RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

That was one of the reasons I pulled mine and went to stock w/Moog. One of my fittings wouldn't take grease, so I was sure that was the source of my squeak. Turned out I was wrong about the squeak. The poly bushings were not deformed as I had expected, either. I still get dimples after my SFC install. I just get them PDR'd out every couple of years. What I did not get again was the 9" crease in the right quarter from dead hooking without them.

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

I made a thread about it not long ago, some good info in it.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-sfcs-out.html

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

FYI, your tires have more effect on how your car rides than a set of SFC do.
Keep in mind that the tires you use, the amount of air pressure in them, and bigger/heavier wheels will effect your ride quality. I would recommend swapping wheels/tire with a friend with a F-body for about a hour if possible, that could help you find out if your rolling stock is part of the issue. I would still get those LCAs with the poly bushing off the car. There bad enough in warmer weather, but a lot worse in cold weather.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

Rather than bump your thread I will post in this one. I saw someone said SFC will prevent 1/4 wrinkles...that's not true. Mine wrinkled with SFC. I won't get rid of them though. My car was night and day different. I wish it was tighter because even with all the suspension mods on it my mom's 350z or my sister's miata still smokes it in the turns.

calgary_z28

[QUOTE=RevGTO;18144573]That was one of the reasons I pulled mine and went to stock w/Moog. One of my fittings wouldn't take grease, so I was sure that was the source of my squeak. Turned out I was wrong about the squeak. The poly bushings were not deformed as I had expected, either. I still get dimples after my SFC install. I just get them PDR'd out every couple of years. What I did not get again was the 9" crease in the right quarter from dead hooking without them.[/QUOTE

Well that's good food for thought. I don't recall hating the ride quality so much with the SFCS. It seems that it went downhill after doing the poly/poly lca's. Honestly , my car is a daily driver and a little dent isn't a big deal to me.

calgary_z28

Thanks, I saw your thread earlier. An update: I took the poly/poly rear lca's out and swapped in the stock lca's with rubber bushings. Tough to say how much better the ride is now as the roads are below freezing. Plus I had a trunk full of tools banging around on the ride home! But, initial thoughts are that I'm not longer feeling my rear suspension stiffening up over bumps as harshly. I'm cautiously optimistic

calgary_z28

For sure. 35 series 18" C5 wheels are never going to be the smoothest on a solid axle. Same goes for summer tires at close to zero temps. Poly LCA's are now off..I'll do another update when we get some non-eskimo weather again.

calgary_z28

Yeah..the SFC's are staying put for now. I don't think that they are causing as many issues with the suspension as those lca's were. SFC's don't articulate, so I don't think that they can cause much of an issue with ride quality. Well at least compared to the poly lca's binding and essentially locking up the rear suspension.

Plus, they are great jacking points.

Tbird232ci

iTrader: (4)

I put a set of Founders poly/swivel joint control arms on my car a while back. Honestly, there was no decrease in ride quality. I did the control arms, poly/rod end PHB, Konis and BMR's on a 200K mile car and the Konis not being adjusted right made the ride worse than the control arms and PHB.

http://www.foundersperformance.com/p...mbination.html

Those were the ones I used, and they were worth it.

calgary_z28

I wish I had done more research before I bought the poly/poly lca's. Those Founders poly/swivel seem like they would offer the best of both worlds. I'd believe that you wouldn't notice a decrease in ride quality due to the swivel joint which would prevent the arm from binding.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Impact harshness increased exponentially when I replace my front Bilsteins with Konis on the lower perch. Adjusting them to three sweeps from full soft helped, along with them wearing in over time.

I will emphasize again what a difference warm weather and tires make. I was getting really frustrated with my ride this winter; yesterday it was in the 80's and it rode great. Soft sidewall (and plenty of it - 245/50 & 255/50) makes a big difference compared to "rubber band" 35 series tires. They're not much for handling, but it's 95% straight lines in Wichita KS - I'd guess Calgary is the same.

calgary_z28

Yeah, down the road I'd like to get some wider 15-17" max wheels front & back. The stock 16's just look boring to me which is why I use them to run winter tires. More sidewall would certainly help though with comfort. Cutting down on unsprung weight would also be nice..as well as the reduced cost/greater selection of tires for a smaller diameter.

calgary_z28

Anyone have any tips for torquing the rear lca's? I have a 1/2 torque wrench but the clearances really suck on the nut side of the lca bolts. I'm thinking I'll pick up a shallow 1/2 19 mm socket with a 3 inch extension but I'm not sure if that will work. I ended up having to use a 3/4 ratchet with a 19 mm wrench on the nut side. Hardly ideal as I'm sure that I didn't get them close to the suggested 90-100 ft lbs as recommended by UMI with the lca's sandwiched between the UMI 2 point bolt in SFC's.

My suspension feels a little smoother, but I'm still getting a very loud bang/clunk from the rear end when I hit a bump in the road or go over a speed bump no matter how slowly I creep over it. I have 6 month old SLP Bilstein's on stock springs. I've tightened the rear shock top hats, bump stops look like they are in good shape, I've checked my end links, pan hard bar, torque arm. I think it has to be insufficient torque on these lca bolts, particularly the rear bolts that connect to the SFC's.

Thanks for any advice!

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

What bolts are you using? OEM or aftermarket ones provided by UMI/etc? Reason why I ask is I could torque the OEM bolt to the ~80 ft lbs. The aftermarket bolts started stripping the threads well before 80 ft lbs. I had to do about 50-60 ft lbs. 90-100 ft lbs seems way too much in my opinion.

Anyone else want to chime in?

calgary_z28

I'm using the stock bolts.

I read a thread here earlier where UMI stated that if you are running SFCs with the lcas you have to bump up the torque to 90-100 ft lbs due to the extra metal tabs that the lca bolts need to go through.

I really would like to know what extension or socket type etc you guys had to use in order to use a torque wrench rather than a regular rachet due to the tight clearances on the nut side of the bolt.

libertyforall1776

iTrader: (2)

Yes, OEM LCAs & Moog 1LE bushings... I would never want poly LCAs, my fbodies are for DD too! SFCs really did not add much harshness, IMHO.

Stiffer - YES, which was the point of adding them, and they especially help the car track better in turns in convertibles! I also noticed better hooking.

calgary_z28

My SFC's are coming off on Saturday. Putting the stock rear lca's back in helped a bit but there is a lot of room for improvement with regards to ride quality. It's surprising how polarizing this topic is (SFC's affect on ride quality.) Only one way for me to find out for myself.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Well, keep us posted and let us know your impressions once they're off. With my soft tires and warmer weather, my car has been riding decently lately. I'm not ready to give up my jacking ease yet ...

mak23

I've had UMI lca's, phr, and stb on my 98 T/A for about a year and a half now and love the handling difference. As far asthe ride, it could be a little easier . But I also have a beater vehicle (92 Silverado) that I consider more of a daily. I also came to terms with the fact, shortly after buying my car, that its a sports car and not a Buick regal with wood grain. I just put sfc's on tonight and will get to test them out tomorrow so I can't comment on them yet.

tigearl12

iTrader: (1)

Well im going with bmr lca's with poly / rubber and poly/poly panhard on my ws6 430 rwhp heard nothing but good from this set up better hook up and good ride as well . Bmr makes rubber bushing kits that go into there lca's .putting in this weekend will let u know