Just wanted to maybe get a thread going for the stock height peeps, i for one like not struggling entering parking lots or certain intersections, so here we go…

so far I have done BMR non adj LCA’s and PHB and non adj torque arm

share what you’ve done, make comments/suggestions for performance or share whatever

 

I for one would like to go back to stock ride height! Tired of the bumpy ride and worrying about bottoming out everywhere. Unfortunately finding a nice set of OEM springs is almost impossible. Thinking about switching to the Hotchkiss set with the 1” drop. So in short… I envy you guys

 

Went out yesterday for a long drive and got a few launch opportunities, the pieces I’ve added have made a huge impact, the car is stock except SLP lid and bellows but feels so much quicker without all the spinning, the stamped steel pieces even hinder a close to stock hp car

 

Some weld-in subframe connectors would definitely improve your ride. I love mine.

 

Shocks and sways should be the first suspension upgrades, period, end of story. I prefer Strano sways. Shocks, Bilsteins are a wonderful sweetspot of an upgrade, all upside and no downside. Koni Sports (yellows) are definitely an upgrade but a smaller one that may or may not be worth it, depending on how you drive the car.

 

Yeah I’ve definitely decided on doing Bilsteins all the way around

 

Like any beautiful woman (Sara 2001 Z28), "the best kept secrets are underneath the facade." She is stock height, due to a B&M 3 1/2 qt deeper transmission pan, which hangs noticeably lower than the stock pan. She has SLP 3-point bolt on subframe connectors, BMR non adj LCA’s and PHB and adj torque arm, solid front and rear sway bars and U brace (connecting the subframe connectors), Detroit Speed front welded sway bar brackets to frame (learned this one the hard way). I have Bilstein HD shocks, and like any good woman, I "have to hang on for the ride "

 

This is a good choice. Konis are a good handling shock, but the low speed impact harshness is noticeable.

 

Sara is beautiful, always loved that color

 

thank you for the kind words.

 

Got my hands on a set of SLP springs, I was told they were off a firehawk. Kind of weird since they are blue and I don’t find any numbers or letters on them. From the research I’ve done it looks like SLP did have an optional Eibach/Bilstien combo. So I’m hoping I struck gold 😁

 

Stock ride height can be had by going to front and rear coil overs.

 

in hind sight I should have gone that route when I got the Koni’s.

 

We've had a total of 7 4th gen Firebirds in our family, and never have changed out the stock springs. Yet I think we did the heater hose mod on all of them. Getting the right stance differs from car to car.

On many of them, the rear is way jacked up, and simply doing the HH mod corrects that. And so on my M6 Formula, Bilsteins up front and the HH mod in the rear did the trick. But my A4 car needed Konis on the lower perch plus HH mod to get the right stance.

With all due respect, "Sara" looks 4x4. A big gap between the top of the tire and the wheel well is unsightly. This can be corrected by the above adjustments without going into full lowering mode - basically an adjusted stock ride height.

 

Absolutely no offense taken, I went +2 on the wheels 18x9.5 and went to a very low profile tire 285x35ZR18. This MAYBE the reason for the gap. When I had the shocks installed, I had the mechanic "index the springs to the seats, so the stock springs sat exactly how they came off. I can say that I have a very stiff ride, with no sway at all.

 

I’ve done the poly bushings and end links for the stock sway bars and I can say you can definitely feel a difference, just putting this out there for anyone thinking about it, it is definitely a worthwhile and can feel it investment, the stock rubber is soft

 

Panhard bar, Rear lower control arms, strut tower brace, bolt in subframe connectors,adjustable torque arm and sway bar kit all from UMI.

 

Mine is just a street cruiser and I’m at the point in my life where lowering springs don’t sound fun anymore so stock springs it is. My little setup so far consists of: urethane sway bar bushings and end links, a poly torque arm bushing (couldn’t find a rubber & mine was bad), Koni Str.t shocks, oem springs with ‘03/‘04 Cobra spring isolators on the rears to lower it some to take a little up wheel well gap. In the rear it has a set of Founders Performance rear control arms with the “fancy” 3 piece bushings as well as their non adjustable panhard bar. The shocks were the most recent and they made a world of difference. Prior to the STR.T’s I had blown fronts and new KYB Excel G’s on the rear. The KYB’s were ok but not as good as the STR.T. The first mod I did was the lower control arms and they “shored up” the rear a whole lot even with lack luster shocks. No wheel hop & tracks straight when launching and the rear goes where you want it to around a corner. The theory behind the bushings is being able launch well at the drags while not binding in the corners. I think it works, I have the same type one another car as well but they’re sold under a different name. Probably maybe the non adjustable panhard bar helped some. It came after the LCA’s. It migh be a tad be “tighter” feeling.
All in all I’m pleased with how the setup turned out. The ride doesn’t beat you to death and it handles well enough to say that it’s a decent enough handling car. What’s the trade-off with larger sway bars? More noise? Wear and tare?
Better than a hose

Construction zone
LCA’s. I got black.
I don’t recall my LCA’s coming with the cheesy sticker, or maybe I just peeled it off.
Also the OEM bump stops rotted and fell off so I bit the bullet and bought the expensive OEM foam replacements. They costs the same as the LCA’s! 😂

 

I’m with you on the lowering springs, and agree with the rear set up, I did the LCA’s and PHB at same time so I can’t for sure say which did the most but certainly tightened it up back there, and the urethane sway bar bushings and endlinks made a noticeable difference as well, my next two things I want to do are subframe connectors and shocks, only 27k on the clock so the shocks are still stock

 

I did the panhard a few months after the LCA’s and while I think the bar helped it didn’t make near the “transformation” as the control arms did. When I got my Z28 two years ago it only had 27k miles as well but the shocks were blown and the sway bar end lnks were bad. Mine set out unattended for an unknown amount of time, I guess the gas leaked out of the shocks, I don’t know. The new shocks were a game changer, especially in the front. But to be fair I’m comparing new to worn out shocks.
The tail shaft seal had a leak and trans fluid dripped on the tq arm bushing and destroyed it, so that’s how I ended up with a poly tq arm mount. I had the trans mount replaced with a new rubber Delco mount while they were doing the tq arm. I don’t think it was bad but new is better I guess.
I’m on the fence about sub-frame connectors. I have a set of weld in SFC’s that tie into the seats to a reinforce the floor pan on a ‘95 Mustang and it was one of the better mods that it has. Less creaks and rattles and the chassis feels more “solid” overall. They were also under $100 ten years ago. When I first got my Camaro SFC’s were on the short list of things to do. But the price point is fairly steep for a set that ties into the seats, and I kind of thing that is where the magic happens as far as the feel goes. That’s not the dealer breaker though. I read a post where a guy said that SFC’s were his least favorite mod to his 4th gen because they amplified the creaks and rattles. That’s the opposition direction of where I’m trying to go. 😂 So I’m not so sure about them anymore.
Here’s a decent article where they measure chassis stiffness after SFC’s.
I have a pair of clean low mile OEM front shocks if anyone wants them. The blown shocks are still attached to them but the springs are in good shape.
Oh and when I was looking for front shock mounts I was having a hard time finding anything other than KYB and offbrands which both get bad reviews.The Moog mounts have been discontinued. For the drivers side I ended up using a Gabriel that got good reviews but was being obsoleted on Rockauto for $9 and some odd shipped. For the passenger side I rolled the dice on a SACHS because at least it wasn’t a KYB that is reported to break in short order. So far so good with both. I haven’t driven it very much since they’ve been on but there weren’t any fitment issues at least. How Stiff Is It?