156K Mile Suspension

Yes, that is right, I just turned over 156K miles and 13 years and I am still on the stock springs/deCarbons as far as I know.

It is time to upgrade. I am doing LS1 brakes here pretty soon and getting a PST front end rebuild bushing kit. I am still on the fence on what shocks/springs to get, and I have read and searched a lot.

I am getting long tubes/true duals soon, so I can't really sacrifice ground clearance at all. I never auto-x and I go to the drag strip very rarely, so I just need a solid street ride.

Suggestions?

There isn't really one perfect setup... I'm basically in the same boat you are in...

I've decided to stay with the stock springs,
Bilstein HD's for shocks
ST 35mm front sway bar
new rubber bushings all around
New ball joints
New outer tie rod ends
New (reman) rack & pinion
LS1 front brake upgrade

My reasons for going that route are
I daily drive my Z 300+ miles per week and comfort on less than perfect roads is important to me.
I want the car to feel a bit more sporty in the corners even though most of the time I'm driving long straight lines...
I wanted to maintain the stock ground clearence
I wanted to reduce the body roll in corners
I wanted better stopping than I am getting with the stock brakes
I want to eliminate the play in my steering...

Just my reasons... Each driver and application will vary...

Yeah, that is probably where I was more leaning too on shocks/springs.

Are you going with the revalved or just regular Bilstein HDs?

Sam's revalve Bilsteins are supposed to be awesome especially if you are going with higher than stock spring rates and or lowering your Z... He'll need to know what specific springs you plan on running to match up the valving...

The regular Bilstein HD's are supposed to be a pretty good match for the stock springs.

The front SLP Bilsteins are a bit lighter on the compression dampening but offer significantly more rebound dampening than the regular HDs... They were valved specifically for the SLP level 1 springs though... I don't know how well they would match up with the LT1 front springs... The rears are the same as the regular HD's

There are better (lighter) front sway bars on the market, but the ST 35mm bar fits my budget which unfortunately got partly eaten up by the need to replace the rack & pinion... I guess I shouldn't complain as you have to expect to have some parts wearing out after 12 years... It still would be nice if the only parts that ever wore out were things I want to upgrade...

Cool, I don't plan on lowering at all, so the regular HD's probably will be great with some stock replacement springs.

That helps my budget out a LOT.

For what it's worth... Unless you think there's something wrong with your stock springs... I wouldn't replace them... If you do want to replace them, SLP was selling take off springs for like $50 per set... I'm keeping my stock springs... They're not sagging or anything like that...

I think my springs are pretty saggy. I scrape my loudmouth going over speedbumps.

Could be... Could be that your shocks are just completely shot as well...

Good point. Do springs really ever go bad anyways? If so how do you tell?

Yes, they can. They'll sag if they're bad, but f-bodies are known to sit lower in the right rear reguarless of good springs.

Background: '93 T/A with 111k miles on it. Just purchased a LS1 brake upgrade kit and want to make sure I don't need to replace anything else in the steering/suspension before I put it all on and pay for an alignment. The car is running original shocks/springs and I think a ball joint _may_ have been replaced. What should I inspect? I'm primarily wondering about ball joints, bushings, shocks, etc.

One more thing--for a while my steering was hard to turn at idle... Giving it a little gas helps restore power to the steering... Power steering fluid was drained and replaced when I did my heads prior to the problem starting to occur. It's been better lately (2 months later) after slightly topping off fluid. The pump did drop about 18" onto the concrete when I was taking it out. Do you think I may have just insufficiently bled the line on reassembly or is this the sign of a failing power steering pump and/or rack and pinion assembly.

Thanks,

TinyMite

I got 161k on my LT1 car.

I have replaced the Tie rod ends.
ST 35mm
And revalves and 3rd gens in the rear..

I'm going a little different for my LS1 setup.

Stock springs are fine...
Just get a front BAR. I would get the ST 35mm or the STrano 35mm HOllow..thats what I'm going with now...it weighs about half of the ST bar..price is 189 or 179.

If your sticking with stock springs on a budget go with the HD's hard to beat. Just remember your essential increase spring rates with the front bar and thats really pushing the HD"s but for 80% of people I don't think they would really notice.

Shocks are what makes the difference in these cars.

I like the ride of my LT1 and it handles well.

If your a one a budget don't race really, but want a more solid road here is what I would do.

1. Shocks-Hds 319.00 be and be done
2. If you want more Revalues be front bar. 775 or so
3. Koni SA and front and rear Bars. Should be very nice 1250 or so

1. Shocks-Hds 319.00 be and be done
2. If you want more Revalues be front bar. 775 or so
3. Koni SA and front and rear Bars. Should be very nice 1250 or so


A few points.....

HD's aren't $319 most anywhere I can think of, the price went up a few months ago. I sell them for $349/set.

Revalves are $530/set (Hd's + plus the revalving for your use).

My front bar is $199, and it is literally half the weight of the ST bar (14 vs. 27lbs).

Koni's and Strano bars (rear is also hollow) start @ $1104 (internally adjustable rear shocks) and $1207 for the Koni's with the externally adjustable (easier/quicker to change) rear shocks.