I want my handling back! Any suggestions?
10-23-2007, 01:14 AM
#16
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Johnstown,PA, USA (Flood City)
Posts: 294
!!!!!!UPDATE:10/07
Here`s my thoughts on what I`ve done. Maybe it could help some RR newbies.
First off, when I started looking into changing things I did talk to Sam Strano. He offered some great advice and spent alot of time on the phone with me answering some questions. He is well known in the RR/AX community and is very successful w/ his Camaro. Thank You again Sam! The fellas at FRRAX.com were also a great help too. They`ve been there/done that.
After about 4 years of a slow transition from street/drag car to street/open track RR car, I finally got it to a point where I went to BeaveRun 8/07. Let me say open track road racing is way, way more fun than blasts down the drag strip. Don`t get me wrong I love to beat on my car at the drags, (a week after the RR, I beat my hot rod at Pittsburgh Raceway Park) but the thrill is so short lived....while I had (3) 20 minute sessions at the Beav'. Flying into corners one car length behind the guy in front of you is a blast. Coming out of corners with a car that has great power like mine does really gives you a rush as you feel the engine go through it`s powerband. And then there`s braking!
Here`s what I got:
-Strano front anti-roll bar, stock rear: going a tad bigger on the rear for next year, too much rear roll
-Eibach ProKit with Koni SA shocks; These are a good balance for the primary use of street. Like Sam said, atleast get great shocks.
-OE front control arm bushings; these still are like new condition, car only has 33K miles, underneath still looks new. As you can see street car first, no poly harshness/bind.
-TrackBrackets (Bob Bishop) C5 `Vette front brakes w/ GM rotors, Hawk HT10 pads, Severn ducts; Rear: stock brakes w/ Hawk HP+ pads. The brakes worked flawlessly. I could have used them harder. I run GM Durastop Ceramics/PF pads on the street.
-AFS ZR1 17x9 fronts w/ Nitto NT555 street tires; AFS 17x11 rears w/ Nitto 315 drag radials. Stepping up to some sticky race rubber for next year.
-LG Motorsports aluminum rear LCA w/ rod ends, Spohn CM panhard bar w/ rod ends.
If you want your FBody to have a rear suspension that....works, get rod end on the rear. Yeah, more harsh for the street, but I`m so used to it now, I never notice it.
Going from Hotchkis poly LCAs and PHB to the rod ended components was huge. I was shocked at how well planted, stable, etc. the rear was even on the street. It has no compromises with it`s range of motion. Do these first!!
-Car is a full weight power optioned Z28, no leather, t-tops
-subframe connectors, and stock torque arm, Unbalanced Engineering Rag Joint eliminator, Turn One power steering pump ( you need this to RR), street/RR alignment:more caster,(EDIT: LESS camber!)camber. GM`s alignment specs SUCK. More aggressive (to a point) specs will not kill your tires. H2O and Watter Wetter, Mobil 1 5W40.
-382HP SAE(see sig), M6, OE 10 bolt (sold Currie 9")4:10s, Torsen T2R diff, Fidanza aluminum FW; car has plenty of power to get one into trouble.
-bigger oil cooler coming this winter, OE "heat exchanger" not enough=270* oil temps
Here`s something I`m going to throw out that just contradicts only a little bit of what many RR vets say:
They tell you to not worry about upgrading some stuff on your car, but to spend the money on track experience. That in itself is fantastic advice, get the driver to be better than the car is capable of. Work on your driving skills! But, I will say by having my car prepped, atleast with much better brakes and some suspension, gave me a lot of confidence. I couldn`t imagine taking a dead stock LT1 Fbod on on the track.
I knew my car was super stable at high speeds and under braking because of the various upgrades. Not to mention it was reliable, with only elevated water/oil temps (it was 90+* and high humidity that day, the absolute worse conditions I had envisioned thru 3+ years of prep!) BeaveRun is 100 miles away from my house.
Going through corners and hustling the car was awesome. It was planted (rear rod ends!) and did not have any surprises. Under heavy braking the car was straight as an arrow. Going from my buddy`s bone stock suspension/brake Formula (or even his bro`s 02 WS6) to my car is night/day difference. Much more stable.
I had a great instructor and he did not hold me back, in fact he sometimes was pushing me. He said I drove my car to 8/10s of its potential. I have alot of room for improvement and I can`t wait till next year to do it again.
Here`s my thoughts on what I`ve done. Maybe it could help some RR newbies.
First off, when I started looking into changing things I did talk to Sam Strano. He offered some great advice and spent alot of time on the phone with me answering some questions. He is well known in the RR/AX community and is very successful w/ his Camaro. Thank You again Sam! The fellas at FRRAX.com were also a great help too. They`ve been there/done that.
