Hi, I'm wondering what the hot setup for suspension is? Any brands to stay away from? KYB a decent setup? Any info will be helpful. I do not want a super firm ride as this is for a daily driver and my streets are rough, just want to drop it a bit and eliminate the huge wheel gap. Thanks!

 

I really like Spohn...all there parts fit very well, awesome customer service, they make every suspension part for our cars. On my setup I went with full Spohn all around, front to rear. All chromoly, red, with spherical rod ends...good stuff...though if its a DD you may not want spherical rods ends, they are a little noisy.

I'm sure many will agree to go with Spohn.

 

Call up Sam Strano and tell him what you want. He'll get you set up.

 

Do you have a set budget limit, and how much are you willing to spend?
Do you care if the suspension components induce added noise?

 

How much are you looking to drop it exactly? You don't HAVE to have lowering springs. You could buy Koni SA shocks, use the lower perch in front, that will lower by 3/4", and do the heater hose mod in the rear, you remove the rubber spring isolators at top and put some heater hose on the spring to keep it from making noise, I believe that drops it about 1/2".

 

Thanks guys! Checked out both Spohn and Strano, nice stuff indeed.

bluz28, yes I do have a modest budget of $500 or less for shocks and springs, hence the mention of KYB as their setup runs about $350. As for noise, I had not thought of that...Do all aftermarket suspension make noise or just some? I assumed they would be quiet like OEM, is this not the case?

jaguar5822, looking to drop an inch or so. It currently has about a 3" gap in back and 2" up front. Wheels are 16" w/235/55/16 with about 40-50% tread remaining.

I am looking into larger rims and tires as a possibility too. If I go 17" with 255/50/17 I gain 1" in height and may not need to mess with suspension as the gap would be reduced. The dealership tells me $35 or so to recalibrate the computer/speedometer for the added tire height.

What do you guys think? Is an aftermarket suspension the way to go? Some say the best money they ever spent was on suspension.

 

Hey, I think that at your budget level, you should piece together your suspension over time as money allows. Look at getting some revalved bilstein shocks from Strano, and either springs from him, or possibly some eibachs with low miles on them if you really need to do it cheap. You will also need an adjustable panhard rod to center the rear end, although there are people out there who lower their cars without it, I wouldn't recommend doing so. Again, you can get the panhard used if you're on a tight budget. I don't think that size tire is a good choice, it's going to be 28" instead of stock 26.2", and the sidewall is 5.5" compared to 5.1 stock. That's going to give you worse handling IMO, and might rub if you lower it. A good compromise between handling and being able to hook is the factory 275/40/17 size, and you won't have to reprogram your computer for them.

 

Thanks for the advice jaguar5822, I will call Strano tomorrow and see what I can put together. So you think the 255/50/17 may compromise the handeling huh? I'll look into this as well. So many parts to get and so little cash...Would most of you install suspension mods BEFORE a wheel swap? I can only afford to do one or the other at this time.

 

Depends on the wheels you have on there right now, the 5 spokes aren't bad on the firebirds and ta's, but the salad shooters on the camaros and the swirly ones on the firebirds are kinda ugly lol.

 

Chrome 5 spokes is what is on there now. Great shape too but for whatever reasons, I don't find them to be "sexy". Why do factory rims usually lack pananche? Perhaps I just run what I have until the tires are spent and deal with suspension now? Or, do I buy new rims/tires now and sell my current ones while they have decent tread left?

 

I'm not sure, I don't really know how much you'll be able to get for them, and also what you'll be able to get new ones for. A few months ago I got an awesome deal on ebay and got brand new 275/40/17 BFG KD tires for $100 shipped each, even if you got that same deal you would still be looking at $400 for all 4, plus the cost of wheels. I found walmart to be the cheapest for mounting and balancing at $6 or so per wheel, all of the local tire shops wanted $30/ea. I guess it really just depends on personal preference and what you want to do with the car. I think the stock chrome 5 spokes look ok, nothing special like you said, but not horrible. As far as performance, I'm not really sure what direction would be more beneficial, you'd have to ask Sam on that one.