Does anyone know anything about the F41 suspension option('85)??? and can you tell me if it's better than my 85 Z28's suspension

Thanks

 

i believe it's pretty much the base model set up ,nothing special about it, but i'm not 100% sure.

 

I think the F41 is a poor man's Z28. The F41 includes positraction, four-wheel discs (with the infamous rear calipers), a handling package and quick ratio steering. I upgraded to 1LE (although the LCAs appeared to be the same as my originals).

 

F41 suspension is the middle of the road setup, it has firmer springs and shocks and larger swaybars, but not much else. My 91' F41 RS does not have a wonderbar, posi, or 4-wheel discs. Its just a step up from the soft base suspension.

 

My Camaro ('84) is a factory F41 car. It came with 32/18mm sways (base cars came with 30/no rear), 4 wheel discs, 3.08 posi, and the quicker ratio steering (same as a 5L HO car).

The suspension itself when I bought the car (5 years old) was fine, added IROC wheels and it handled just as good as the IROC at the time. So it was definitely a step up in stiffness (spings were probably Z28 spec'd).

I know the posi, Z28 cloth interior, guage package, and auto trans were all available options, but the F41 was the kicker that allowed you to get the rear discs on the base camaro. Of course the discs sucked, but they did work ok (when they worked).

I would say the F41 suspension only differs in rear sway bar diameter (Z28 came with 21mm) and the aluminum wheels (base camaros all came with steel wheels in '85 - as far as I know, even F41 cars). Just upgrading the rear sway bar and wheels would give you Z28 suspension.

You could upgrade to IROC parts using 34mm front/23mm rear bars, wonder bar, and 16" rubber - the springs are just slightly stiffer than the Z springs. Or you could go one step higher than the IROC with 36mm front/24mm rear (WS6 bars), wonder bar, lowering springs, and 17" rubber. I know you didn't ask, but you probably are curious how to upgrade.

FYI: wonder bar only came on IROCS in 1985 (I had one). Not every F41 car (I have seen a few without them) had 4 wheel discs - my friend's girl had an '84 F41 with rear drums.

One thing I am not sure of if the option was available on firebirds - the TA had the WS6 as an option. I would think the Firebird SE would have had it - some came with HO motors and 5 speeds that hauled the goods.

 

Thats a ton of info, thanks for your help. I was curious about the F41 b/c I bought a parts car for $100 and it had F41 suspension, but i'll probably go with the step above iroc.:hail:

 

F-41 did not include a posi or rear discs. Just sway bars front and back.

 

My '91 RS is an F41 and here's what I know:

Springs: BZW front/ NNL rear, same as my '88 Iroc came with
34mm hollow front/ 21mm rear solid sway bars
16" wheels w/ 245-50-16s but that may be another RPO coded option
No wonder bar
10 bolt open 2.73 rearend
Disc/drum brakes

Ed