After about 4 years of a slow transition from street/drag car to street/open track RR car, I finally got it to a point where I went to BeaveRun 8/07. Let me say open track road racing is way, way more fun than blasts down the drag strip. Don`t get me wrong I love to beat on my car at the drags, (a week after the RR, I beat my hot rod at Pittsburgh Raceway Park) but the thrill is so short lived....while I had (3) 20 minute sessions at the Beav'. Flying into corners one car length behind the guy in front of you is a blast. Coming out of corners with a car that has great power like mine does really gives you a rush as you feel the engine go through it`s powerband. And then there`s braking!
Here`s what I got:
-Strano front anti-roll bar, stock rear: going a tad bigger on the rear for next year, too much rear roll
-Eibach ProKit with Koni SA shocks; These are a good balance for the primary use of street. Like Sam said, atleast get great shocks.
-OE front control arm bushings; these still are like new condition, car only has 33K miles, underneath still looks new. As you can see street car first, no poly harshness/bind.
-TrackBrackets (Bob Bishop) C5 `Vette front brakes w/ GM rotors, Hawk HT10 pads, Severn ducts; Rear: stock brakes w/ Hawk HP+ pads. The brakes worked flawlessly. I could have used them harder. I run GM Durastop Ceramics/PF pads on the street.
-AFS ZR1 17x9 fronts w/ Nitto NT555 street tires; AFS 17x11 rears w/ Nitto 315 drag radials. Stepping up to some sticky race rubber for next year.
-LG Motorsports aluminum rear LCA w/ rod ends, Spohn CM panhard bar w/ rod ends.
If you want your FBody to have a rear suspension that....works, get rod end on the rear. Yeah, more harsh for the street, but I`m so used to it now, I never notice it.
Going from Hotchkis poly LCAs and PHB to the rod ended components was huge. I was shocked at how well planted, stable, etc. the rear was even on the street. It has no compromises with it`s range of motion. Do these first!!
-Car is a full weight power optioned Z28, no leather, t-tops
-subframe connectors, and stock torque arm, Unbalanced Engineering Rag Joint eliminator, Turn One power steering pump ( you need this to RR), street/RR alignment:more caster,(EDIT: LESS camber!)camber. GM`s alignment specs SUCK. More aggressive (to a point) specs will not kill your tires. H2O and Watter Wetter, Mobil 1 5W40.
-382HP SAE(see sig), M6, OE 10 bolt (sold Currie 9")4:10s, Torsen T2R diff, Fidanza aluminum FW; car has plenty of power to get one into trouble.
-bigger oil cooler coming this winter, OE "heat exchanger" not enough=270* oil temps
Here`s something I`m going to throw out that just contradicts only a little bit of what many RR vets say:
They tell you to not worry about upgrading some stuff on your car, but to spend the money on track experience. That in itself is fantastic advice, get the driver to be better than the car is capable of. Work on your driving skills! But, I will say by having my car prepped, atleast with much better brakes and some suspension, gave me a lot of confidence. I couldn`t imagine taking a dead stock LT1 Fbod on on the track.
I knew my car was super stable at high speeds and under braking because of the various upgrades. Not to mention it was reliable, with only elevated water/oil temps (it was 90+* and high humidity that day, the absolute worse conditions I had envisioned thru 3+ years of prep!) BeaveRun is 100 miles away from my house.
Going through corners and hustling the car was awesome. It was planted (rear rod ends!) and did not have any surprises. Under heavy braking the car was straight as an arrow. Going from my buddy`s bone stock suspension/brake Formula (or even his bro`s 02 WS6) to my car is night/day difference. Much more stable.
I had a great instructor and he did not hold me back, in fact he sometimes was pushing me. He said I drove my car to 8/10s of its potential. I have alot of room for improvement and I can`t wait till next year to do it again.
Last edited by cdb95z28; 10-25-2007 at 08:23 PM. Reason: Less Camber typo
10-23-2007, 02:38 PM
#17
Registered User
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto, Ontario - Canada
Posts: 410
Hey Chad - good to hear you had a good time at the track! not sure if you remember me, but im the guy that bought the ST35mm front bar from you a couple of years ago. I didnt have a chance to play at all this year, but Im going to make it out for a lapping day at mosport on saturday.
Mike.
Mike.
!!!!!!UPDATE:10/07
Here`s my thoughts on what I`ve done. Maybe it could help some RR newbies.
First off, when I started looking into changing things I did talk to Sam Strano. He offered some great advice and spent alot of time on the phone with me answering some questions. He is well known in the RR/AX community and is very successful w/ his Camaro. Thank You again Sam! The fellas at FRRAX.com were also a great help too. They`ve been there/done that.
