Hey there, I am just about to dump a ****load of money into my suspension. I have been reading the threads on here for a long time, and I think I have a pretty good setup, for my needs/wants. So here it is, and by all means, give me your honest opinion on everything, I need your experience! thanks.

By the way, I have a vortec headed 355 ready to go in that dynoed 432 horsepower @ 5900 RPM, 440 torque @ 4400 RPM, so I obviously should upgrade my chassis' guts to utilize as much engine potential as possible. B-)

I am not wanting to build a car that is best on the drag strip, I actually would rather sacrifice time on the 'strip for a better handling car in the corners. I don't want to AutoX mind you, but ya, comfortable dragstrip times, good road handling. basically what 80% of the guys on here want

Here is my product list, I'm posting URL's for every item to make it easier if you need a refresh:


3.73 9 bolt Borg Warner Posi outta the parts IROC (my 9 bolt 3.45 is toast. last guy that owned the car ran it out of oil somehow, and burned it all to crap)

Tokico HP Shocks/Struts
http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/car/performance.html

Moog OEM Replacement Spring Set (Spohn's set)
http://www.spohn.net/product.cfm?productid=1404

P-S-T Front End Polygraphite Rebuild Kit
http://www.p-s-t.com/gm/gmfekpg.html#CHEVROLET

ALSO on Front end Rebuild:
New Upper Strut Mount Plates (Stock Replacement)

recommend anything more on the Front end rebuild???

Spohn Lower Control Arms - Tubular with Poly Bushings
http://www.spohn.net/product.cfm?productid=1292

Spohn Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets
http://www.spohn.net/product.cfm?productid=1290

Jegster Adjustable Torque Arm
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...07&prmenbr=361

Jegster Subframe Connectors (I will weld these in, and stitch-weld the sides)
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...05&prmenbr=361

Jegster Adjustable Panhard Rod
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...06&prmenbr=361

Suspension Techniques Sway Bar Set
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...71&prmenbr=361

And to top it all off:
Jegster 8 Point Roll Bar Kit
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...96&prmenbr=361

NOTES:
I know I might catch some crap for using alot of jegster stuff, but hey, this is why I posted in here. I like the Jegster stuff, but if you think it sucks, convince me what's good!

The Roll Bar is going to have the Main Hoop Triangular brace bars that go to the transmission tunnel DEFINATELY installed, to brace the shorter Jegster torque arm, and the SFC's (if they have the extra side peice that runs toward the tranny tunnel)

PLEASE reccomend a good strut tower brace that will work with a carbed setup, and a good wonderbar. these 2 items I am still not sure on.

If I forgot anything, I'll post it up too.
Have fun, and keep the arguments clean!

thanks!

 

And another thing about the Jegster torque arm... It doesn't mount on the tranny, which is good, cuz I KNOW i'm gonna bust the T5 to shreds, even though it is freshly rebuilt. So when it gernades, I'm gonna swap in a T56, which would most likely mean a new torque arm in most tranny mount torque arm applications.

 

a couple of things.

shock/struts. get better ones. if anything, spend your money here. think koni or bilstein or the higher line of tokico, you are going to want a high quality damper in there.

the springs will be ok, i tend to prefer more spring than stock replacements, but they are a descent springs.

for the front end rebuild stuff, check out This Post

now, the one thing i don't like in that list, is the torque arm. it says 2/3 shorter than stock, helps a drag racer get out of the hole, yes, helps you get around corners, or brake hard. no. really the spohn arm is one of the better designs out there. i also beleive UnbalancedEngineering is close to finishing their de-coupled design

 

do you have any other recommendations for springs? I have an 87 IROC, the springs are pretty good units in it as is, and I don't want to lower the car... maybe the Pro Kit at the most.

I thought the tokico HP was basically an illumina on setting 3?? Read that somewhere around here awhile back.

I suppose your right on the Torque arm, I had those thoughts as well, but I ALSO read around here somewhere posts from people that use them on the street raving about how much better they bite. I would think this would be the same "Bite" in cornering as well??

In hard braking I can understand wheel hop being induced, but how are the forces a torque arm relays really different when in a corner or going in a straight line? some sort of lateral motion come into play? I'm in the dark about that one...

 

yes it will bite, you have match forward bite, with braking, and not unsetteling the car at the same time. a top-fueler bites too, but i am not going to try to turn with it. with the shorter torque arm, you change the IC of the rear suspension, you are going to get more weight transfer, we tend to not like weight transfer for cornering. it makes the car too easy to get upset. now if that arm is too short, i dont' know, i have never driven a car with that arm, so i can't say for sure exactly how the car is going to behave. but if it was my money, it wouldn't be going into that arm.

 

Good point with the top fueler there
Ok, I actually understand now. The weight transfer in corners explainatoin thing turned the light on upstairs.

take a look at this thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ghlight=tokico

what part number springs are in the Spohn Moog springs?

 

i don't know what springs the spohns are.

the other option here would be to go to something like the ground-control setup, then you can set your own ride height, with any spring rate you want.

 

Alright, I'll call spohn, and if they're the same as the one's recommended in that other thread I posted up, I'll get em. if not, it's off to napa

I think I'm just gonna leave the torque arm alone now, until I actually do put in a t56. then I'll buy either the Unbalanced Engineering de-coupled (was just reading about that... cool idea!) torque arm, or the spohn t56 arm.

what all is involved in boxing in the stock arm (for now)? Any tech articles, or well known threads covering this issue?

What do y'all thing of the Jegs SFC's? I think they are a good piece, but they don't have the extra bit on the sides that say, the Kenny Brown SFC have. Should that make a big diff? I can always weld on that piece myself, from scrap.

I know this has been covered before, but on the roll bar is there a good difference between welding the front door bars that weld to the main hoop down to the SFC, or just welding them to the included 6X6 plate? I don't think that would be NHRA legal to weld to the SFC, unless you chopped a hole in the floorboard, welded it to the SFC, and then cut/welded that included 6" plate over the hole, to make it look like it's welded to the plate. Or am I wrong? Is it perfectly NHRA legal to weld directly on to the SFC, and not the floor?

ONE more question. how does welding to the SFC affect the safety factor in having a roll bar? I mean, yes it does stiffen up the chassis, but with T-Tops, I would like to know it's gonna hold up if I ever was to put the shiny side down.