got my TA and LCAs the other day, and they sure do look good, cannot wait to get them on, my question is since im looking to stiffen up a little bit ( i have a convt.) what else would pair up nicely with these to give me better traction and less flex? anti-sway bars, sub frame connectors, strut bar, panhard, shocks and springs and so on? i think someone needs to take the time to make a sticky on what each piece does exactly and what pieces pair up well with eachother...just an idea

 

your car comes with sfc's, so no, sfc's are not going to work, unless they make sfc's for converts that im not aware of

the reason most aftermarket sfcs dont work is that converts come with them from the factory

 

I think he wants to know what all of that stuff does, where it goes and how it'll help with the suspension.

We'll start with the basics.

Springs - Lower your center of gravity, putting you lower allows the car to "stick" to the road a lot better.
Shocks - Dampen the hard hits your suspension takes, allowing for longer suspension life and a much easier ride for you and your passengers. Good shocks also help to keep your vehcile level in the turns.
Lower (rear) Control Arms - these "push" your rear axle down during a launch, this reduces wheel hop, which is a killer of 10-bolts. The stock, stamped factory pieces flex, which keeps you from getting the most pressure downward.
Lower (again, rear) Control Arm Relocator Brackets - when a car is lowered, the axle stays the same distance from the ground and the body drops. When this happens, your rear LCAs aren't angled "down" as much. Lowering the place where they attach to the axle allows the LCAs to function better, even on non-lowered cars.
Torque Arm - the torque arm keeps the rear axle from "raising" which is what happens when torque is applied to the driveshaft. The stock piece is also stamped metal and flexible, an aftermarket arm is much stiffer and can be adjusted, changing the angle of your rear axle, which can better take advantage of the driveshaft torque.
Sub-frame Connectors - a great thing to have, they should have been installed from the factory but due to weight considerations, blah blah blah....They connect frame rails, the triangulation stiffens the frame and reduces flexing. Stiffer frame = better turns, better acceleration.
Adjustable Panhard Rod - the rear axle setup in a 4th gen Fbody is a spiderweb of struts and bars to make everything work. The Panhard rod centers the rear axle, otherwise it could shimmy to the left and right. When a car is lowered, the center of the axle moves slightly to the left with a stock panhard rod, adjusting it puts the center back where it should be, the center.
Sway Bars - when a car corners, the weight is shifted from one side to the other. More shifting reduces the control you have in a turn. Bigger swaybars and polyurethane end links stiffen up the side-to-side shifting during turns, again leveling the car and allowing for more control.
Polyurethane Bushings - as mentioned above, they are much stiffer than stock bushings. They do reduce the ride quality some, but reduce lateral roll and increase the ability of the car to put it's power down due to less flexing from suspension components.
Front Upper and Lower Control Arms - usually much lighter than stock pieces, and stiffer. Allowing for better travel of the front suspension
Shock (NOT STRUT!) Tower Brace - the shock towers form a "U" shape in the front of the car with the bottom being the K-member that the lower control arms and engine mount to. The Shock tower brace completes the circle, making the "U" shape an "O" sort of shape. Like subframe connectors, they triangulate the frame (albeit on a different plane), stiffening it up.
Crossmember Brace - connects the two subframe connectors, completing the total subframe connection. Most also come with a driveshaft loop, allowing you to comply with NHRA sub 13 second 1/4 mile times at most tracks.

As you can see, a lot goes on under there. You can modify any and all of these components with a multitude of different results. Some combinations are better for drag racing, planting the rear, and some are better for auto crossing, leveling the car and stiffening up the ride.

Hope this helps.


thanks to patrick aka the phantompooper over at z28.com for this list

 

There are a few that make a SFC specific to the convertible.

 

I don't own a convertible (FBody) so do you care to explain where the factory sfc's are? Not trying to sound like a wise *** but for the 5 years I have owned an FBody this is the first time I ever hear this.
I know BMR and SLP makes SFC's for verts.

 

Wait for UMI to release the 3 point SFCs soon. The stock SFCs on newer verts suck

 

Very happy with UMIs products here.

 

I'm very happy with my torque arm by them as well. Will be picking up their LCAs and PHB to replace the custom ones on my car as well as a set of their 3pt SFCs.

 

im selling my brand new non adj umi lca and phr by the way
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lsx-parts-sale/628194-garage-sale.html

 

The original poster was saying that he has a convertible. That was where the stock thing came from considering the convertibles had subframes to begin with. Does UMI not make subframes for 'verts too?

Jon

 

The Verts have a rudimentary reinforcement and not TRUE version of a modern SFC.
UMI is comming out with their SFC for the Verts soon. I'm waiting on their version since Kenny Brown went out of business.
SFC's for hardtops and T-tops do not fit Verts and visa-versa.

 

kenp: can't miss your car each time you post, that's for sure.

 

I love UMI, but do shocks first, period. I did shocks last and I did it totally backwards. Do some Konis and you may decide you don't need any of the other things.

Everything I did from UMI (love their stuff) made small differences. Shocks were DRAMATIC, more benefit than every other mod combined. Do shocks first or you are cheating yourself.

 

Yea. I would make it smaller but I really don't know how.

 

I have a 95 TA convert. The stock subframe connectors are basically just extra stiffness throughout the midsection. I'm waiting on UMI to come out with theirs because the stuff I've got from them is **** UP! I think the one thing you HAVE
to do on a convert is the Shock Tower Brace, on a convertible it made a HUGE diff.
Good Luck