After about 4 years of a slow transition from street/drag car to street/open track RR car, I finally got it to a point where I went to BeaveRun 8/07. Let me say open track road racing is way, way more fun than blasts down the drag strip. Don`t get me wrong I love to beat on my car at the drags, (a week after the RR, I beat my hot rod at Pittsburgh Raceway Park) but the thrill is so short lived....while I had (3) 20 minute sessions at the Beav'. Flying into corners one car length behind the guy in front of you is a blast. Coming out of corners with a car that has great power like mine does really gives you a rush as you feel the engine go through it`s powerband. And then there`s braking!
Here`s what I got:
-Strano front anti-roll bar, stock rear: going a tad bigger on the rear for next year, too much rear roll
-Eibach ProKit with Koni SA shocks; These are a good balance for the primary use of street. Like Sam said, atleast get great shocks.
-OE front control arm bushings; these still are like new condition, car only has 33K miles, underneath still looks new. As you can see street car first, no poly harshness/bind.
-TrackBrackets (Bob Bishop) C5 `Vette front brakes w/ GM rotors, Hawk HT10 pads, Severn ducts; Rear: stock brakes w/ Hawk HP+ pads. The brakes worked flawlessly. I could have used them harder. I run GM Durastop Ceramics/PF pads on the street.
-AFS ZR1 17x9 fronts w/ Nitto NT555 street tires; AFS 17x11 rears w/ Nitto 315 drag radials. Stepping up to some sticky race rubber for next year.
-LG Motorsports aluminum rear LCA w/ rod ends, Spohn CM panhard bar w/ rod ends.
If you want your FBody to have a rear suspension that....works, get rod end on the rear. Yeah, more harsh for the street, but I`m so used to it now, I never notice it.
Going from Hotchkis poly LCAs and PHB to the rod ended components was huge. I was shocked at how well planted, stable, etc. the rear was even on the street. It has no compromises with it`s range of motion. Do these first!!
-Car is a full weight power optioned Z28, no leather, t-tops
-subframe connectors, and stock torque arm, Unbalanced Engineering Rag Joint eliminator, Turn One power steering pump ( you need this to RR), street/RR alignment:more caster,camber. GM`s alignment specs SUCK. More aggressive (to a point) specs will not kill your tires. H2O and Watter Wetter, Mobil 1 5W40.
-382HP SAE(see sig), M6, OE 10 bolt (sold Currie 9")4:10s, Torsen T2R diff, Fidanza aluminum FW; car has plenty of power to get one into trouble.
-bigger oil cooler coming this winter, OE "heat exchanger" not enough=270* oil temps
Here`s something I`m going to throw out that just contradicts only a little bit of what many RR vets say:
They tell you to not worry about upgrading some stuff on your car, but to spend the money on track experience. That in itself is fantastic advice, get the driver to be better than the car is capable of. Work on your driving skills! But, I will say by having my car prepped, atleast with much better brakes and some suspension, gave me a lot of confidence. I couldn`t imagine taking a dead stock LT1 Fbod on on the track.
I knew my car was super stable at high speeds and under braking because of the various upgrades. Not to mention it was reliable, with only elevated water/oil temps (it was 90+* and high humidity that day, the absolute worse conditions I had envisioned thru 3+ years of prep!) BeaveRun is 100 miles away from my house.
Going through corners and hustling the car was awesome. It was planted (rear rod ends!) and did not have any surprises. Under heavy braking the car was straight as an arrow. Going from my buddy`s bone stock suspension/brake Formula (or even his bro`s 02 WS6) to my car is night/day difference. Much more stable.
I had a great instructor and he did not hold me back, in fact he sometimes was pushing me. He said I drove my car to 8/10s of its potential. I have alot of room for improvement and I can`t wait till next year to do it again.
Here`s my thoughts on what I`ve done. Maybe it could help some RR newbies.
First off, when I started looking into changing things I did talk to Sam Strano. He offered some great advice and spent alot of time on the phone with me answering some questions. He is well known in the RR/AX community and is very successful w/ his Camaro. Thank You again Sam! The fellas at FRRAX.com were also a great help too. They`ve been there/done that.
After about 4 years of a slow transition from street/drag car to street/open track RR car, I finally got it to a point where I went to BeaveRun 8/07. Let me say open track road racing is way, way more fun than blasts down the drag strip. Don`t get me wrong I love to beat on my car at the drags, (a week after the RR, I beat my hot rod at Pittsburgh Raceway Park) but the thrill is so short lived....while I had (3) 20 minute sessions at the Beav'. Flying into corners one car length behind the guy in front of you is a blast. Coming out of corners with a car that has great power like mine does really gives you a rush as you feel the engine go through it`s powerband. And then there`s braking!
Here`s what I got:
-Strano front anti-roll bar, stock rear: going a tad bigger on the rear for next year, too much rear roll
-Eibach ProKit with Koni SA shocks; These are a good balance for the primary use of street. Like Sam said, atleast get great shocks.
