okay so i really wanna get crackin on my steering components..BUT
the A-Arms? should i sand and POR-15 those? and what should i replace under here??










help??

 

the sway bar bushings look a bit worn, but nothing else looks bad physically. if you're pulling out the a-arms to paint up, may be worth replacing the bushings and getting new ball joints pressed (safe yourself the hassle later on).

 

I'd start by replacing the tires, they look a little thin.

 

okay cool..do you know what size my sway bar is?? is it a 36mm? (WS6 package)
will probably replace the a-arm bushings///the ball joints...should i get that done or can i do it myself??

i kno...im trying to get all this stuff sorted out...cuz right now..it pulls to the left....any answers to why??? i got it re-aligned and he said my idler arm was bad?? what about tie rod sleeves?

 

hard to tell by looking... check every part of the steering linkage... if there is up and down movement then that means there is play.. and yes, idler arms go bad in these cars. Mine was f'd up when i got it, so i bought a complete steering linkage kit and voila. Pulling to the left could mean many things.. Is it when you brake or just while driving? And at what speed and in what lane... Also, when you went to the alignment place did they give you the specs that they dialed in on your car? Those specs are crucial in diagnosing these probs.. GM stock specs are somewhat shitty when it comes to alignment..

 

honestly if it were me i would replace everything under there....... its 20 plus years old and just begging for new parts....

 

I agree. I purchased a complete kit with polyurethane bushings. A new drag bar, springs and struts. Parts wise ran about $500 total. Just get it all done @ once and no more worries

It does wonders in response and handling. After that, the Wonder bar and strut bar.

 

i have the wonderbar and strut bar where can i find these linkage sets? ebay??

 

Ebay's got'em.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Poly-...Q5fAccessories

The thing is these kit's tend to have 2 upper ball joints instead of the 2 inner tie rods.

I got in contact with the seller and said the car takes 2 inner rods, does not come with the uppers. Since it was a custom kit, it was no problem

It's also a good idea to get a new drag link as well. It's another $50 or so...

Hope this helps

Adrian

 

I bought a-arm and sway bar bushing from energysuspensionparts.com They also have all the front end steering components you'd need. You can find parts on ebay as well.

being that you have an 89 GTA with a wonderbar, I'd bet it's a 36mm sway bar. (WS6 package) Small holes at the end of the sway bar, near the end links would confirm this.

I agree that you should replace all the 20+ year old components, especially since removing your a-arms gives you more access to all the suspension components.

 

this is what ive done suspension wise
WS6+ suspension
Spohn Front end rebuild kit with poly tie rods
UMI Adjustable Strut mounts
KYB GR-2 Front struts
KYB Gas-a-just rear shocks
Eibach Pro-kit lowering springs
New spring Isolators
36mm front sway bar with poly bushings
24mm rear sway bar with poly bushings
Stock painted A arms poly bushings and poly ball joints
new poly front and rear sway bar endlinks
Front K-member Braces
UMI Steering Brace
BMR Strut Tower brace
BMR weld in outer subframe connectors
Alstons weld in Inner subframe connectors
BMR non adjust Torque arm with poly bushing
Spohn On car Adjustable panhard bar poly bushings
J & M Street non adjust Lower Control Arms
aluminum driveshaft
Neapco brute force u-Joints

can you say world class handler.... by far the best handling car hands down ive eva been in...

 

oh and also i would get the spohn front end rebulid kit instead of that ebay kit....

 

We have VERY similar list of mods, but different brands.. Yours is definitely lower than mine tho. What tires do you have?

To the OP: Get a really good set of tires if you want to handle better.. That is one of the most important aspects of handling, if not the most... Mine made a WORLD of a difference

 

im running kuhmo ast tires.... they are actually a pretty good tire.... these are my everyday tires i want to get a set of nicer nitto tires when i wear these down... i thought about getting different rims and puttin fat 315 tires on but i just love my gta wheels so much......

 

Nah don't change ur rims, 245 thickness tires are fine for handling.. Most performance cars now come with tires about that size (but with 17's, 18's or sometimes bigger, but I think 16's are fine). I like the looks of stock IROCs or GTA wheels.. Just fits the cars so much better!

 

yes iroc and gta rims belongs on these cars..... i know good year makes a 255 50 16 tire for our rims... thats that biggest i can safely go with these rims... i just might snag a set of those......

 

Hey Mikey, Don't buy that cheap rebuild kit from EBAY, its probably mostly Chinesse junk. I would bet money those ball joint and tierods are crap in that kit. I would take the suggestion and buy Spohn's kit.

As for painting everything under there? Go to home depot and buy a few cans of good ol black epoxy appliance paint. Stuff does wonders and makes everythng nice looking. Epoxy paint lasts a long time. I spray all my cars with it, I have for years.

See you at the next meeting...

Dean

 

wow..thanks for all the info guys i really appreciate it..

Dean, definitely gonna get the spohn stuff then...hows hotchkis stuff?
and that paint, ill look into it...should i still sand off as much rust as possible?

@88fastgta
gonna use your mods posted above as a checklist thanks so much..

@hellz_wings
GTA and IROC rims are the way id keep em..maybe not tho if i had some spare mulah tho love my rims nontheless..but yeah..255's for me next time i buy tires..but my damn alignment is wearing em so fast...right? O.o

Mikey

 

hey mikey,

I don't know what you're alignment specs are so I can't really tell, but yes the more aggressive the alignment, generally the more you will wear them out, that's the compromise for performance alignment specs :P

Personally I have -1.0camber on both sides, +4.1L, +4.6 caster, and 3/32 toe in... This is pretty good for street racing and a good alignment for track, but you can go more aggressive if need be (probably requires more adjustable pieces, like strut to spindle adjustable bolts, and strut mounts that are more adjustable like J+M).

