What are some things to improve the ride quality on my '89 Vert? I see that spohn has a lot to offer but I don't really know much about the chassis or suspension stuff. I was thinking of possibly switching out the stock k-member and putting in spohn's tubular k-member and their tubular a-arms. I also seen that they had a coil over suspension conversion but I don't know if it is supposed to be better than stock? Also would a new panhard bar steering brace be a good choice thanks for your help.

 

Best thing to do out of anything for a convertible is subframe connectors. top-downsolutions.com has a very good product.

Also, strut tower brace, aftermarket shocks and struts, and springs should come next. I've got the KYB shocks and struts, not the best thing out there but definatly nice for the price.

An adjustable panhard bar would be a good addition, but get one with the poly/rod end combo. Poly/poly is too slushy and will wiggle around under pressure. And a rod/rod setup will make a lot of annoying noise that you don't want for a car that gets driven.

Lower control arms would be a good thing too, again, don't get the poly/poly ones. Same reason.

 

I agree with most things you said except... The use of rod ends on street cars. I had poly/rod end LCAs from Spohn and they clunked badly in less than a year. I had to switch to poly/poly. They sounded like a bucket of bolts. The poly are much stiffer than the factory rubber, and will serve him well.

 

I've done everything in the posts above to my car except for changing springs.

I recently acquired the WS6 springs from a TransAM.

If I swap in these in place of the stock springs that came on my RS what would be the result.

Would it Lower the car any?
Would I realize any improvement in handling.

How much rougher would the ride be than what I have now, and in your opinion(s) is the harsher ride even worth it?

I have the IROC Swaybars now with the RS Springs. Running FAT Z Rated tires it corners like nobody's business now, but it doesn't really beat you to death going down the road.

To the originator of this thread - I'm not really trying to hijack your thread. This looked like somethign you would also be interested in...

I'm trying to decide If I really want to change out the springs. Your opinions are appreciated.

THANKS!
Speey

 

Speedy,
I still have my RS springs and wonder the same thing.

 

So far, I've done the following:

Spohn Tubular front A-arms w/ spring perches
Tokico shocks, struts and lowering springs
Spohn poly/rod adj. PHR
Spohn poly/rod adj. lower control arms

These have made a world of difference, and I would reccomend them to anyone. I'll let you know about coilovers when I switch to them this winter. And I have Spohn SFCs sitting at home waiting to be installed.

 

I already have sub frame connectors, strut tower brace, LCA's, newer shocks and struts. But I want my frame to be more stiff. Has anyone switched to the tubular k-member and the tubular A-arms? I would like to see what kind of improvement that has made for them.

 

im not sure you would feel any ride improvement but you would prolly drop about 85 lbs or more off the front end if you changed out the lower control arms and k member which would = better weight distribution
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oohh and from what i hear you definatly gain more clearance for headers and such

 

The parts I have are:
Kenny Brown SFCs
Three point strut tower brace( Edelbrock)
Steering brace by Top Down Solutions
The Following, All poly/ tubular parts by Spohn:
A Arms ,with spring mounts
Ajustable Torque Arm / Trans cross member
Panhard Rod
Lower control arms.

Also poly sway bar mounts
KYB GR2 shocks and struts.
17x8 and 17x9.5 wheels 245/45/17 and 275/40/17 tires

With this set up my car goes around corners like it's on rails! With the RS springs the ride isn't bad as camaros go. The tubular A arms did not take the flex out of the car. It did make the steering crisp. A tubular front cross member also won't do it. It also won't save you 85 lbs. The factory stamped steel unit only weighs about 40-50 lbs.
The flex problem is with the floor pan. To fix it it would take a roll cage . Or a large X brace under the car if you could figure out how to fab up and install one.

 

Just to let you guys know, my powder-coater got the colors reversed when he coated my last batch of these SFC's. As a result I've got a TON (OK, slight exaggeration) of the gloss red powder-coated SFC's in stock and few gloss black. I've eliminated the normal $12 adder for Gloss Red. So for the moment you can get gloss red for the same price as gloss black.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

How much did you have to cut the KB SFC's to make them fit properly?

Does anyone know if KB still makes the 3-point strut brace for our cars?

 

my bad bmr's website says exactly how much weight you will save it said something like 50 lbs with tubular a arms and k member and if you do the manual rack and pinion coversion loses an aditional 28-36 lbs i over exagerated a little bit http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F3-chassis.htm

 

I did not have to cut them at all. But I got mine many years ago. I have heard that later ones had to be cut.
I don't know if they still make the brace.

 

I checked out the BMR link you posted.
I think BMR is a little loose with their math / weights. My Spohn A arms are only about a pound lighter than the factory units. I can't figure how you could cut out 10 lbs off each one. Man they must be thin!

 

The clunking you experienced was most likely the result of not having it tightened enough. If you put it on there with an impact wrench with a lot of air pressure behind it, it won't clunk around.

 

Are you kidding?... I hope you are kidding. Without going into my resume, I know how to tighten a bolt. I just wanted to share my experience with Rod end LCAs. And save others the expense of buying LCAs twice. You can take or leave it it' up to you.

 

...nope, that wasn't my kidding face actually.


No need to get an attitude with me I was only explaining something.

 

Blue Zee, You got mail.