Lizard King

I bought this thing back in '08 and always wanted to lower it but never had the funds to do it properly.

I started buying parts for a complete suspension overhaul more than two years ago and actually finished installing everything about a year ago. So far, there are about 4k miles on this setup and I love it. It's not the same car AT ALL. "On rails"... I finally figured out what that really means. Holy ****.

What surprised me though was how the interior rattles pretty much stopped. I guess that's Koni for ya.

I kept all the stock parts and I might paint them and freshen up with new bushings and ball joints and such to have as a backup, you know if I get old suddenly and don't feel like driving a lowered car with long tubes anymore. I don't see that happening anytime soon though.

Parts list:
Koni 4/4's
Strano 1.2" lowering springs
BMR 1" lowering a-arms
UMI 35/22mm sway bars
UMI on-car adj. panhard bar
UMI lower control arms
UMI upper control arms
UMI bolt-in relocation brackets
BlaineFab reinforced front sway bar brackets
BlaineFab custom rear sway bar brackets
OEM GM shock mounts
Moog coil spring insulators
Timken axle bearing and hub assemblies
Energy Suspension poly bushings
Moog inner/outer tie rods
Hose mod
Alignment

I also have a UMI full-lenght adj. torque arm with the UMI tranny relocation kit waiting to be installed. Soon.








Damn STi Killer making me buy lowering a-arms.






























Before I tightened everything obviously.





Some pics of the car with everything settled. I'm super happy with the stance.

fasteddy

That came out really, really nice.
The front looks kinda low but it looks really good!

What size wheels/tires are those?

Lizard King

Thanks! Yeah, the front is low but it's easy to raise it up a little with spacers if I want to.

18x9.5 front 275/35/18
18x10.5 rear 315/30/18

BizZzatch350

iTrader: (33)

That's an awesome looking Z28.

scj

iTrader: (89)

That's one way to do suspension. All at once. It looks great! Are people really having issues with the stock sway bar mounts collapsing with stiffer/ bigger front bars? I saw those blain fab ones, but really didn't think they were nessesary. Hmm. I think the rear needs to go down a tad to even out the drop, but it still looks good as is.

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

yeah I noticed those new sway bar brackets too. That is cool, one of mine needed to get re-tapped because apparently one of the bolts was cross threaded (i never took them off). Will def look into those later. Car looks amazing!

Zlow28

iTrader: (11)

Looks real good OP. I just installed the same timken wheel hubs on my car. Stock ones where a PITA to hammer out.

Evaporate

iTrader: (22)

Great pics, sweet car, awesome parts, I'm jealous, keep us updated!

Mike6802Hawks

Looks like a very nice setup man, now it gives me a very good idea of what mine will look like once I tackle to suspension...hopefully soon and not a long time from now! Can't wait to lower mine, and I'll be doing it all at the same time just like you did!

Latch

iTrader: (8)

Damn that car looks mean. Well done.

camarokid91

I should really give Alan a call about the brackets. Lol I have been looking at them for some time now.

UMI Performance

iTrader: (77)

Looking awesome! Thanks for sharing.

I am going to add a few of these pictures to our FB page so if you want to check it out it will be at www.facebook.com/umiperformance

Lizard King

Thanks guys! UMI, no problem. I was really happy with your products and customer service and even put a little UMI sticker on the windshield.

When I was doing research here I definitely noticed people having some issues with the stock brackets either breaking or bending. I guess they are pretty weak since one front bracket was far from being straight when I took it off with only 60k miles on the car. Both brackets were kinda bent actually. The rear brackets I bought were designed by Alan for lowered cars so the sway bar is less likely to hit aftermarket girdle covers like I have on mine.

About the rake, I don't mind it actually but it somehow isn't noticeable in person at all. Some of the pictures were taken with a zoom and maybe that makes the gap look different from picture to picture? I don't know lol.



The rear fits about a finger and a half and the front... umm, yeah.



Mine too. I completely destroyed mine hammering them out. Nothing compares to the vertical bolt stuck in the a-arm bushing though, jesus.

Guitar

iTrader: (9)

Love the rake, front looks great. I was wondering about upgrading my hubs too, did you just use stock spindles and redo them? Car looks good. Are the front swaybar mounts worth it you think?

Lizard King

Yeah, I just cleaned them and then hit them with some satin black Rustoleum in a spray can. Same goes for the shock assembly support brackets (or whatever they're called). Turned out pretty good I think and it's still looking good.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

It's awesome that you recognized how to do it properly, and not skipping steps/half-assing it. The end result is obviously worth it. Lookin' great! :thumbsup:

Also, could you PM me the part# on the new wheel hubs that you used? Thanks

Lizard King

Missed this one. Maybe I don't push the car hard enough in turns to risk breaking the mounts, but it gives me a piece of mind having them since I live in Iceland and breaking something usually means at least two weeks of waiting for a replacement part. Damn international shipping. They're also powder coated and shiny.

I've seen the part number posted on here plenty of times so I think it's safe to just post it. It's #513090. PM sent though.

I don't regret choosing suspension over a healthy H/C build. In hindsight, the car was downright dangerous before on bad roads. You could call it an awful combination of old DeCarbons, bad bushings and 275/315 tires. Now I barely have to touch the steering wheel going down the road. No bump steer either.

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

If I went through all that I woulda swapped LS1 spindles/brakes as well

Lizard King

You know, I thought about it hard. The rotors were practically brand new with Hawk HPS pads and fresh fluid along with a new master cylinder so I decided that it would do for the time being. Not saying I won't upgrade the brakes later, because I will, but it stops fine believe it or not.

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

haha damn. I just did mine and what a difference it made