Doing full suspension

[Ender2664]

I am going to upgrade most of the suspension stuff on my car and i have some questions on them.
Shocks-tokico or blisten, is one better thant he other, if i go with tokico it will be the blues not the adj. illuminas.
Swaybars-eibach or BMR, i get the eibach for 300 to my door and the BMR for 320, and the eibach is 35/25mm while the BMR is 32/21, so i figure that i want to go with eibach right?
Strut tower brace- BMR or Hotchkis, i can get the Hotchiks for like 150 and the BMR for like 100, the Hotchiks looks alot better but is it worth 50% more?
Subframe connectors- I can get the BMR and Hotchkis for the same price so which one is better?
Springs-eibach or blisten, Blisten offers that whole package thing and i was wondering if it would be smart to go with there springs and shocks or just go with eibachs and decide what shocks i want on my own.

[zlexiss]

Slow down there..

What are you trying to get out of your car? Drag racing, road racing, autocross?

Is this an everyday driver that you still want to be "streetable"?

I need to know this before I can start making comments.

-Jeff

[Ender2664]

Well i don't drag race, so i don't car about that at all. I want her to be as capable as possible for stuff like a canyon or driving down a twisty mountian...i don't really care that much about ride quality, i am used to a bumby ride, i don't want it to be horable, but it doesn't need to feel like stock.

[Ender2664]

The 1LE stuff looks like pretty good prices but most of the stuff doesn't sound to different from stock, would i notice a big improvement over stock if i went with the 1LE sway bars, some springs and a frount tower brace?

[hawgs]

Youre missing a few peices for it to be considered a "full suspension" Pan Hard Bar, Lower Control Arms

I like all my Hotchkis products.

I have Hotchkis springs and Bilstein HD shocks which I am totally satisfied with. I chose the Hotchkis because their springs are progressive whereas the Ebiachs were not. I also dont like the way Eibachs look in the rear... looks too slammed and lower then the fronts. I think the Hotchkis sits pretty level.

Strut tower brace I would wait on... buy something that will make a difference. IE Pan Hard Bar or Lower Control Arms. BMR or Hotchkis for those... tublar poly/poly ends will work for you on the LCAs.

I have tublar BMR sub frames and they were a great mod... really stiffens up things. Hotchkis vs. BMR really makes little different here.

Swaybars... I will let V6Bob chime in on this one, he always has good advice, but I think a simple 32/21 setup would be fine. You could even find some 1LE sway bars and they would work fine for you.

[zlexiss]

In order of best handling improvement:

1) Biggest thing is springs and shocks. The Bilstein HD's are plenty good - not sure how the Tokico's are. Standard Eibach Prokits are decent springs, you probably don't need coilovers.

Hawgs - I'm not as big into progressive springs - they make the shock's job harder because the rate changes, so the shock will only be well-matched to the spring in a small range of the suspension travel. I'm installing coilovers tomorrow specifically because of this, I couldn't find linear rear springs near the rate I wanted otherwise.

1.5) Alignment. Have a shop dial in max negative camber (-1* is a nice target), about 4* of caster, and zero toe (and up to 1/8" toe out). It'll feel much better than factory alignment specs in corners.

2) Sways - a 35 bar is probably more than what you're looking for, 32 in front is fine. But I would get something smaller than a 21 in back. I have a 19 and that's as big as I'd go, you don't want to risk loss of control from oversteer on canyon roads.

3) I don't think LCA's or PHR are critical for handling in themselves (stock is ok), but better bushings are.

LCAs - Poly bushings can cause bind in handling and effectively add rear sway (leading to oversteer). I have BMR tubulars with rubber/rubber and they're fine. Rod ends are the best here, but can add a good amount of noise.

PHR - rod ends are fine here, not as much noise as LCA's.

4) If you don't have a limited slip, get one. You'll be able to put more power down coming out of corners without spinning the inside tire.

Then subframes, then STB, then come back and ask if there's anything left [img]smile.gif[/img]

For fairly generic parts like LCA and PHR, I'm not too picky on brand. Unless you're road racing or autocrossing on race rubber, you won't push any brand's parts to failure.