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Here is an informative post from moi about a lot of the common suspension questions that are out there. Hopefully this will help those of you asking old questions looking for good answers from someone knowledgeable [img]smile.gif[/img] I am gearing this specifically for road handling, not necessarily autoX or drag racing. If you have a specific question in an area, that is what the forum is for... Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's clear a few things up.
Our suspension:
For those who don't know we have an independent front and a dependent (live) solid rear axle. This means that many guides you will find online will not completely apply to how our car handles and how suspension changes work (i.e. swaybars). As far as handling improvement goes, we have several things which can be modified.
Shocks:
First and foremost this is the one item which must be replaced if you seek good handling, performance, and comfort. The stock shocks are good, not great, but do not tend to last much longer than 25,000 miles before they're at least 50% worn. They can be cheaply replaced by getting take-offs from SLP, or can be permenantly replaced with options ranging from $250-1000.
If you don't know what to get, you almost cannot go wrong with normal Bilstein HDs. They will work great for almost all setups (at least better than stock for sure) and will outlast the car. For $300 they're a bargain. As an option, if you have specific needs, Sam Strano at www.stranoparts.com will revalve them for you at a cost and send them to you as custom shocks for your application.
For adjustable shocks, Koni SAs and DAs (Single and Double adjustables) are the other good option. KYB makes a set of AGX shocks that are "adjustable" however they don't adjust in the same way that Koni's do and are pretty worthless for someone in need of an adjustable shock. I recommend going with Bilsteins or Konis, they are both tried and true shock replacements and can be used for any setup and work very well.
Springs:
Replacing springs is a funny catagory. Most people replace springs purely for looks - they want the car lower, and they think a stiffer spring will make the car "handle better." Well, if you must lower your car there are a myriad of good options for lowering it.
The main thing to keep in mind with springs is that the shocks MUST BE MATCHED or else the car will not ride well at all and is actually UNSAFE to drive. Please get new shocks when/if you change your springs!
The other item to consider is that by changing springs you will make the ride harsher. Many of the Fbody problems ride/handling wise can be fixed simply by getting better shocks. The stock springs support the weight of the car adaquetely and are comfortable to ride on... Shocks and swaybars can accomplish almost everything that springs can in a much more tuneable way!
Swaybars:
The endless debate. If you have a late model car you have a 28/15mm setup. If you have an earlier car you have a 30/17mm setup. Either way, I feel the stock swaybar setup is inadequete.
Front bar options:
28/30/32/35
Rear bar options:
15/17/19/21/22/24/25
I do not recommend exceeding 21mm in the rear on V6s unless you know what you're doing and that it is exactly what you need.
Another note about swaybars - unless you're fond of pretty things and are willing to pay for them, the GM bar selection is fine. They are painted mild steel and function well. The 32 and 21 bars are hollow and light for their size, and inexpensive. Being black they also don't look conspicuous to dealers or service people [img]smile.gif[/img] . I recommend staying away from BMR bars because they're solid, heavy, and expensive.
Rear Axle Stuff:
LCAs, Panhard... Both of these control axle placement. Many cars do not even have a panhard rod, so consider yourself lucky and look under a grand marquis sometime for a good laugh!
The main thing with these is bushing design. Despite what advertisements lead you to believe, the stock LCAs and Panhard rod are very strong steel and do not flex. The problems people have with wheel-hop whether it's lateral or longitudinal is all a bushing issue.
For bushings we have 3 kinds: Rod-end, Poly, Hard rubber, Soft rubber. Stock of course uses soft rubber, it is cheap and rides well and makes no noise. 1LE LCAs and PHRs are identical to stock but come with hard rubber bushings, and they are very hard rubber. The dense rubber is almost like poly, but without the binding problems, and doesn't require regular greasing.
Poly bushings and rod ends are an entirely different catagory however. Poly bushings are hard as rocks, do not allow for any twist, and under hard cornering make the rear LCAs function as a big swaybar (eliminating body roll to the extent of danger). If you drive your car on the street, I recommend staying away from poly. This does not mean rod is much better though, it is just different!
I've owned several kinds of rod-ended rear LCAs. I've had the doubles, the single with poly, and always I used high quality rod-ends. Nevertheless, after about 8,000 miles of daily driving, they would be noisy over all expansion joints and speedbumps, and just generally drove me nuts for a daily driver forcing me back to the stock LCAs. I recommend only going with rod-ends if you literally do not care about noise and want zero bind for turning. They work wonderfully in autocross and handling, and tend to hold up well if checked on a regular basis. Please do be careful with your choice of manufacturer though - I recommend G2 for the highest quality ones on the market.
