LS1TAUTO

iTrader: (1)

I'm ganna tell you guys my mods and some info about the car before I start....
98 trans am heads/cam,4K Yank SS STOCK REAR WITH 3.23 gears (on it's last leg)
only mods to suspension is torque arm relocation bracket PHR other wise bone stock with 180k on suspension bald tires getting replaced and got a rebuilt rear with 373s with qa1 coilovers sitting in my garage

just got done getting my car running and driving been doing this heads cam project for while. starting to drive it and it's all over the place,first off it doesn't hook for **** rides like **** and the cars rear is very sloppy makes weird noises from underneath and rear of the car.

my goal is to tighten the dam thing up a lot and give it a better ride what should i start replacing to get this thing nice and tight and also to get it to hook better got some heads to bust.....where would you guys start first. got a 400 500 dollar budget next few months.

Thanks

vikingramair

Sway bar bushings, check condition on all other bushings. Check condition on steering components. Before spending money on parts- identify which parts need to be replaced due to worn out.

justin455

Shocks, shocks, shocks, and more shocks.

bad_408_vert

iTrader: (6)

this & proer size and tread tires.

even after my suspension upgrades, I felt my car was sloppy but going from stock 16" wheels with 225 size tires to bigger / tire combo took away a lot of sloppiness.

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

My stock 275 ties felt great when the tread was high, the lower it got the worse the ride and "wandering" got.

Deguila

Following this thread. Damn near describes my situation to a T. LS1TAUTO, does yours roll along and all of a sudden pull for the ditches? Mine is scary as hell! Ive got used up 275/40/R17 all around, was thinking of going narrower in front. But now don't know. Sounds like I'm in for suspension/steering rebuild. Please post up anything you come up with. Thanks!

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

What's your front tire wear like, how much tread is left? There are so many bushings in front that can play into this. Worn tie rod ends can cause the car to feel sloppy also.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Mine's more of an extreme example but I can't stress enough the importance of tires/rims and how they contribute to the overall feel and handling of a car. I ride on KW coilovers on my car for both setups that I'm about to mention. On my car I went from 225/235 on 7.5"/8" rims respectively, these are my snow tires and rims setup. I then put on my summer set which is a 245/275 on 9.5"/10.5" rims respectively. Just from switching the tires and rims, that cured the car of a lot of unresponsiveness and having a weird disconnected feeling from the front and rear. Having a good tire mated with the right size rim, that will beat out any suspension mod by a long shot IMO

Deguila

Tires are toast. Were on car when I got it. Far as I know suspension/steering is original with 133K on the clock. Was looking at full Moogs kit before replacing tires. Just to me this thing is dangerous as is.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

do you have a rear sway bar on the car? Have you checked and made sure the torque arm is tight to the axle? Also have you checked the condition of the torque arm bushing and mount at the front? You should also take a look at your lower control arm bushings to see if they are worn out. Any of these can cause this condition

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

What is the point of stretching the tire to make it fit on that size wheel? Stock SS/WS6 size is 275 on a 9" wheel.
Well tires and suspension is your problem.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Handles and feels much more tight and responsiveness is near instant. Yes I know the SS/WS6 size came standard with a 275 tire on a 9"rim, but that doesn't mean it's ideal...

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

Have any testing to back it up or is that just seat of the pants feel?

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Most people who are into the handling bits of cars run about that rim to tire width ratio or whatever. The class I run in which is limited to a 285 tire, almost all the serious guys run an 11" wheel. I only do it for fun at the moment, and my tire/rim setup is what came with the car when I bought it, which I thought was goofy as well when I bought the car, but now love it with how it responds. Nothing wrong with a 275 on a 9" rim, but if you lessen that sidewall bulge down a bit with a wider rim, it does feel/respond different

JD_AMG

Maybe within class limitations or with 350z's for some reason, but the opposite holds true over here and everywhere else that ive seen.
It may be true that a smaller width tire on a wider wheel can give better responsiveness but that doesn't equate to better handling. Id be willing to bet if you did back to back runs with a proper fitting tire (275 on a 9" wheel) the wider tires will be quicker due to holding more speed through turns.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Maybe. But over the winter months I've been looking around places and archives, and came across a few build threads for certain classes and such. It's hard to argue with a car on those size tire/rim specs that's down about 60hp and 80 torque, and still beating C5 vettes out on a course. Even so all cars are limited to a maz of a 285 tire in that specific class. That's got to say something. If not I have more

gesto

OP, because of your budget, start with some new tires and jack your car up and make sure everything in the suspension system is tight and nothing is worn out.

JD_AMG

Its easy to argue as that really says nothing about whether or not the car would be faster with wider tires on the same wheel. You need to show me the same car with 2 sets of the same wheels, one with proper sizes and one with smaller sizes getting lap times and then we can go from there.

King Nothing

iTrader: (9)

Could also be shitty driver on the C5 part?? I used to hang on the asses of c5 z06's in corners and turns also . . . now when a good driver got behind the wheel of those cars it was a different story.

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

Tire Rack Scca Solo Nationals archives... Best drivers in the country. STU class where there are Evo's, Sti's, C5's, and Z's. Check for yourself if you want to see what car came in first from 2014-16. In 2013 the Z was classed in STR among S2k's and Miatas, not exactly a walk in the park to beat those machines, and still limited to a certain tire width across the cars. Check that year as well... Still not saying you're wrong and I'm right (albeit I'm being quite cocky about it ) But if the results don't speak for themselves, I don't know where to go from there.

As far as using the same tire width on different width rims, no I don't have a direct comparison between the two. I wish I did, it would be interesting to see. Honestly I don't think it will gain much, if any, time overall once you averaged it all out. I use the terms handling and responsiveness loosely, tending to overlap the two. I still think the overall responsiveness of using a larger rim certainly feels more direct and instant. As far as numbers and lap times, I truly don't know. Anyone want to do a test?

May have diverted this thread a bit, but to the OP: worn out tires are a good place to start with seeing how badly worn they are. From there you could check if anything is loose in the rear suspension because it is making noises