need new suspension but im not spending alot all at once, i am lowering the car but not sure if i should spend the extra cash on a good tight front-end an heater hose mod the rear. im thinking coilovers on the front, heater hose the rear. iv already got the adjustable PHB, chromoly spohn sway bars, BMR STB. im getting SFC probly this week. not sure if i want the 2 point or 3 point. ill be getting the springs from sam strano an probly koni for shocks. im looking to improve the handling in corners an planting the power from a roll. i just wanna know if doing the front now an rear later would be a good idea or do a mediocre full suspension upgrade all at once.

give me some feed back on ride quality, "launchablity" (with the heater hose mod), handling in hard corners, ect ect.

 

Torque arm, lca, then k member. I would buy 3 points and get a dsl...

 

You said you didn't want to spend a lot of money. Konis are 900+ bucks for a set of four. To me that is a lot ha ha. I would go with 2 point SFC the 3 point is a little overkill imo. As far as launching a good set of LCA relocation brackets will help with wheel hop issues. It's kind of hard to get a good drag set up that corners nice. It's a trade off really. You either have a good cornering set up or a good drag set up. Getting the best of both is a little tough.

 

Yes lol i forgot konis are like 900 or more.

 

Sam can answer all those questions. I say SFC's and STB's are a waste on a 4th gen. Tires, shocks, sway bars and springs. Stock torque arm is fine. For handling you want your rear LCA's to be parallel to the ground, or slightly higher on the axle side; if you point them down at the axle side to help with straight line traction then you're causing roll oversteer in corners.

If you're going to do it right, don't rush it; doing things one at a time will also give you a better idea how each component changes the feel of the vehicle. If you find something you don't like later then you know what parts impact that feeling.

 

How are sfc's a waste? I dented my quarter from gunning it. Not anymore trouble since sfc

 

I know konis are expensive but thats why im asking if I should start with the front, back, or whole thing. I figured a good set of adj coilovers up front for now wiyh heathose mod in rear would give me a good stance an turn/handle like I want. Ill be getting the lca relo brackets for sure but I elliminated my wheel hop with just a poly trans mount.

 

if you want the car to handle why not go with the best?strano springs,koni shocks,strano sway bars and be done with it!

 

no no no.
He said he wants handling, none of that stuff will help.
You need shocks, shocks, shocks.


You sure the quarter panel wasn't dented from something else?
There have been numerous people on here that have SFCs welded in but still get quarter panel dents.
I personally have bolt in 3 point SFC's that are welded and couldn't tell a bit of difference. Konis on the other hand were night and day, making the car 1000 times more solid.

Why spend money ore than once? Why not just buy konis all around and run your stock springs for a while?

 

Koni's are amazing, but obviously very expensive. Everyone running Bilsteins are super happy with them, they will be a night and day improvement over stock shocks and will greatly improve handling. Ride quality is awesome too.. they are stiff but also comfortable as long as your not going over potholes and horrible streets. You can't go wrong either way... if you can afford Koni's then do it, they are the best.

Subframe connectors definitely aren't a waste, these cars need them. They keep the car planted and flat in both handling and lanching.. from my personal experience. My car twisted nasty when I would try and lauch before I had sfc's..

Strut tower bars are widely debated, don't get one expecting a big handling difference. It definitely can't hurt though, and they're good if you do hard handling and launching, anything that cause flex.

The biggest things you can do to improve handling are just a good set of rims and tires, front and rear sway bars, and a good set of shocks and springs. Freshening up your front end is a good idea, I'm about to do mine. Worn bushings and steering components will cause a lot of slop.

The heater hose mod won't do much to increase handling, it's more for looks. Strano springs will be a great improvement. BMR's are also very similar and I love mine. They lower a bit more than Strano's depending on what you want.

All the other parts available are more traction oriented, but will also affect handling in one way or another. My lca's made the rear a lot more solid and planted. The panhard was the same too, especially when you're cornering over bumps. The *** end wants to hop out and the panhard helped with that. My torque arm helped with launching and twist, and made the car feel a little more solid. Every piece I did even if it was just for launching/traction made the car feel more solid. All the stock stuff is just so thin and crappy...

