

Sounds very familiar... I had the same complaints as you when I was stock. I searched a lot and kept finding the same results, you need better shocks. Whether your stock ones are worn out or not is not really the case here, its the fact that their valving is ****. I went with koni shocks, and let me make it simple by saying I will never own another fbody without at least konis, they made that much of a difference, no more rattles and it rides awesome.

Problem is drag suspension and "good riding" suspension are usually polar opposites. Heres someone that went from QA1s to Konis:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/8344345-post26.html
Give Sam strano a call at stranoparts.com, explain what you want to him and he'll gladly help you.

cookba

iTrader: (10)

i daily drive my Camaro and have driven cross country 2X in it. I have Koni 4/4 Strano front and rear sway bars and springs. UMI 3 point bolt-in SFC (get weld on, the bolt-on's squeak and creak after a little while), Umi LCA rod/rod and relocation brackets(get a poly/rod or the on car adjustable poly/poly set, otherwise rod/rod is LOUD and rough), a UMI rod/rod panhard, UMI Torque Arm and relocation bracket. hahaha i think thats it. My car steers like a champ and takes the roads pretty damn well, except where im at now the roads are shitty and unkept and my rod/rod parts are bangin away.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

If you want to do SFC's, that's fine. They are not bad in any way, and can help with squeaks and rattles because you stiffen the car.

*BUT* you need to get some better shocks on there. Given what I see, probably a set of Bilstein's would suffice @ $425 a set. See, the trouble is folks look at the rattles and such as their own problem when they are caused by the poor damping.

Here's the deal. The way the post was written it sure seems the pounding has gotten worse with miles. Those miles make the shocks wear, when the shocks wear they do not do their job as well as they used to. The springs don't get stiffer, and the car isn't falling apart.... When you hit impacts the hit is not effectively damped out by the suspension and gets put into the unibody.

This is where the SFC's come in. Once the hit is in unibody, the SFC's and STB's do make the car quiver a bit less. But they don't stop that impact from getting to the body (which is still harder on it than if it was damped out).

The great SFC debate has raged for years. And what it boils down to is folks with cheap, worn, or improper shocks on the car see a big change from the SFC's. Folks with good properly valved shocks on the car before find the big change to come from the shocks, and when they go to SFC's don't notice nearly as big a change.

Stiffening the chassis does not make the shocks work any better. Better damping makes life easier on the chassis.

I sell SFC's, I sell shocks. I have no reason to recommend one over the other except for I like to recommend the part that will give you the most benefit all around. And shocks will settle the ride, make the car drive better, and make you not feel as if you are in a car with no suspension. Then you can see how the car drives, and pick parts from there--including SFC's.

And you can see by JD_AMG's post that the shocks transformed his car. You don't need Koni's unless you want the best shock period. You need good composed shocks that aren't built like crap and will last and control the car well if not kick-*** great for a lot of years. That's the Bilstien's. I have them, and fwiw, most other brands. In fact I have more brands of shocks than pretty much anyone else carries, so you have options and know that I make recommendations based on what works best for the customer, not what I can sell you.

And again, I sell SFC's. UMI and SLP being the two most popular, but I carry a few others though they are not on my website (because I think the UMI's and SLP's are the best).

twitchtwice

iTrader: (12)

Im going to have to agree, after i put sfcs in i got a weird squeak in my drivers side rear wheel well. it stiffens the car=more possibility of squeaks.


but like sam said, you need shocks because your a high mile car.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

Just talk to Sam. He knows his stuff, and supports it after the sale. Great guy to deal with, IMHO.

Adam1982

iTrader: (6)

gotta give another +1 to Sam. Always willing to help and answer questions.

ls1chris

yes the shocks are the first thing to do on my list.Then i plan on stiffening up the chassis when i add more power.One last question how will the Bilstein's perform at the track.I would assume they would be fine and 10x better than my current ones.


But thanks Sam for your Quick and Honest opinion,It means a lot .i Look forward to ordering from you soon

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Chris, it's no problem. In this day of big companies and such, being a little guy I have to do the best job I can to be competitive. And in the end with quantity discounts that bigger shops get I have to work harder and dole out the best advice to make a living.

I won't always be the least expensive place around, but I'm never the most expensive, and I work at offering the most competitive pricing I can, and feel that it's important for me to make sure I give the most honest input I can (even when the answer isn't popular and could even cost me a sale). Happy customers are great for business, and I can't buy the kind of advertising that happy customers give me by recommending me to others. I appreciate them taking the time to do so.

As for the shocks and how they work on the track (and I assume that means the drag strip): They'll work fine. Not super firm, and you'll get a little better weight transfer from the rear, but a little less from the front. In the end they'll leave a lot like stock shocks do, but the car will be much more stable @ speed.