Hey guys, I am fully rebuilding my suspension and drivetrain, and right now making a list of everything I need. So far I am pretty good about all the major, important stuff (i.e. tranny, rear, springs, LCAs...), but going through the rest of the stuff, I had a few questions.

- Found wheel bearings, but I am curious if some of them are made better than others (performance, or last longer) Or should I just go to advance auto and get replacements for $15 a piece?

- I can't find any site that sells rubber/poly spring insulators for front/rears. Even went to autozone and napa sites.

- Also can't find the spring retainer, those rubber triangular pieces that attach to the front a-arm

As always, any info you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated :hail:

 

I am in the middle of the suspension rebuild myself. I got a good name brand bearing rather than the generic ones, wasn't really that much price difference.

You can still get the GM front insulators, but the rears are discontinued. You can get the 4th gen rears, but they are thicker. I got new fronts from GM, but will reuse the rears, do not want to add height.

I believe that you are referring to the rubber bumpers on the lower control arms? If so, then there are replacements made by moog. Got mine through Summit.

Also try searching these boards, there is a ton of info to include part numbers. I did a lot of that before I bought any parts.

 

Thanks wilyk,

Yeah, I am doing the same thing now. Going through every single piece and figuring where I will get them.

That's pretty bad that no one makes spring insulators anymore. I figured with all the poly stuff out there, some should be selling a set of those. Good thing I didn't throw anything out from my car, but my insulators are in pretty bad shape.

Can you take 4th gen ones and trim them down or something? It is rubber after all.

About the bearings, what brand names should I look for? Just want to make sure that when I see a name on one of those, it is actually a reputable one.

Thanks a lot

 

actaully, theres metal inside the isolators, dont know how much though

if you want to buy bearings locally, autozone stocks timken and advance has federal mogul (bca) i got my bca ones from rock auto for a decent price. just makes sure if you have a ws6 car, you order ones for a non ws6, they have it as 1LE. i emailed them about it but i never checked to see if they changed it

 

The info that I have on the rear insulators is from thirdgen threads (haven't pulled mine yet), but I think that the 4th gen rears are formed, not flat, so trimming may be difficult. Also, I seem to remember reading that there is a steel inner core on them. Haven't actually pulled my rears out yet, just the fronts, so I do not know their condition. The fronts were pretty good, but I'm replacing them anyways since they were so inexpensive.
I do recall in one of the threads though that someone mentioned an aftermarket poly set, but I think that there were fitment issues. Maybe someone else could shed some light. After all, mine may be in poor shape when I pull them, and I will be looking for rears myself.

As far as the bearings go, I got Timken. Have had good experience with them in the past. They were about $10 each vs the generics which were about $6 each if memory serves me correctly. AutoZone prices.

 

-I only use TImken bearings, they're just damn good. For a non-1LE car, you need Set 34 (Outer) and Set 6 (Inner).

-Energy Suspension should (by now) offer the poly front spring isolators for our cars. I posted the P/N sometime back. I kept waiting on them to arrive from Summit but wound up using OEM GM front isolators.

-The front isolators are rubber only, no steel in them. The stock rear isolators DO have a steel core in them. Don't use 4th gen rear isolaotrs as they are way too thick to let the car sit right, I've posted that issue before also.

-The triangluar pieces on the A-arm are bump stops and can be had from Energy Suspension on poly, P/N 9-9150, GM style

http://www.energysuspension.com/bsp2.html


Click the link in my sig for more info on it.

Ed

 

Thanks guys, this is a lot of great info here.

I checked out energysuspension site and it looks like they have a lot of spring insulators, but you have to measure the ones you have and then hope they will have matching ones.

(so any chance someone has measurements of those donut things?)

ebmiller, how is 1LE setup different from regular cars? My car is 88 camaro (non-IROC), but I am planning to go with bigger/better brakes and use skulte wheel adapters. I was hoping stock bearing replacement would fit. Do I need something different?

 

I measured my stock ones in this thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...light=isolator

The ES style you want for the fronts is style A, I mentioned that in the above thread: "...you would need part #9.6108 or 9.6120. The old one is about 1/4" thick..."

As for the 1LE package, it included a baffled gas tank, aluminum driveshaft, harder suspension bushings, and 12" brakes and PBR dual piston calipers...that covers most of it. If you're looking for bigger brakes, look into the C4 or C5 big brake upgrades. They're more eocnomical than the 1LE setup and will give you a rotor/hub combo which makes rotor swaps a breeze and you won't have to mess with bearings every time you change them. Search under "brake upgrade" or my ID. For a good brake upgrade comparison, read the LS1 brake upgrade thread in the FAQ forum. All major brake upgrades are compared on the first page.


Ed