bspencer18

I recently got a Z28 and wanting upgrade her as much as possible, so I want to put a new suspension on front and back, so far this is what I planned, if I left anything out please let me know.

Shock/Springs front/back

2 Front, Left, Right Brakeoverstock Drilled and Slotted Brake Rotors

2 Front, Left, Right Red Powder Coated Calipers

1 Front, Left, Right Set of Brakeoverstock Ceramic Brake Pads



(Front End)
2 Front Lower Ball Joints
2 Inner Tie Rods:
Front Upper Ball Joints:
2 Outer Tie Rod Ends:
2 Adjusting Sleeves:
1 Idler Arm:
Drag Link
Wonder Bar

(Rear End)
Lower Control Arms
Sway Bar
New Break Pads and Shoes on Drums


Thanks in advance.

tglennon11

iTrader: (2)

Congrats on the new car!

Hit the stickies at the top of this forum for the front end rebuild list, but just as an FYI- These cars have struts up front, so no upper ball joint. Being your car is already a Z28 it should have the wonder bar(steering brace) up front, it is mounted at the same points as the sway bar. And you should also already have a rear sway bar.

I used rock**to for all of my parts, they had the best prices shipped to my door for new moog parts. Searching here will net you a 5% off coupon.

You probably also want to add new bushings all around as well, sway bar end links. If you plan on lowering the car look into an adjustable pan hard rod, once you are under the car you will see how it works and why it needs to adjust.

Really at the end of the day searching is your best friend, all of this info is here somewhere, this seems to be a pretty recurring theme.

bspencer18

Thanks for input, about the front end its a 12 piece set that had all the upper and lower bushings included. About the rear sway bar and wonder bar will putting a new one on make difference?

87 Camaro Dude

Changing to a new wonder bar won't make a difference, and changing to the same size rear sway bar won't make a difference. Changing just the rear size will effect the balance of your car.

RED85TPI

Make sure you get very expensive front UPPER ball joints! They make a huge difference!

plum92_camaro

To the OP, what are you upgrading the car for? street? autoX? Road racing? Drag racing? A combination of these things?

Building a suspension is just like building and engine. If you don't use the right combination of parts they won't work together properly and the performance will suffer.

2 Front Lower Ball Joints, 2 Inner Tie Rods, Front Upper Ball Joints, 2 Outer Tie Rod Ends, 1 Idler Arm, Drag Link- Use Moog. Order from summit, Jegs, or Rockatuo. it will be over $100 cheaper than you local parts store.
2 Adjusting Sleeves-Might as well get the heavy duty ones by Hotchkis, QA1, UMI or whoever.
Wonder Bar- They are all the same except the TopDown Solutions bar has 3 holes on each end.

(Rear End)
Lower Control Arms-What you use the car for acutallly makes a big difference in what material bushings you should order with these. Relocation brackets are a must with these.
Sway Bar-Stock sway bars are more than adequate, the 36/24mm combo is the most desired but again it depends on what you do with the car.

For you brakes, spend a little time in the brake section, there are some great options for installing 4thgen, corvette, cts-v, or 5thgen brakes.

And why aren't subframe connectors on your list?

WTR388

Here is my "poor boy" set up. I just want a well handling car without spending lots of money. 87 T/A with an LS1/T56. I have weld in BMR subframe connectors, and what a huge change that was on it's own.
I have an Astro/Safari van steering shaft that I have to clock and then install it.

I'll be using this kit and adding their ball joints in: http://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992-...GM-F-Body.html
I'll likely be using Pro-kit lowering springs.
I'll be getting KYB AGX shocks/struts from rock auto (cheapest I've found)
This should be a better driving set up from stock.

I might also get an adjustable panhard bar from BMR. I'm using BMR because I hope to eventually use their panhard bar brace relocation brace so I can run dual exhaust through the stock location.
I'll also end up with poly/rod LCAs with relocation brackets.

For brakes, I'm going with the C5 kit from big brake upgrades. Rears I'll likely stick to the rear LS1 brakes when I get whatever rear end I get.