I am trying to help my dad figure out which suspension components to buy first. In other words which are most noticeable and worth the money. I am planning on the Pro-Kit springs, slp strut tower brace and the weld on sfc's from SLP. I saw this picture of someone's setup and wondered if these other componenets were a good idea to do to, or if money is better spent elsewhere for now?

http://www.fbody.com/jim/suspension/

Tell me what you think?
Thanks!
<img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

<small>[ September 24, 2002, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: AndyL ]</small>

 

Shocks, Springs, Sway bars, in that order. STB is a waste of money. If you can get a cage, otherwise get SFC if you REALLY want to.

 

Which shocks do you recommend for a street car? He is more interested in handling then crazy drag launches.

Thanks!

Oh yeah the car is an 02 z28 t-top

 

Think of it as a package.

Tuning a suspension for maximum performance is no different than tuning an engine for the same result. All the components have to work together to get the most you can.

Sure you can put in a cam. But without springs and headers, just how much are you gonna gain? And what if you install the the wrong springs and a bad header set up, do you help yourself or hurt?

And just like tuning an engine, there are differing levels you can go. So, you really need to decide what it is you are gonna do with the car and go from there.

For street applications, a 1LE GM suspension is a really good set-up. Nice and balanced and very streetable.

If you are gonna hit an occasional road course, you need to get a package from a vendor that has a PROVEN track record. Lou Gigliotti of LG Motorsports is a 3 time champion in World Challenge, driving a 4th gen Camaro. He has engineered a very nice package, based upon his experience, to make the we drive really handle well. I have his system.

For Autocross, Sam Strano of Strano PArts is the man. He is currently setting Solo2 on it's ear.

I know you asked what to do first. But it's really not that easy.

Good Luck

 

I think that you and your Dad are on the right track here with your initial ideas. Don't jump out there real quickly on much more than SFC's and STB until you've done a bunch of reading here and elsewhere on what others with similar goals to you have done with their cars. Learn to use the search function and you'll get hours of reading to plow through. Good luck and keep us posted.

<small>[ September 24, 2002, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: P&DZs ]</small>

 

There's also the SLP Level One package. I'd recommend getting a suspension package. You can piece things together yourself by mixing and matching, but if you don't do your homework well enough your car can actually handle worse!

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by talonis:
<strong>
You can piece things together yourself by mixing and matching, but if you don't do your homework well enough your car can actually handle worse!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">**GUILTY**

 

I am setting up my car for handling...my signature shows my mods...I'm VERY happy with them thus far. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

Dom...You are VERY wrong! There is a big difference in how the car handles with or without a STB! That was my FIRST mod I did to my car. From day ONE I have been working on making the chassis stiffer and the car really shows. I can put a jack by the rear tire and as I lift, the car stays so stiff that the front tire also lifts off the ground (tell me that’s a waste of money <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> ).

Keeping the body stiff not only help you handle, it also helps the car last longer by not allowing the body to twist and flex. Our cars are "unibody" construction <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> (no frame...). Every time you hit a bump, the body bends a little bit. Using the coat hanger analogy, in the beginning the metal will "spring" back to its original shape. But over time, the "spring" goes away and it gets easier and easier to bend the wire until eventually "snap"....it cracks. That’s the problem with unibodies. They bend and bend and bend...over every little bump, turn, and dip in the road. Eventually you end up with a car that squeaks and rattles like CRAZY <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> (T-top cars have this REALLY bad), mounts start to crack, and it has been known to get so bad that the doors won't even open and close right <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" /> .

So, my vote is STB and sub frames. They are not glamorous and they don't make your car "look cool" but when 5 years rolls around, you will be happy they are there. They also REALLY compliment any other suspension mod you make.

One more thing. Just this week I went to Barns and Nobles and found a book, “Hot to Tune & Modify You Camaro…1982 – 1998” for about $20. Really that would be a good place to start. It looks at everything, chassis, suspension, engine, and safety mods. For me, it was a checklist of what I have done and what I might want to think about doing some day.

<small>[ September 26, 2002, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: 2001CamaroGuy ]</small>

 

I'm with DOM ...

STB, especially a 2 point, will yield no measureable difference on street tires and on a street surface.

Street tires and a dirty street surface will see the tires loose grip WAY before the chassis flexes.

I've run my '98 TA with and without my 2 pt BMR STB and my lap times varied very little. I felt no difference on turn in and during transition. I was running BFG R1s at the time.

And I would venture a guess that 80% of us will not be driving the current F-Body we own in 5 years ...

<small>[ September 26, 2002, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: mitchntx ]</small>

 

I'm with mitch and dom.

I have the LG package as well. Before that I had some Hotchkis parts.. STB being one of them.
I totally agree with mitch that you won't notice any difference with just a STB and street tires on the street. He's right, the street tires will break free before any flex happens. I autocross my car, and we've discussed this and it's my opinion that you 'might' get some flex with race tires and hard cornering, like found in autocross.

IMO, it's just in peoples head and they want to feel value for the money they spent.......

Besides all that, I didn't have any squeaks before I put the LG STB on. I only used two mounting points for the Hotchkis STB, but use 3 for the LG part. I now have slight squeaks when I go over the speed bumps at my work coming from that 3rd mounting point.

As for jacking up the car at the rear and the front wheel coming up.. I could do that before any mods.

Anyway, just my experience and my opinion...

Mitch, I hope to be driving mine in 5 years <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

I dunno, I put on my 2pt STB before the SFCs and I noticed a huge difference in how the car felt under normal driving situations with street tires. After the SFCs, I don't think it really helps much, if at all.

 

I noticed my front felt a little stiffer in turns and my dash stopped rattling. Thats worth it in itself.

 

<img border="0" alt="[Banging Head]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_banghead.gif" />