After some thought, I decided to go full on with the suspension. I am content with the power of the LS1, and the little gain I got from LTs, true duals, and MTI lid. Other than a few smaller things, like short shifter and polly tranny mount, the suspension in full is all I want to do to the car. (For real, I'm set on this and won't have the mod addiction afterwards... Haha. Just like my other cars/trucks I set a thing to it and then finish and im happy from there on.)

I plan on going with the Koni shocks, UMI strut bar, UMI rod/rod PHB, and UMI poly/rod LCAs. That should do it for me

Does that sounds like a good combo for my needs? I plan on making this my summer project, so I'll have the winter to save.

 

I'm running this combo and have been for a while.

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=18&ModelID=7

Combined with the Koni shocks my car was very much in control at all times. Recently switched my springs to Sams and the ride is much nicer, while still being crisp and responsive.

Personaly, and I havent used the poly/rod lca, I think if your going to use one rod end you might as well use the other end rod as well. You get a certain amount of noise and feel with the rod end so you might as well enjoy the benefit of two instead of one, cause your going to get a certain amount of noise from the one anyway. But thats me. Some people dont like the rod ends at all.

 

Thanks for the advice. I am still pretty sure I am going to stick with what I am set on now.

I think it's funny that wherever you can buy rod ended parts they always list in bold "Not for street use!"

 

They are for the hardcore no doubt

 

Haha, I just hope I don't regret going rod ended. Some seem to either love them or swap them back in for stock parts in a matter of milliseconds

 

personally, i'd skip the STB and go with Sam's sway bar set instead....you'll get MUCH more out of it that way.

 

We have all those things... UMI, Koni's and our bars too. I'm honestly not quite clear enough on what it is you want (close, but not sure) to say "that's great". I have to agree that a set of bars would benefit the handling of the car far, far more than a STB. One effects the actual amount of roll the car generates, the other is simply a chassis brace. And being that the cars don't use struts, but shocks the lateral load in the towers isn't high.

 

Well, I am content with the power the LS1 has for a DD, and I do drive it aggressively here and there for whatever reason. The only gripe is planting it to the ground through turns and its handling, as we know, is not the best.

I just want to increase handling/ride/performance on a street car DD as well as when I want to get aggressive with it. I am not really sure I want to replace the sway bars.

 

I can't imagine why. Bars are great because they add roll stiffness/wheel rate when you want it (in corners) and don't when you don't need it. Bars work by twisting, and if you are just rolling straight down the road, they don't twist.

Bars are, IMHO, the second biggest change you can make behind quality shocks.

 

I wouldn't have any clue on what size sways I would need in the front/rear (lets say if I was going with Koni shocks and PHB/LCAs) for a good aggressive street car. As I hear, you can go too stiff/big and also picking the right size for the front and rear for handling balance.

 

That's what my job is, to help folks with setup. You can screw up bars, but no more than someone screw up LCA's, or shocks, or springs, or brakes, or tires, or.... well, you get the point.

 

For sure.

So when I get my Konis, UMI LCA and PHB, what sways would be a good balance? Just front or both? Any suggestions?

 

If i could get my hands on a set how much would it cost for a re-valve?

 

suggestions?

here's one: give Sam a call in person. he will be able to help you more (and quicker) than he ever will be able to on here.

he will be able to speak with you in person to find out what it is specifically that you are looking for, and will be better able to recommend a solution....as well as tell you WHY he is recommending something for that solution

 

As far as the sways go, we make out own which I use in my autox car. They are lighter than any other set (both bars are hollow) and we don't use a huge rear bar. We use a 35mm front, 22mm rear. Both are right about 30% stiffer than 32/19's you see on SS's and most all 1LE's (21 was one year only to account for different rear springs).

We just can't revalve shocks that come from other sources, the paperwork is a nightmare, and by the time you add up the costs involved you are getting damned close a set of 4/3 Koni's which are adjustable. We tried, and had all kinds of issues. Shocks that were broken, shocks that were SLP's when we were told HD's, and vice-versa.

As for further recommendations. I'd have to talk to you. You can't hop online and get a diagnosis and prescription for an illness, and frankly that's what I do.... I talk to you to figure out the best cure for what you don't like about the car. It's very hard, damned near impossible to do that without being able to actually talk to you.

 

Is there a Strano bar special going on? What color are they?

 

No special, they are $379 for the pair, or $199 front, $189 rear if bought seperately. Bars include new endlinks and mounting bushings and brackets. You supply some grease to lube the bushings. Powerdercoated black.

 

Order up! Need to go pick up my head gaskets and COD 4 then I'll call it in. You dont close early today do you?

 

No, we don't close early. Be here to about 3:30 your time I'd imagine (that's 6:30 here). If you want you can order them online: http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=18&ModelID=7

I can PM you the shipping if you give me your zip code, but it generally about $25 to the west coast.

 

97051, they'll go with the springs nicely. This should take care of the front suspension, its the last thing left to do. Wiped it all out in a nasty little off road incident.