Tires will be found in another catagory all its own, please look for it in the near future.
Our suspension:
For those who don't know we have an independent front and a dependent (live) solid rear axle. This means that many guides you will find online will not completely apply to how our car handles and how suspension changes work (i.e. swaybars). As far as handling improvement goes, we have several things which can be modified.
Shocks:
First and foremost this is the one item which must be replaced if you seek good handling, performance, and comfort. The stock shocks are good, not great, but do not tend to last much longer than 25,000 miles before they're at least 50% worn. They can be cheaply replaced by getting take-offs from SLP, or can be permenantly replaced with options ranging from $250-1000.
If you don't know what to get, you almost cannot go wrong with normal Bilstein HDs. They will work great for almost all setups (at least better than stock for sure) and will outlast the car. For $300 they're a bargain. As an option, if you have specific needs, Sam Strano at www.stranoparts.com will revalve them for you at a cost and send them to you as custom shocks for your application.
For adjustable shocks, Koni SAs and DAs (Single and Double adjustables) are the other good option. KYB makes a set of AGX shocks that are "adjustable" however they don't adjust in the same way that Koni's do and are pretty worthless for someone in need of an adjustable shock. I recommend going with Bilsteins or Konis, they are both tried and true shock replacements and can be used for any setup and work very well.
Springs:
Replacing springs is a funny catagory. Most people replace springs purely for looks - they want the car lower, and they think a stiffer spring will make the car "handle better." Well, if you must lower your car there are a myriad of good options for lowering it.
The main thing to keep in mind with springs is that the shocks MUST BE MATCHED or else the car will not ride well at all and is actually UNSAFE to drive. Please get new shocks when/if you change your springs!
The other item to consider is that by changing springs you will make the ride harsher. Many of the Fbody problems ride/handling wise can be fixed simply by getting better shocks. The stock springs support the weight of the car adaquetely and are comfortable to ride on... Shocks and swaybars can accomplish almost everything that springs can in a much more tuneable way!
Swaybars:
The endless debate. If you have a late model car you have a 28/15mm setup. If you have an earlier car you have a 30/17mm setup. Either way, I feel the stock swaybar setup is inadequete.
Front bar options:
28/30/32/35
Rear bar options:
15/17/19/21/22/24/25
I do not recommend exceeding 21mm in the rear on V6s unless you know what you're doing and that it is exactly what you need.
Another note about swaybars - unless you're fond of pretty things and are willing to pay for them, the GM bar selection is fine. They are painted mild steel and function well. The 32 and 21 bars are hollow and light for their size, and inexpensive. Being black they also don't look conspicuous to dealers or service people [img]smile.gif[/img] . I recommend staying away from BMR bars because they're solid, heavy, and expensive.
Rear Axle Stuff:
LCAs, Panhard... Both of these control axle placement. Many cars do not even have a panhard rod, so consider yourself lucky and look under a grand marquis sometime for a good laugh!
The main thing with these is bushing design. Despite what advertisements lead you to believe, the stock LCAs and Panhard rod are very strong steel and do not flex. The problems people have with wheel-hop whether it's lateral or longitudinal is all a bushing issue.
For bushings we have 3 kinds: Rod-end, Poly, Hard rubber, Soft rubber. Stock of course uses soft rubber, it is cheap and rides well and makes no noise. 1LE LCAs and PHRs are identical to stock but come with hard rubber bushings, and they are very hard rubber. The dense rubber is almost like poly, but without the binding problems, and doesn't require regular greasing.
Poly bushings and rod ends are an entirely different catagory however. Poly bushings are hard as rocks, do not allow for any twist, and under hard cornering make the rear LCAs function as a big swaybar (eliminating body roll to the extent of danger). If you drive your car on the street, I recommend staying away from poly. This does not mean rod is much better though, it is just different!
I've owned several kinds of rod-ended rear LCAs. I've had the doubles, the single with poly, and always I used high quality rod-ends. Nevertheless, after about 8,000 miles of daily driving, they would be noisy over all expansion joints and speedbumps, and just generally drove me nuts for a daily driver forcing me back to the stock LCAs. I recommend only going with rod-ends if you literally do not care about noise and want zero bind for turning. They work wonderfully in autocross and handling, and tend to hold up well if checked on a regular basis. Please do be careful with your choice of manufacturer though - I recommend G2 for the highest quality ones on the market.
Tires will be found in another catagory all its own, please look for it in the near future.
