I have a 1986 trans am 5.0 v8 tpi fi. It was made later in the year so it has 1987 exhaust system and i'm not sure what else it might have from 87.

I'm completely new to the suspension area.

I'm curious about upgrading my trans am's suspension.

I know there's tons of parts and I'd rather buy a kit or two that has majority of what I need.

Probably a front kit and rear kit.

What kits or companies can i trust that is dependable and affordable on a small budget like 500-1000 bucks?

I just dont want to over spend and buy somethign that probably won't make a noticable difference.

I want my car to handle better then stock. Its my new project car and I need to be able to fun in it and trust it.

any suggestions i'm all ears.

 

shocks and struts
tires
alignment.

3 biggest gains to be made. Alignment is the only cheap one.

Koni yellow struts are in the $500 dollar range for just fronts. I believe www.hotpart.com has the best prices. Bilstiens are the second choice for shocks/and struts/ for these cars, but some aftermarket parts don't work with these struts(strut mounts come to mind)

Tires. Best you can afford here. If you're on on 16" rims i'll let someone else chime in as to good tires are available.

Alignment.
Max positive caster (somewhere in the 5-6 degrees positive range).
-0.5 to -1.0 camber(Im running negative 0.75 degrees)
Toe, zero toe is a good start

Of course this is assuming that all of your stock parts are in good condition.

 

yea struts, sway bars, springs and bushing kits. besides those anything else i should look into if doesn't cost too much? Not looking for a race car jsut tweaking and making my car alittle more reliable after having over 100,000 miles on it.


thanks for the info. anyone else have any suggestions?

 

come on guys no one else has upgraded their suspension? Just looking for a little insight and be nudged in the right direction.

 

Well do you have those things covered already? If not thats where you need to start. Those are where the biggest gains are to be found, after that step is when you can start fine tuning things...and its all not cheap. Gotta pay to play.

 

i got nothing yet. alll stock alll rusted stock. Just asking where i should go to where i can get the best prices and besides the first things come to mind am i missing anything?. But so far from what has been said i'll start there and see what happens

just curious what other people have done.
like i said i'm tryign to race the thing just get it lookign good and handling well.

thanks
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not trying to race the car i missed the NOT part just a nice daily driver that can handle some fun.

 

1) Make sure all your ball joints tie rod ends and bushings are good
(so Polyurethane bushings, and new tie rod ends & balljoints)

2) Get some decent shocks and Struts

3) Get Prokit or Sportline springs ( depending on how low u want it) and LCA
relocation brackets from spohn or BMR . New LCA are nice too

4) Get a good alignment ( your gonna need to get an alignment if you change any of the above so do them all at once Plus then you only need to rip your suspension apart the one time ) (Just so no one gets mad you can get away with changing out the springs without getting an alignment)

5) Get subframe connectors

6) get a wonderbar

7) Strut tower brace

8) maybe new sway bars

That's how I'd do it but to be honest when I redid my car I did all those all at once ( minus new sway bars).

 

ok perfect i ask and i recieve. Thanks a bunch! that will be my project either before or after i get my new paint job in the spring. Thanks again

 

Springs depend on how much you are wanting from the car. Most people I know who are serious about cornering don't really like the pro-kit. I'm going to go with custom springs (rates and ride heights) as soon as possible.
The best things you can do is shocks/struts, stiffen the body (SFCs, Wonder bar), good tires, freshen the steering in the front, maybe replace the steering box (I need to), replace ALL the bushings. And, poly isn't always the best.

 

any online company you guys prefer or recommend?