I used to think my car handle amazing, but have grown up a lil more now and realize its lacking.

My current set up involes some 17x9.5 f and 17x11 rears
full bistiens (stock HD valving)
Pro kit
BMR, STB, SFC, LCAs, PHR, 32/21mm sway bars, K-member, lower A-arms
energy suspension poly bushing every where
and a rag joint eliminator

Now i noticed i have alot body roll, nose dive in braking and i guess over all its just feeling sloppy overall.

I am thinking coil overs but dont know want Spring rate works best.
I read about ~25 post and saw that people were running anywhere from 400# to 650# in the front and 100#-200# in the back
Now im totally clueless here. I hate to pick some thing and be unbalanced or not be "tuned" to my opther componets like sway bars.

I was also thinking of upgrading my 32mm to a 35mm. ppl who have done this, is there a diference? you like it? any cons?

And lastly, I always had thought TQ arms were from drag racing. what will putting a tracklink or simular do for me? it it worth it?

THANKS GUYS!

 

Save yourself a lot of guessing and aggravation ... call Sam Strano Jr. .... you tell him what you have, what you want and how much you're willing to spend and he will put a package together for you that will work.

That's the route I took, and absolutely love the results ....and my autoX results prove it worked.

I'm specifically not telling you what my package is as my starting point, goals and budget may have been completely different than yours.

 

Good response ... it really is all about driver preference.

Some like softer springs and big sways, while others like a stiffer spring and smaller sways.

I tried the big bar with G2 springs and it was too much in the front., for my style.

I have since went to 315s on the front, so I might give it another shot.

 

I may give sam straino another chance. I called him last year and kept getting his wife. She said he would call me back, and he never did. I must have call 10 times and she told me he was busy and he would give me a call. never did hear from him.


any other sugjestions?

 

Let me apologize for that. It's amazing how much I'm on the phone when I'm willing to dole out free advice. My average phone call with F-body guys has got to be at least 30 minutes. I'm pretty much on the phone from the time I get here, until I leave.

However, I make it point to try and call everyone back. I just do not have time to make 5, 6, and 7 return calls. But normally, given the time I call back at least twice and always leave messages if there is a machine. If that didn't happen, I'm sorry. I hope you can understand how hard it is for me to keep up with the calls, be on these boards, and answer normal parts calls all at the same time.

In reading your first post. It looks to me like you need to start with the front shocks or the bar. You need to determine which by driving the car and paying close attention to it. It's this simple: Is it body roll that bothers you, or the roll rate? Lane-changes, turning into corners, steering response, or any other action that causes the body to change direction is something that is roll-rate related. May not believe it, but slowing it down with better damping makes people feel like the car rolls less overall. THAT'S how important shocks are. If you think that's fine, and the car just leans too much IN THE MIDDLE of a corner, then the bar would take precedence.

That's not to say a bar doesn't help the roll-rate, it does just by keeping the car flatter. Less roll means less noticable roll rate.

 

I understand about the business, you are a very well known, very highly recomended when it comes to this stuff, and im sure that keep you at a very high work load.
I need to go take some corners to see witch one it is specifically, but from memory, i think its both but mostly amount of roll.
I think i want the 35mm in the front and some straight rate springs all around. this would of course mean i would get the shocks revalved to the springs.
I just dont know what rates to get? What do you base this decision on, ride quality? application? or other suspension componets? Or all of the above?

Basically what i want it a car that feels flat through all the turns, and braking. I dont mind going extreme in the ride quality, like on a scale of 1-10; 1 being stock camaro and 10 being race car, Im a 7 or 8.

 

Make sure first. I'm 100% sure that 80% of the issue is a lack of damping. The choices of parts will be based on all of the above questions.... Ask around, you'll find that there are a LOT of folks that learned how much better the car can be without springs (much to their surprise). That's not to say you might not want to add springs. But it's something we need to talk about first.

 

500lb springs and revalved Bilstein shocks in front with a 35mm bar.

It rode MUCH MUCH better than Hotchkiss springs (similar to the BMR) and KYB AGX shocks.

The shocks made all the difference. Those springs should have been a bit stiffer feeling than the progressives.

And another thing is that maybe the shocks are more agressive than others. Maybe yours would ride a little better. I told Sam from the beginning that I wanted the car to be as fast as possible and did not care about ride quality.

BTW a rough ride is NOT part of a good handling car. I just autox the car ALOT and that was the most important part.