badz2801

Hey everyone.

I am looking to lower my car and improve it's handling. I know very little about suspension therefore im all ears to the experts.

The following is what I would like:

1- 1, 1/2 drop 17x9.5 wheels.
car is used most on the street. Driven on the track maybe 5 times a year.
I would like something that is not too extreme.
It needs to be adjustable yet handle better on the street.
Ability to change the suspension without buying two setups.
Overall I want something that will work well for the street and less focused on the drag strip. Basically an adjustable auto cross type setup yet it can still be used for drag racing, im growing a little tired of straight line performance.

My thoughts:

HAL Q1 all the way around with LG springs.

Thanks for your help.

Guardsman

I would say you could do one of two things:

Option 1) Buy the 1LE kit from SLP. It has the new front and rear control arms with the harder rubber bushings, Koni Double adjustable shocks, sway bars, etc. It's made for autcross, and, of course, the Konis are adjustable . Only thing, if you go that route, you made need an SS VIN (not sure), and make sure that they get you the right springs, I heard of some people having problems with that from SLP.

Option 2) Go to Sam Strano, he also sells Koni Double Adjustables (and I think he also sells HALs), he sells all kinds of other suspension parts, and he autocrosses professionally, so he can get you in with exactly what you need in one shot.

Hope that helps.

roy

when you say track , what do you mean?

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Ahh, the "best of all both worlds" setup.

I'm going to recommend you pay close attention to your shock/spring matchup first off. HAL's will not handle G2 spring rates. HAL's are pretty much drag shocks, and won't handle much spring rate at all, since that's not exactly a drag race setup. Yes, they are adjustable but not the extent or with the precision of a Koni. Koni's would damp those springs FWIW.

Here's what I'm going to recommend: That is to not go with any lowering spring at all. A taller, softer spring is the best one for straight line grip, and the one that will ride the best too. If you want to lower the car, I'd install the Pro-kits as they are some of the softest rears you're going to find and they'll lower the car about that 1.5"... But I'd say stick with stock springs. We'll use the Koni SA's and their ability to lower the front about 3/4" with stock springs. You get the shock damping adjustment, which is what a stock 4th gen really needs... better shock damping. BTW premium shocks actually make the car ride better than the stock DeCarbon's do, particularly in the rear. You could make them so stiff the car might be harsh since the Koni's can damp more than twice a stock spring rate, or you can turn them waaaayyyy down to facilitate weight transfer at the strip. Most of all, you can adjust them to your liking, and the whole range is useful unlike say the KYB AGX that is too soft at one end, and pretty ridiculously stiff at the other. If you want to lessen the roll, we'll put on bigger swaybars. That'll give you more spring rate in corners with very little change in ride quality, unlike springs. MHO

badz2801

Thanks for all of your replies

roy: When I say track I mean drag strip.

Sam Strano: Thanks for your advice. I know the f-body is better suited for straight line performance and it will never compete with the corvette unless it is extensively modified. With that in mind.

I really would like to improve the handling of my car on the street. I want to take a corner and still feel like I am going to stay on the road. I want to retain some degree of a drag suspension so I can still win the occasional race. I am not concerned with ride quality. My car is my weekend toy I drive a dodge Durango as my daily driver. With that in mind will your setup still yield the best possible results? I want something I can adjust so I can have good turning on the street but then change the settings and be ready for the drag strip. I know that you cant have them both...but somewhere in the middle is what I am looking for.

Additionally I see what your saying about the G2's and HAL's. I think I still want to lower the car just a bit. It looks like 4x4 like with my TTII's on there. I don't want to have issues with scraping all over the place thus I am trying stay within the 1 inch margin.

I also intend to install a k-member and lower/upper BMR A arms. I just finished installing the Bear brake kit.

Badz2801

Neo7600

The BMR front lower control arms will lower the front suspension at least 1.5 to 2 inches by themselves. Also, the ball joint cup is made so large that it may cause interference issues with your brake kit, and possibly the wheel itself. They are really only for track-only drag race cars set up with front skinnies and stock brakes. I've seen quite a few cars with these issues using BMR front lowers. I have my car set up for road courses, and I use the BMR adjustable upper control arms with LGM front lowers. The LGM is adjustable at both mounts and is dimensionally similar to a stock arm. I also use the BMR k-member, rear double adjustable control arms with relocation brackets, double adjustable panhard rod. As for a spring/shock combo, I would definitely go with the Koni shocks and Eibach springs for spirited street driving. There are better drag-only shocks and road-course only shocks, but the adjustable Konis are a good compromise between the two, espicially if you want to try both types of racing. To really stay planted in corners, upgrade the sway bars. Hotchkiss bars are good, but very expensive. BMR makes a good set, as does LGM. If you want overkill sizes, go with Suspension techniques (35F/25R solid bars). A good set of subframe connectors will help, too. Also, try changing your torque arm to a Global West Trac-Link. I've seen guys pick up 3/10s at the strip just by installing the arm. But the beauty of the Trac-Link is that it's designed primarily for road racing, to increase sidebite during corner exit acceleration, to increase corner exit speed. The best of both worlds. And while you're at it, you can install a bump-steer tie rod kit from Baer Racing. It reduces bump steer (toe changes during supension compression/rebound, causing tracking instability, most noticeable during bumps during cornering, hence the name) by allowing you to move the outer tie rod mount up or down in relation to the knuckle. The object is to match the arc of the tie rod with the arc of the spindle during suspension movement, reducing or eliminating any steering effect. Just set the tie rod parallel to the lower control arm. Good Luck!

Scoobie

iTrader: (8)

I just installed Koni adjustable shocks at Sams recommendation. I have the dual adjustable shocks in the back and the Single adjustables in the front. Only reason i have the duals in the back is because my car already had them. (Long story) I installed them at the same time i put up my BMR sub frame connectors. I am running a set of 1LE springs. I want to drag race now and then and primarily daily drive so i didnt want too stiff of a spring. Sam convinced me, although he prefered a stock Z28 rear spring i believe. I used the lower spring perch on the front and removed the spring isolators on the back. I placed some Heater hose around the top 1 and 1/2 coils in replace of the rubber isolators.

The difference in handling is very noticeable. Cornering is much improved, the car feels 100 percent tighter. But, more noticeable is just cruising. Im not getting beat up in the car anymore. It takes bumps and dips so much better. Driving on the highway is much nicer as the cracks in the pavement dont affect me hardly as much anymore. Its hard to explain, but i honestly love my car more now. It feels more like my Buddies M3 with much less float. I Still have stock sway bars on the car, which means i have quite a bit of roll with the much stiffer shocks. I currenty have the fronts set at 4 sweeps back from full stiff, and the rears 1 sweep up from full soft, 1 click up. Since i didnt do stiffer springs, i just tonight ordered the 35mm front bar from Sam, and a shock tower brace from another vendor. ( wanted one in hugger orange ) This should according to the guys here who know a lot more then me reduce the ammount of body roll im experiencing. With the shocks, a lane change is very easy, but when quickly countering the slight shift, the car wags a bit. I hope that this sway bar fixes that.

It was hard for me to notice much visually that my car was lowered until i measured it. I dropped 5/8" in the front and 1/2" in the rear. Didnt seem like much, but i used to never scrape coming on to my driveway. Now i have to cut the wheel a little to avoid scraping the front air dam. Therefore, i know it did lower. I hope this helps answer some of your questions, as well as mine.

Thanks again to Sam, Mitch and Trackbird for sharing there knowledge here. listen to them, they will tell you right.

z2802sunsetls1

well i have g2 lowering springs so my car is a street and 1/4 mile car so what shocks will work with g2s?