Suspension Upgrade ?'s

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Well, I'll be heading back to NJ soon and I'm considering spending a few bucks on my ride to upgrade the suspension. I'm pretty happy with the power output for now and am hitting that limit where I'd have to spend some bigger bucks on that.

So I was considering swaybars (32mm/21mm) and some Spohn LCA's. The car is almost completely street driven, but it would be nice to improve traction off the line and stability during high speed maneuvers (avoiding idiots on the turnpike. As it stands the car has saved me a couple times with it's handling. Especially during a certain incident involving a Lazy Boy of all things.

I've also noticed many different types of LCA's. I'm thinking non-adjustable would be fine, but am not sure about the bushings. I've heard poly tends to bind in tight turn.

Any opinions??

Thanks in advance!

[UMI Performance]

Well, I'll be heading back to NJ soon and I'm considering spending a few bucks on my ride to upgrade the suspension. I'm pretty happy with the power output for now and am hitting that limit where I'd have to spend some bigger bucks on that.

So I was considering swaybars (32mm/21mm) and some Spohn LCA's. The car is almost completely street driven, but it would be nice to improve traction off the line and stability during high speed maneuvers (avoiding idiots on the turnpike. As it stands the car has saved me a couple times with it's handling. Especially during a certain incident involving a Lazy Boy of all things.

I've also noticed many different types of LCA's. I'm thinking non-adjustable would be fine, but am not sure about the bushings. I've heard poly tends to bind in tight turn.

Any opinions??

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

Yes non-adjustable lower control arms will be fine, really there is no need for adjustment on the lower control arms for the F-bodies. If you would like to do pinion angle adjustment is recommended through a torque arm. So a non-adjustble is a good way to go.

We use mostly poly/poly lower control arms, they work great for a srtreet/strip cars. The binding issue is something that has been debated for a long time now. We use a Energy suspension polyurethane bushing which is engineered for a less bind free operation, I havent had an issues with them yet. If the binding still concerns you there are rod ended control arms that are excellent for both handling as well as strip, they are fairly pricey in some cases. If you need any more info just ask. I will be glad to help.

Ryan

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Thanks, Ryan! Do you know if the rod/rod LCA's will transmit more noise into the cabin being that it's a metal-metal contact? Also how durable are they? Will they react the same a few years down the road?

After doing some more reading on sway bars I don't think I'll go with a 32/21 setup. I'd rather keep the rear a little tighter...I'm up in the air over a 35/21 or 32/19 for now.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I got the BMRs and I love them. http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F-body...n.htm#swaybars

[M3EATER - GG '00 WS6 T/A]

Joe,

If you're not doing any road racing or autocrossing the poly/poly type will be fine.

I use rod-end/rod-end since I road race and autocross.

Unless Spohn has changed their rod/rod arms... don't use them on the street. The ones I bought a few years ago (before I started making my own) did not use teflon lined rod ends. Talk about rattles.......... My wife wouldn't ride in the car for fear that something was loose & going to fall off!

A good rod/rod set with high quality teflon lined rod ends is fine for use on the street. Mine are dead quiet & I detect no harshness or vibration issues.

Gordon

[UMI Performance]

Hello Joe,

M3EATER is correct, if you are not doing any road racing the poly/poly would work just fine for you. We have found the poly to be an over all great upgrade from rubber for both ride quality as well as track improvement and handling.

There is also quite a difference in prices for each poly/poly compared to rod/rod. Our poly/poly arms run $89.99 a set, but our rod/rod step up into $245.00 a set. You may ask my are the rod ended control arms so expensive? Well also as M3EATER stated, non-telflon lined rod ends dont hold up the same as well as teflon lined ends. We use only QA1 teflon lined XMR12 rod ends on all our products. If you look in Jegs catalog a QA1 teflon rod end is $30.00ea X 4 since is takes 4 per set of control arms. Now of course we buy in bulk so we save a little but not much. Also our rod/rod lower control arms are 100% Chrome Moly, Chrome moly is more expensive then mild steel and cost alot more to weld as well. So the price on a piece like this will be higher.

The rod/rod arms will not transmit any noise into the car, they will stiffen your ride up slightly but not harsh. If the car is a daily driver and driven alot I would recommend a poly/poly set up. As for life of the products, all are products have a lifetime guarentee on craftsmanship as well as componets. If I can help anymore just ask away.

Regards,
Ryan

[hotwhip9]

I just put mine in last week and love them so far. Not noisy at all and to eliminate the binding issue, i went with poly/rubber combos. BMR Lca's

[fastTa]

Joe,

If you're not doing any road racing or autocrossing the poly/poly type will be fine.

I use rod-end/rod-end since I road race and autocross.

Unless Spohn has changed their rod/rod arms... don't use them on the street. The ones I bought a few years ago (before I started making my own) did not use teflon lined rod ends. Talk about rattles.......... My wife wouldn't ride in the car for fear that something was loose & going to fall off!

A good rod/rod set with high quality teflon lined rod ends is fine for use on the street. Mine are dead quiet & I detect no harshness or vibration issues.

Gordon

I do wonder if Spohn has started to line their rod end pivots. I've ridden in a few cars that had that same rattle that you describe. I've got a set on the Camaro but it hasn't seen any action yet so I couldn't tell you if those rattled or not. Visibly, they don't appear to be teflon lined.