THENASCAR

iTrader: (19)

an IRS was never meant for an fbody. if u want IRS get GTO

Black02LS1

iTrader: (5)

Lol...I wouldnt get a GTO. Ide get a Vette.

v7guy

iTrader: (1)

Strano offers a setup that is well adjusted to most peoples needs/wants. you might consider trying out one of his shock/spring/swaybar combos before trying out any other solutions.

unbalanced engineering offers a lowered panhard rod set up that will improve the predictability of the rear significantly. to run it at it's lower settings you need to upgrade shocks and springs as well. in the end this ends up being a bit more of a track direction. I DD the car for a few years in TX before retiring it to joyride status when I moved to the NYC area... your local roads make a huge difference in what is acceptable.

An IRS conversion is very involved and may be unnecessary for your needs.

DanO

Step 1: sell fbody
Step 2: buy corvette
Step 3: Enjoy all the money, hours, and agrivation saved

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Good advice I must admit, but why not keep the f-body as well for a future drag car. I love the way my f-body handles, don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty sure no matter how much $ I throw into its suspension, it still probably won't hang corners as well as a well set up C6 Vette. Sam Strano would probably disagree with that statement though, just look at what he has done with his moderately-powered Z-28.

Black02LS1

iTrader: (5)

Well thats another thing I was considering. But my Camaro is paid off and ide have to get a loan in order to sell my car (if anyone was buying) and then buy a Vette. Plus the C5 has a nicer interior IMO, but the C6 body is far superior.

Alvin

iTrader: (2)

Call for Jay at Zues Motorsports. He has done one on his own F-Body and it looks/drives great. I want to say he was trying to put a kit together for it but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Alvin

iTrader: (2)

Heres a picture of it.

Black02LS1

iTrader: (5)

Yea ive seen that one before. Its an LT1 correct? My real reason for asking about IRS is because i just really want to get my Camaro to handle. The things i have now arent cutting it, but it has been brought to my attention that somethings such as the huge rear swaybar have been detrimental to its handling.

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Strano's swaybars are hollow so while they are bigger, they are also lighter.

94zgreenmachine

iTrader: (2)

Do you do any type of autocross? Just trying to get a feel for why you need the car to handle better than it does? Are you taking the curves off the freeway at 100 MPH? What are the handling problems that you are having?

Black02LS1

iTrader: (5)

I dont do autoxing. All of my friends have great handling cars and Im just tired of being the stereotypical muscle car that only goes in straight lines. If i got my car to handle well, then i would be the best of BOTH worlds, and therefore...THE MASTER.

Awake455

Seems to me that you really really need to do those two things first. You may still want to go to an IRS eventually but you haven't done two of the most important things. They make a night to day, absolute zero to boiling lava difference if everything else is stable and matched.

I mean, even if you do go IRS you are still going to need good tires all around and good shocks up front. An IRS out back with crappy tires and DeCarbon shocks up front is still going to handle horrible.

FiredUpZ28

Well said.

FiredUpZ28

Well said. Although these cars can handle extremely well with the live rear axle.

Black02LS1

iTrader: (5)

Yea Ive changed my mind from the title. Ive learned a lot since i started it. Right now I have cheap tires and the factory struts with 74k miles. From what im learning, now all of the suspention work ive done has been benificial, such as my large rear sway bar.

van454

iTrader: (1)

Why is it that anytime someone asks about fitting IRS all they get is "stick with the beam, it's better for drag racing" or "buy a 'vette/GTO" I know that the standard setup is pretty good and it's a lot of hassle to fit IRS, but IRS IS better for road use, don't you guys modify your cars? I have an 88 GTA that I am planning a LSx for, should I just buy something that already has an LSx in it? I have been trying to research the C4 IRS swap, and these are the main responses that I see, how about we point out that it is a hard swap, then start talking about how we could go about it and what the main hurdles are, rather than just saying it's bad idea. That zues swap is very nice, there was some more pics of that one here somewhere. As for third-gen swaps, I haven't been able to find pics of one yet, but as someone said earlier it would be the same as forth-gen anyway. What are the track widths of C4 rear ends, I read somewhere that there are 2 different ones, the early ones are narrower I think

Awake455

Yeah, any thread like this is going to get the people that suggest just going with their solution. It is also going to get the suggestions, as it sounds like the op is pondering, to make sure everything is upgraded and matched as an interim step.

The ultimate test and final answer to an IRS vs a finely tuned solid axle 4th gen F body setup has not to my knowledge been shown. That would be having a known skilled & talented driver with a properly set up solid axle car at a road course with a pair of similarly set up F bodies, 1 with a solid axle setup and 1 with an IRS. Maybe a day of testing and tweaking for each to make sure the driver is confident in both. Then, on a different day, do 1 heat with each car.

Would be nice to have an unlimited budget to do such things.

Until this is done I can't help but pay attention to how well even the hpde guys are doing with a properly tuned solid axle.


Now on the C4 setups...all I really remember is the width of the ZR1 is greater. Don't know if that was in wider wheels with different backspacing or suspension. Another reason I try to avoid thoughts like a 4th gen F body IRS is I would be wanting to go full-bore insane and try a C5 or C6 torque tube/transmission/axle setup.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

This third gen has a Twin Turbo 305 and a C4 IRS, its owned by a guy named Jeremy in Illinois. I can see if I can get more pics and info.

lees02WS6

iTrader: (5)

Not surprisingly, the upgrade looks like the 4th gen formy, except the exhaust isn't quite as cool. Not sure this is the same third gen, but it has been done several times on third gens.




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