Who really knows their suspension?

[Seth]

I've been asking a lot of questions, on what to do for suspension and been getting a lot of help thanks guys. I'm on the BMR website and still not exactlly sure what to get. If any cold im me and help me out. Screen name is nittotorpedo11 thanks guys!

[Arctc Wolf]

depends on what you're looking for from your car. Me, for example, I want all out race handling, balanced between drag and road course, and am not worried abouty ride quality. I am upgrading w/ rod-ended pieces from BMR, will get a Xtreme torque arm from them, and a set of coil-overs from QA1 front and rear w/ drop springs, maybe BMR, but I dunno yet.

[Ian]

we have someone on the boards who knows just about everything (so it seems) about suspension.

screen name on the boards is V6Bob.

ask for him, and if you are nice, maybe he will guide you.

[Seth]

we have someone on the boards who knows just about everything (so it seems) about suspension.

screen name on the boards is V6Bob.

ask for him, and if you are nice, maybe he will guide you.

I sent him an email. Thanks Ian.

[V6Bob]

I have some problems with that request. Some people may not like them, but they're real.

I'm not a pro or an expert. Mostly I just hang around sometimes and occaisionally respond if I happen to see people planning to do things that I believe are going to actually hurt their handling, and if I think they're open to that message. It's a _lot_ easier to spot dumb stuff than to tell someone how to set up their car. I try to explain why I think it's bad so they can make their own decisions.

I'm OK with talking about how stuff works. I'm not OK about telling someone what to do with their car, particularly if they don't know enough to make their own judgements.

All that said, I believe the fbody chassis is relatively weak and bracing the chassis (subframe connectors, tower brace) should be a good idea, especially if you have t-tops or a convertible. Experienced professional installation of the sfcs is probably more important than which ones you get. On a 5 year old car it couldn't hurt to replace the shocks with good ones, a lot of folks seem to like Bilsteins.

Past that stuff we're past my comfort zone. My best recommendation to you is that you learn enough to make your own decisions. Modding your car without understanding is risky business. So is relying on strangers on the Net. I see a lot of bad ideas on the Net.

[ July 22, 2004, 03:57 AM: Message edited by: V6Bob ]

[John_D.]

Are you looking for suspension mods for drag racing, or for autocrossing/road-racing?

For autocross setups, there's a lot of information on www.fraxx.com

[Seth]

Are you looking for suspension mods for drag racing, or for autocrossing/road-racing?

It's not a daily driver, so i'd say more drag racing. I do drive when it's nice out, or to take out at night.

[John_D.]

For drag racing - suspension tends toward soft front shocks and springs, firmer rear sway bar, softer or no front sway bar.

But softening up the front and stiffening up the rear can make driving on the street more dangerous because it won't corner nearly as well. And it will be prone to oversteer especially when the road is wet.

[John_D.]

The above post is all about weight transfer.

There are some things to do for power application too. I like to upgrade the lca's. Some people like to upgrade the torque arm. I haven't done that yet.

My best 60' has been a 1.8x and that was on the stock torque converter.

Do you have an automatic or manual transmission?

What type of rear tires will you be using?

[Seth]

The above post is all about weight transfer.

There are some things to do for power application too. I like to upgrade the lca's. Some people like to upgrade the torque arm. I haven't done that yet.

My best 60' has been a 1.8x and that was on the stock torque converter.

Do you have an automatic or manual transmission?

What type of rear tires will you be using?

I've an auto, with a 3300 stall

[John_D.]

The 3300 should get you a decent launch.

I'd do lca's to avoid wheel hop. The 1LE pieces are reasonably priced and do the job. Torque arm is probably more important for a manual trans to handle high-rev clutch dumps.

Some bfg dr's or some other type of stickier tire will require more in the rear suspension dept. too....

If you have some type of power adder (nitrous, FI) or healthy heads/cam setup, then playing with the springs and shocks might help, but without that I wouldn't worry about the springs and shocks that much.

Tires will help as much as anything.

What gears do you have? Limited slip diff?

What 60' times do you have now, and what would you like to have?

I had 2.24-2.25 consistently on my stock tires, 2.0x on better street tires, 1.9x on BFG dr's, and 1.8x on ET Streets.

[Seth]

The 3300 should get you a decent launch.

I'd do lca's to avoid wheel hop. The 1LE pieces are reasonably priced and do the job. Torque arm is probably more important for a manual trans to handle high-rev clutch dumps.

Some bfg dr's or some other type of stickier tire will require more in the rear suspension dept. too....

If you have some type of power adder (nitrous, FI) or healthy heads/cam setup, then playing with the springs and shocks might help, but without that I wouldn't worry about the springs and shocks that much.

Tires will help as much as anything.

What gears do you have? Limited slip diff?

What 60' times do you have now, and what would you like to have?

I had 2.24-2.25 consistently on my stock tires, 2.0x on better street tires, 1.9x on BFG dr's, and 1.8x on ET Streets.

I'm waiting on the FFF kit. I have mickey tompsons. I haven't taken my car to the track yet. I want my 1st run to hopefully be in the 12's. I have stock gears, planning on getting 3.73's with lsd shortly.