 

yes i know it was from that. I washed then waxed my can and took pictures of it from every angle. There was no dent. I would have noticed because it was a crease and was big. All i did was go on the highway went 0-130 then 0-90 then went home. Never parked the car. I heard a big pop bang but found out it was my lca arm it was making a poping noise for some reason from a dig. Got home put it in the garage closed the door and yelled what the ****! Then had to go get it fixed.

 

Wat I ment was, should I invest $800 in a good front setup an wait a few months to do the rear or do JUST springs an shocks all around? $800 is my limit for now which is why im asking the car need lowering because it is to lose in the corners. Besides it looks like a monster truck lol

 

great info from everybody!like I said iv got the sway bars an STB, Adj PHB, an ill be getting the SFC soon, mostly interested in the shock/spring/k-member/upper/lower control arm situation. I really want the most for my money and I dont mind building the suspension in sections IE front/rear

 

Don't take this the wrong way, it's not meant to be disrespectful, but it seems like you're all over the place. What is your priority for this car? Ride, handling, straight line performanace, looks?

You may be spending money in the wrong places. SFC's maybe totally unnecessary and waste valuable funds that could be put to something that achieves whatever it is you're after.

 

Why are you interested in a Kmember and front upper and lower control arms? Those are some super expensive parts that aren't necessary for what you're trying to achieve...

 

If it was me I would do shocks all around, if thats too much just do the front shocks. I ran front konis for awhile and the car was way better just with the front. I have strano springs to go in.

My setup
koni da up front, id get the sa, these have beeen a pain with leaking i got them used though. I have had to have them rebuilt. 400 after rebuild
Koni Sa rear these were liek 350 after shipping and customs....
strano springs (not on car yet) 275
bmr panhard rod DA (I like it definetly felt a diffrence with it) 80
Spohn torque arm (really liked this, feels way more planted all the time, especially going over bumpbs at speed) 150
lca arms (poly/rod) included in the 150 above
32 mm front sway bar - $25

i bought almost everything used to save some cash, the koni da havent worked out all that well, should of just bought the sa but customs sucks.
overall best mod for the car was the shocks. Night and Day difference.
If i were to rate it for you.
1. Shocks
2.Probably will be springs but not installed yet, thats for the spring
3. Torque arm
4. LCA
5 Panhard Rod


Ive done this on a budget, as Im still in school. I cant wait to get my springs installed, to get rid of the 4x4 look.

 

Because he most likely bought into the marketing hype of the companies selling aftermarket suspension components. Buy a K-member! Buy new A-arms! Buy a strut tower brace! And so on and so forth. I have a friend who has this same mentality with his Camaro, he wants to buy all new tubular parts with polyurethane bushings even though his stock parts are just fine.

 

Yeah... everyone sees shiny red parts with cool red bushings and they're sold lol. Not saying this is what the OP is thinking, but dude, you don't need a K member or front control arms at all. Overkill.

Stick with the things everyone has mentioned and you'll be very happy. The stock front end on these cars really doesn't need any messing around with. Keep it in good shape with new OEM replacement parts and you are good to go. Poly bushings is as far as I would go on the front control arms, that's where all the flex and stress is anyway. I'm thinking of getting some for my car, but I'm trying to find evidence as to whether or not they make that big of a difference or not over rubber bushings in there.

 

Im no sucker for the aftermarket shiny stuff. I was just trying to say if thats wat it took id concider it an option. Im smart with my decision, so far iv learned that koni hands down is the way to go an lca's are on the top of most peoples list. Im goning to call strano but I wanted a few mixed opinion from people who drive their car dailh an dont have a warehouse full of stuff at their disposal.

My goal is not to drag race the car, its my DD and im looking for more of an autocross suspention but at the same time still be able to hook better than stock off the whole if needed.

All the feedback is helpful an much apretiated. The tubular stuff is nice but as stated before, no necessary on a DD.

 

My poly bushings in the sway bars an PHB sqeak like crazy an iv heard synthetic grease will stop this. Have u ever heard that?