-OE front control arm bushings; these still are like new condition, car only has 33K miles, underneath still looks new. As you can see street car first, no poly harshness/bind.
-TrackBrackets (Bob Bishop) C5 `Vette front brakes w/ GM rotors, Hawk HT10 pads, Severn ducts; Rear: stock brakes w/ Hawk HP+ pads. The brakes worked flawlessly. I could have used them harder. I run GM Durastop Ceramics/PF pads on the street.
-AFS ZR1 17x9 fronts w/ Nitto NT555 street tires; AFS 17x11 rears w/ Nitto 315 drag radials. Stepping up to some sticky race rubber for next year.
-LG Motorsports aluminum rear LCA w/ rod ends, Spohn CM panhard bar w/ rod ends.
If you want your FBody to have a rear suspension that....works, get rod end on the rear. Yeah, more harsh for the street, but I`m so used to it now, I never notice it.
Going from Hotchkis poly LCAs and PHB to the rod ended components was huge. I was shocked at how well planted, stable, etc. the rear was even on the street. It has no compromises with it`s range of motion. Do these first!!
-Car is a full weight power optioned Z28, no leather, t-tops
-subframe connectors, and stock torque arm, Unbalanced Engineering Rag Joint eliminator, Turn One power steering pump ( you need this to RR), street/RR alignment:more caster,camber. GM`s alignment specs SUCK. More aggressive (to a point) specs will not kill your tires. H2O and Watter Wetter, Mobil 1 5W40.
-382HP SAE(see sig), M6, OE 10 bolt (sold Currie 9")4:10s, Torsen T2R diff, Fidanza aluminum FW; car has plenty of power to get one into trouble.
-bigger oil cooler coming this winter, OE "heat exchanger" not enough=270* oil temps
Here`s something I`m going to throw out that just contradicts only a little bit of what many RR vets say:
They tell you to not worry about upgrading some stuff on your car, but to spend the money on track experience. That in itself is fantastic advice, get the driver to be better than the car is capable of. Work on your driving skills! But, I will say by having my car prepped, atleast with much better brakes and some suspension, gave me a lot of confidence. I couldn`t imagine taking a dead stock LT1 Fbod on on the track.
I knew my car was super stable at high speeds and under braking because of the various upgrades. Not to mention it was reliable, with only elevated water/oil temps (it was 90+* and high humidity that day, the absolute worse conditions I had envisioned thru 3+ years of prep!) BeaveRun is 100 miles away from my house.
Going through corners and hustling the car was awesome. It was planted (rear rod ends!) and did not have any surprises. Under heavy braking the car was straight as an arrow. Going from my buddy`s bone stock suspension/brake Formula (or even his bro`s 02 WS6) to my car is night/day difference. Much more stable.
I had a great instructor and he did not hold me back, in fact he sometimes was pushing me. He said I drove my car to 8/10s of its potential. I have alot of room for improvement and I can`t wait till next year to do it again.
10-25-2007, 08:21 PM
#18
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Johnstown,PA, USA (Flood City)
Posts: 294
Hey Michael, of course I remember! Good to hear from you.
Mosport would be a great track day. Maybe you could show Ron Fellows a thing or two!
Too bad winter`s knocking at our door, time to put the hot rods away.
BTW,I like your Sig
Let me know how Mosport was.
-Chad
Mosport would be a great track day. Maybe you could show Ron Fellows a thing or two!
Too bad winter`s knocking at our door, time to put the hot rods away.
BTW,I like your Sig
Let me know how Mosport was.
-Chad
11-02-2007, 01:23 PM
#20
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
Posts: 24
Quick side-note:
I just replaced the bushings on my SHO.
Last time i replaced them, I tightened the bushings with the car still on jacks. When the inside front tire unloaded, the car bobbled a bit. This time, I tightened them in the proper 'loaded' position - tires on the ground. What a difference! The suspension doesn't want to drop that inside front anymore and the bobble is gone!
Just anther tip.
TankII
I just replaced the bushings on my SHO.
Last time i replaced them, I tightened the bushings with the car still on jacks. When the inside front tire unloaded, the car bobbled a bit. This time, I tightened them in the proper 'loaded' position - tires on the ground. What a difference! The suspension doesn't want to drop that inside front anymore and the bobble is gone!
Just anther tip.
TankII
11-02-2007, 02:48 PM
#21
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Johnstown,PA, USA (Flood City)
Posts: 294
eibach prokit springs are truly crap. get strano springs, coilovers w/ your choice of spring, or stick to stock
Springs alone don`t make or break the handling.
11-02-2007, 08:44 PM
#22
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Orlando, Fl
Posts: 246
I'm running the Strano springs now and they work great but I ran Eibach Pro Kit springs for several years and they were anything but crap, way better than stock. Shocks are very important to the combination so they are a big part of the equation. It's all about the proper combination.
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