I recently purchased a 2000 camaro z28. I'm on a pretty tight budget. I want to start with some suspension/chassis mods to hopefully make the car handle a bit better. I'm between getting sub frame connectors or some koni STR.Ts. Some people say SFCs are the way to go and are the first mod you should do and others say the chassis are plenty stiff already and that you should just get some shocks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Subframe connectors are cheaper and will tighten up the suspension. I've had them on 2 f-bodies and I recommend it.
shocks will give you a better ride quality but cost more.

 

Do the sfc first. Then save up some cash for a few months, and do shocks/ a set ove strano springs at same time. A few months later do strano sway bars, gotta make a plan when on a budget. I've been there, it'll not Evan feel like the same car when done.

 

Really it’s about how patient you are with mods, also buying used helps if good condition parts.

2 point bolt in SFCs are cheaper than 3 point etc.
I have BMR ones but there’s other brands as well like founders.
Tax season there’s also packages that you can take advantage of if you want to save up til then.

I’d say shocks honestly unless your car has 5k miles but even then they are old and weren’t great.

 

SHOCKS. They are the #1 way to improve handling. SFC are something you will want later but you honestly might not even feel them. Shocks will DEFINITELY improve handling right away. Even with stock springs. I did it that way... stock springs, Koni shocks (and also 36mm front bar). I could take corners a lot more confidently. It was less floaty feeling. On full soft, the ride was not too rough (though for autocross, full firm is the way to go). I'd say do not spend money now on SFCs. Get Konis and a front bar, even if you have to save up a little longer. It's worth it.
Call Strano, as in, on the phone, and tell him what you want and how you drive the car (street/daily, or some ax, or track day, etc).

 

What Chris said above. I would do shocks first. Since you're on a budget I would look around for either used Koni sports (that's how I got mine) or brand new Koni Str.t Bilsteins are an option, they are tuned for a little more comfort a hair less performance than the STR.t. I wouldn't worry about SFC for quite some time yet. I would, in order do:

GOOD TIRES are the key to it all....

shocks. Koni STR.T Is a good budget shock as mentioned above (consider springs at some point shortly after, Strano or BMR in my opinion, avoid hotchkis)

Sway bars. Again I would get Strano bars but UMI also a good option here. Stranos are hollow and save weight without giving up strength. He has his balanced perfectly front and rear.

If you get the springs at some point, you'll probably want to consider an adjustable Panhard bar to re center the rear but its up to you. You will want some control arm re-location brackets though.

Then at some point, I would consider the SFCs

 

I would do shocks first as well, honestly the biggest difference in my car that I felt was when I put my koni sports on and im still running stock springs. My car already had subframe connectors on it when I bought it so I honestly can't tell you how much they really improved the car but I can tell you after changing the shocks it felt like a different car.

 

I personally like sfc as a first mod simply cause it gives easier jack/jack stands points, and if your like me that car will be in the air often. As far as shocks absolutely next item. So my real answer is (both)......

 

unless the car is a convertible, you'll be hard pressed to feel a difference with subframe connectors. shocks/springs and tires would be my first suspension/chassis mods if starting with a stock suspension car, SFC's being at the bottom of that list. as others have said, call sam strano, he will point you in the right direction with a shock/spring package and when you are ready a set of his sway bars, that would be next on my list after shocks/springs.

 

It's 2020 in LS1techland and amazing that there is still any question whatsoever on this. DO SHOCKS FIRST. PERIOD. FULL STOP. END OF DISCUSSION.

Konis or Bilsteins, nothing less (unless you want drag shocks). I did SFC's long after shocks to help with launching at the strip. They're good for that and for jacking up the car, but otherwise only add impact harshness and not much more.

 

Obvious answer is shocks first. Only reason I added SFCs was for extra protection along with the door bars in case of side impact. Ease of jacking the car is a plus too. Negative about it is the extra weight.

 

I guess some of this may come down to how you're planning to drive the car. If you're going to drag race the car the sfc's will be an important part of keeping the car from twisting to pieces. It kinda goes along with the old saying about a cage. It's the one thing that'll add weight to the car yet make it quicker. It's about consistency. The body twisting is energy moving the body in a direction that you don't want it to vs where stabilizing the body helps to take that same energy and move the car forward instead of twisting the body. Hopefully that kinda makes some sense.

 

that is just not true at all. Night and day difference on any fbody I've put SFCs on. Same day install driving before and after it was extremely noticable.

 

The answer here is it depends. Sort of. Personally I think shocks first are the no-brainer answer. Let me address some of the things that I've read up above.

I think one of the first ones was that subframe connectors are cheaper than shocks. That can be true It can also be false. Some subframe connectors are more expensive than some shock options that are pretty decent.

One of the things we learned about this car early on is that folks who didn't have good shocks found a much bigger difference with subframe connectors than the people who had good shocks on the car. And there's a reason for that. The sfc's do indeed stiffen the chassis. You can never make a chassis infinitely stiff, and it's never a bad thing to do it unless you're trying to save a lot of weight. However it's rare I would do them first. Only if somebody is really unhappy with turning into a very steep driveway and hearing the car creak and groan and all that kind of stuff. What most people notice when they put connectors on is that the car feels tighter. Okay I absolutely agree with that because you are stiffening the chassis. However the things that make the car feel not structurally good are generally things like sharp bumps that make the steering column kind of quiver when you hit them and it makes the dashboard shake and at the same time you tend to get hard hits through into the body that may even feel like they're going to make your kidneys bleed at times.

So here's the trick. Shocks that work properly do a huge amount to damp impact harshness. If you keep impacts out of the unibody, or damp them down tremendously, then they don't put such a pounding into it, and into you. And the quivering and the shakes and that sort of stuff are largely taken care of right then and there.

SFCs are chassis parts not suspension parts. You'll hear all kinds of crazy things. Sometimes you'll hear somebody say SFCs got rid of body roll. Nope they can't they don't do that. Body roll is controlled by the springs and the sway bars in terms of the amount of it. And by the shocks which control how fast the amount of roll you get is generated. I'm not going to say it's a placebo effect. It's just that people can't always differentiate what they're feeling. And for the record the same thing happens when people put good shocks on too. If they don't do a spring change or a sway bar change the car actually rolls in total in long corners just as much as it did before. But they swear it doesn't roll at all or a whole lot less. Really all that's happening is the roll rate is slowing down and therefore isn't as noticeable. Now that said on quick wiggles back and forth and things like that where the car can't roll the whole way over and take a set then sort of the car will roll last because it just doesn't have the time to generate the maximum amount of roll.

And yes some people use connectors as jacking rails. I don't know if that's critically important to me. I guess you have to ask yourself what it is you dislike most about how the car behaves. That's what I ask all my customers when they call me looking for advice. It's like going to the doctor. I say it all the time I'm sure people here have heard me say it to them. But if you go to the doctor you can't just ask them what pill to take, or what's wrong with you, without some explanation about what's going on with you. I'm sure there are some doctors that are irresponsible and just prescribe medicine and want you out of the office as fast as possible so they can get on to the next person and make their money. And there are people who sell parts that are the same way.. I am not one of those people.