Also, I only know of the BFG Sports being a 255 tire for our size rims... The goodyear tires are only in 245 I think... I'm not 100% sure tho..

For the painting part, i'm not sure about Dean's paint suggestion, might be good or not, in my experience I've used POR15 over rusty sway bars and the pitman arm (degrease, and metal ready first as prep) and it turns out great. I started a thread on that project, i painted the whole car underneath. But it might be a big hassle for just a few parts. Up to you!

 

gonna check out the paint hopefully today...i have noooo idea what my specs are..wish i did maybe pep boys has em??

 

Por-15 will work great over rusted parts. I normally just surface sand if it's really coarse rust. Make sure you degrease, dry the parts, and wear gloves. That paint doesn't come off your skin until it wears off. Even paint thinner will not break it down easily. I wore it around for 2-3 days...

I degreased and painted over my WS6 sway bars. They turned out great. They don't have the preventive properties if it's not against the metal though.

Only times I've had issues was on fresh bare metal even the metal ready preparer didn't work 100%.

Other paint would work too. I used plain old rustolem epoxy can type on my SFCs after they were installed it worked but got a few scraps from rocks and stuff. Por-15 when done properly hardens extremely well. I have noticed there chassis top-coat is quite a bit softer finish though.

 

That POR15 is really necessary for those rusted out bad wheather state cars back East and up north where they get alot of salt on the road for deicing.
Mikey, you have a nice clean So Calf car with just very minor surface corrosion which is normal. Its more of an oxidization rust, not deeper like the bad wheather cars. Just lightly sand things, wipe them down with acetone and spray the black epoxy on them after the acetone evorates in about 5 minutes.

Everything you see under my cars has been done with black epoxy. This shot of my Camaro was painted about two years old and driven daily from when I had sprayed the undercarraige. This stuff is strong. Thats why they use it on appliances because it is very chip proof and durable to wet conditions. It just gives the car a natural unmolested look after about a week of driving. Just plain factory clean look...and its inexpensive.

POR15 is Pour Over Rust. It is designed for corroded surfaces and seasoned metal. It is a bandaaid fix to hide very corroded parts that are pitted and erroded, yours is not. Its a waste of money for what you need.

 

okay...thanks dean.. and thanks fireturd 350..
Dean, will rustoleum undercoating work?? i saw it today autozone..
regardless im still gonna get the stuff you recommended..
and yeah in socal, theres like hardly ever any snow...so no salt..

 

Dean,

POR15 is good for bare clean metal as well, and if put on properly, the metal will never rust again or the rest of its life.. For a so-cal car I'm sure you guys will probably never need this but up in Canada, or anywhere it snows and they use salt on the roads, POR-15 is definitely the most "extreme" rust preventor. (And yes, it's meant to paint over rust so the rust will never expand, ever. But it works just as good on bare metal, and no need to sand.. ).

 

Ive used it several times on retoration projects that came from out of state. I just used it on a 55 Bel Air two weeks ago to samd grind weld and fix a raidator support.
Mikey does not need it. his car is not that bad looking compared to alot I have seen on these boards. Just a little surface sanding and epoxy.

 

Dean: Righto. I guess as long as you sand the rust as soon as it starts and paint it's all good.

Hey Mikey, any luck with the alignment specs? I'm curious to see what ur at! :P

 

nahh...ill call pep boys today..

 

do yourself a favor and get all moog stuff for the steering components. and then energy suspension bushings

 

It's just easier and problem solved..

 

mismatched and or shitty tires will give you a pull to one side .also the brakes dragging will also give you a pull.your tires look shitty...............im suprised they lined it up like that.

you better watch out for water with that air cleaner where you have it mounted.
i have seen so many cars hydro-locked from that type of setup.

 

thats wut ive been told but in cali..we really dont get rain too often so i just dont drive the few days outta the year it rains...
yes i kno my tires are gone..lol..
anyone have a link for a moog kit?? or a list of parts i need to get??

 

idler arm, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, ball joints, sway bar bushings, sway bar end links

 

okay cool..and with those i should be set??

(are you brando from RKC?) lol..

 

Front steering components (that wear over time):
idler arm
centerlink
inner tie rods
outer tie rods
ball joints
control arm bushings
sway bar bushings
sway bar end links
strut mount (get J+M, spohn, racecraft, or UMI... stock strut mounts are rubber).
struts and shocks (also, very important, has to match with springs tho)
Springs (if stock, they are sagging and are probably not optimal for handling...)
Tires (get a good set of tires, don't cheap out on these)

Other things to improve handling/steering:
frame connectors (inner and outer.. I have both.. They tie in different points of the chassis for different benefits)
torque arm (del sphere, adjustable to get the right pinion angle)
panhard bar (del sphere, adjustable to center rear)
lower control arms (del sphere, adjustable)
lower control arm relocation brackets (weld in)
u-joint on shaft (instead of rag joint to eliminate slop in steering)
steering box (better, lighter weight versions)
strut tower brace (2pt or 3pt.. apparently 3pt is better cuz it reduces fore and aft flexing of the strut towers, not on lateral flex)

Start with replacing components that wear and tear and work from there.. But have an overall goal and don't do bit by bit, i did that and ended up replacing good parts after changing my mind several times, that costs money..

 

thanks soooo much i appreciate it..