I want my car to quit rattling, and making noises around town . It's a 98 SS with (decarbons) about 49,000 miles.

I have been wanting to do suspension for some time and now that winter is coming. it's time.

What do I do: I want street performace over track performance. I wasa thinking of new Bilstein HD's all around, new rear lower control arms (do I need the lelocation brackets for this and will it do anything for me?) and a new set of good street tires - I have had enough of the drag radials. I have 3-point SFC already so I'm good there. Are there any bushings under there that cause comon problems I should look at replacing (I know little about suspension)

Any advice, experience (good or bad) with these options let me know please. I want a solid sounding and feeling car again - The track runs seemed to have made my baby a rattle trap.

 

My factory sway bars and bushing made so much noise. It would maket noise over every freaking bump and rock. Changed them out with spohn(sp). Noises gone. I also changed panhard bar and lca at same time. I didn't do relocation brackets, but maybe I should.

 

If the bushings in your stock rear control arms look good I would leave them in.

 

I would leave the LCA's.

I would check my tie rod ends.

I would replace front with rear sway bars with sams hollow set.

And get a set of Konis SA.

Set of good tires.

 

You should disassemble, lube & tighten all of the
link ends / bushings first and see what noises go
away.

 

With the stock DeCarbons, I would bet that they are making most if not all of the noises you are hearing. They are certainly blown (I think they come that way from the factory) and are rattling with every suspension move.

All of the following is my opinion only:
For a street car, I wouldn't want to go too low or stiff, so I would order a set of Koni SAs and use the lower spring perch in the front, hose mod in the rear with stock springs. That will lower the car about 3/4" - 1" and will tighten up the car a lot more than you might think. ($800...big money, but this is definitely where I would spend it)

I would leave the sway bars alone and just replace the bushings and end-links with BLACK polyurethane pieces. The black ones are impregnated with graphite and are less likely to squeek. ($50)

Street tires....Goodyear GS-D3 is the way to go...awesome tire and only about $200 each. Far better than any of the Kumho tires. I've been through Kumho, BFG, Falken, Nitto, and the Goodyears are the best. I'll be buying these again.

The suspension pieces like the LCAs, PHR, and torque arm could be left alone or replaced on a street car. I would replace them with some better pieces, but that is starting to get pretty expensive. UMI has some excellent suspension parts.

Sam Strano is a great resource for this as well....he might be able to help you more than anyone else on the board.

The exhaust and heat shields tend to rattle a lot as well, so make sure all of those connections are tight.

 

anyone go with the bilsteins HD's? I am not lowering the car (slp headers don't like that) I think I am going to start with struts and see what happens - I am getting sick of spending moeny on the mods that destory the car. Now I just it to ride smooth.

On another note what advantages do the LCA's give you and what to look for in a bad bushing?

 

What are decarbons

 

The stock shocks... they suck hardcore. Koni SA's with lower perch and rear hose mod. Get strano springs if u wanna lower it a bit and get strano bars. The strano springs arent out yet are they? Im waiting till they do to get them.

 

Yep, my springs are out. Have 3 pallets of them sitting beside my office and folks have them installed on their cars.

Back to matter at hand. You have crappy shocks, you have SFC's. Put on better shocks. 1 year ago I'd have said a straight set of HD's in your case would be right. BUT, Bilstein jacked up the valving of the rear shocks (and changed the fronts too, but at least they didn't screw those all up). So now I'll tell you a set of HD's you order anywhere won't be what we want. I use a different rear shock to solve the issue. Same price, still Bilstein's, but they work better.

Happy to expound, but it's not something I can explain well online. But more to the point, it makes me angry that folks are so willing to swipe my information for free, then run off and put food on someone else's table. So while I won't hide the info, and I'm glad to explain it, I'll have to ask you call me.