AssaulT/A

Hello all,

After letting it languish for about 6 years, i’ve started to daily drive my 86 Trans Am again, and i’ve started to fall back in love with the car. I got it in high school, about 11 years ago, and drove it for about 5 years before buying another vehicle.

I would love to hear some opinions on the best bang for your buck suspension improvements for a daily driven commuter car that sees the occasional weekend rip. I would hesitate to make it too harsh of a ride, nor do I feel the need to spend a bunch of money to get the “best of the best”.

The car has about 300k miles on it, so undoubtedly there is some potential for improvement. There is some play in the gearbox that needs adjusted, and i have 17x9 wheels that may be contributing to the “dart-iness” of the steering. Especially going through bumps, the car will jump around and grab ruts in the road. I also plan on installing new s-10 control arms to obtain new bushings and ball joints as a baseline. Any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks!

skinny z

When I resurrected a couple of 3rd gens, an 86 IROC and my current 86 Sport Coupe, the 1st order of business was to replace the steering gear. All of it.
I also re-bushed the A-arms (the IROC with rubber and the Coupe with Delrin) and put in ball-joints.
The rear control arms where replaced with boxed pieces (such as Edelbrocks square tube offering). Replacing the bushings in the OEM I think would be a minimum.
The Coupe needed a steering gear box so in went a Rock Auto special (buyer beware!!)
Shocks and struts too.

At the end of the day, it was tight and ready for a proper alignment. And by proper I mean not the General's spec but one that won't burn the tires up with poor geometry.
Hot rodding followed shortly thereafter.
Better chassis components: Torque arm, panhard bar. The Coupe needed a wonder bar too.
LS swapped brakes all around.
Etc.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Add to that, ALL sway bar rubber. All 4 bushings, all 4 end links. Use poly such as Energy Suspension. For pure bang-for-the-buck, those are at the top of the list.

AssaulT/A

I appreciate the feedback.

A question about springs: do the stock ones "wear out"? I assume there may be some amount of spring sag due to metal fatigue. I'm not really interested in lowering the car, i already have several spots that are hard to navigate without scraping. Would it be worth it to replace the springs with stock height replacements like MOOG?

skinny z

Yes sir. Those too.
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blacksunshine'91

iTrader: (10)

Ditto for the bushings that Sofa recommended. If you're gearbox is sloppy, I recommend getting the original rebuilt by Marty at powersteering.com. He does great work.

Also, installing subframe connectors should be pretty high on the list of things to do. It will help everything suspension/steering related in a positive way.

skinny z

That too although as far as restoring a daily driver goes it may be over and above the call of duty so to speak. That said, I've found mine to be an excellent upgrade.

My understanding is that although a coil spring may sag over time, it's rate doesn't change.
So that brings about a more complex answer than the simple questions asks.
There's data here at thirdgen that'll give you an idea of what "stock" fender heights are with a given combination of OEM options. Then tire diameter gets in the way too so interpreting that information might take some doing.
Swapping in a spring, like for like, may not be as simple as to what it first appears.
Then of course, there's what the ultimate use for your car might be.
Me? I wanted lower and paid little attention to spring rates and went with a popular catalogue offering of the day. The springs (Intrax) combined with the front and rear sway bars (IROC versions) and my choice of shocks and struts yielded an overall ride that I'm quite happy with. It doesn't conquer any given field of expertise like best for autocross or drag racing, but gave a very satisfactory overall result. Unless, as I've been told, you're the 3rd passenger and are in the back seat.
Not much of an answer I know as it really all depends.

AssaulT/A

I did install some subframe connectors years ago (spohn, i think) and i remember being astounded that I could now jack the car up without the door being pinched closed due to body flex haha.

regarding rear suspension, are the stock arms likely to flex enough to be noticeable on a daily driver? Wondering about the cost/effort breakdown of replacing with aftermarket tubular ones that come with new bushings

skinny z

Apparently yes. There are plenty of offerings depending on the end use.
The again what's your definition of daily driver?
For the 100 bucks, I'd say why not?
If you want to compare it to the cost and labour of buying bushings and installing them, $60 gets you Energy Suspension polyurethane but there's still a re and re involved plus the bushing installation itself. For the additional $40 I'd buy them assembled and ready to go.
Personally, being a drag racer with sticky tires (and a fair weather daily driver for a number of years) I figured any element of control would be worth it from a tuning standpoint.

AssaulT/A

I did some shopping around for control arms…how fast would rod ends wear out on a daily driven car? And aren’t they extra noisy?

blacksunshine'91

iTrader: (10)

I've had rod ends on my rear LCAs for years. No issues.

skinny z

I can't say I've any experience with them. But reading further...


There's a real world answer.

I do know they have improved articulation and if you're into road racing (parking lot or closed course) then I can see the benefit. Then again, at more than double the cost, budget-wise, there's the original question of "Point of Diminishing Returns".

Reddragon88gta

When I was going through the suspension on my car I kept the stock front springs as they seemed to be fine (verified by a trusted mechanic at the yearly safety inspection) but the rears I replaced with AC Delco's and the ride improvement was noticed immediately, especially on roadway surface changes it felt more planted with less bounce and that was just swapping the rear springs. I am also running KYB Excel G all the way around for shock/struts and they are good for a daily driver IMO. If ride height changed after the rear spring switch it was not very noticeable as I was trying to avoid radically altering ride height.

The only suspension mod I didn't recall seeing that is good for a daily driver is the Wonder Bar, it should tighten up the front a bit but more importantly IMO to preserve the integrity of the steering box mount which has been known to crack or fatigue. The IROC came standard with it and the GTA/TA with 16's should have but didn't. Lon over at www.Topdownsolutions.com sells a nice one for under a $100 but they can be found all over. To second the other guys poly end links and bushings are great too.

blacksunshine'91

iTrader: (10)

Good point. I forgot about the wonderbar. If you get one, I agree with getting the one from Lon at TDS. His is clearly the best one on the market. I combined mine with a strut tower brace as well. Those two items really helped firm up the front end in hard corners. I went with the BMR simply because I liked the look and it fits the TPI nicely. Here's a pic of my '92 with it on there.



And my '91 GTA

AssaulT/A

hey, when i was 18 those looked awesome! And honestly i still don’t hate them…but i dont love them either

AssaulT/A

I appreciate the feedback on the springs…i’m no metallurgist, but I would imagine that 40 years of bouncing could change a spring’s performance.

i’ve also been considering a Wonderbar, but i know the car was in an accident before I got it, so i’m a little suspicious the subframe is tweaked and it won’t line up.

skinny z

As mentioned in post #2, a wonder bar is a necessary upgrade if you don't have it already.
I'm no historian but I think a TA that came with 16" wheels gets a bar as OEM equipment. My IROC did. The Coupe on the other hand with it's original 15" wheels, did not.

blacksunshine'91

iTrader: (10)

No, for some reason, only the Camaros got it. No idea why.

skinny z

Hmm. It's been so long since I actually had a TA, I don't recall how it was outfitted. I do remember it came with the WS6 suspension package . Also an carbed 305 (CDN), T5 and Borg Warner 9 bolt with 3.70 gears. Ultimately refitted with a 502 BBC and TKO500. It languishes in my nephews garage to this day...