Suspension guru's, to upgrade or not?

[pontiacfreak142]

So the 383 is in the firebird, and honestly, with 160k on the stock v6 suspension, i was expecting the added weight to make the front end eat dirt. Supprisingly it didnt and doesnt sit much lower if any than it did with the 6 in it.

 

So my question is, should i just save the money and leave it be, get new, but stick with the v6 stuff, or get v8 stuff?

 

Same with the rear?

 

Trying to figure out what will be best for racing as this thing squated/pulled the front end up so easily that it almost pulled a wheel with the v6 still in it, not sure i wanna find out what it will do with almost 200 more hp lol

[wagner]

All the HP in the world is not worth a damn if you can't put it to the ground.

 

With my car I have been going from back to front, I started by upgrading suspension before I added any large amounts of power and my car hooks good for its power level.

 

Now, I have added even more power and will be adding more suspension to it soon.

 

So yes, while its apart do it now. At least address the shocks and springs in the front now and do something with the rear if you have not already done LCAs, Sub frames, Pan hard rod, ect.

 

You run at Trails, their prep is junk on a good day, so you are going to need to be able to dial in how you weight transfer or the car will struggle with running the number all the time.

 

Also, all that V6, stock running gear will flex even more with the power you are adding.

 

Since you are not upgrading the rearend, the wheel hop will kill it that much quicker.

 

Just my thoughts, its your car and money...

[pontiacfreak142]

Yea i have lower control arms in the rear, thats it lol. I do plan on getting a new torque arm asap as im sure the stock one will snap lol.

 

The car hooked great with the power it had, and hell half the time i had my drag radials at 32 psi and still had no issue. Im more concerned with keeping the front end down so i dont have to pull the motor back out to replace an oil pan already lol.

 

What setup did you go with in the front?

[wagner]

Yea i have lower control arms in the rear, thats it lol. I do plan on getting a new torque arm asap as im sure the stock one will snap lol.

 

The car hooked great with the power it had, and hell half the time i had my drag radials at 32 psi and still had no issue. Im more concerned with keeping the front end down so i dont have to pull the motor back out to replace an oil pan already lol.

 

What setup did you go with in the front?

 

I hate to break your heart, but you won't be putting it on the bumper and needing to replace an oil pan. Worse case it will pull the wheels maybe a few inches and carry them like 10 feet, it won't clime the ring gear and do something stupid.

 

I have not had to touch the front yet, but with the new power the car is making that is about to be addressed I think.

 

I am going to go with some double adjustable shocks in the front with good springs to start with.

 

Having the double adjustable shocks on the front will let you control how quick the weight goes to the back based on the track and power.

[pontiacfreak142]

Oh i never expected it to drag the bumper or anything, just not sure how well the front end would hold up to it coming back down even with just a little air

[Cordell]

Gary is finally going to feel the need for suspension tuning, just the simple fact that I'm sure your stuff is worn out, did you say 160k miles? Seriously. Lot's of people have done well with a fairly stock suspension, my car running 10s had the stock shocks and springs on it. However while I got it to track straight the suspension did not, and I wouldn't have considered it very consistant. Wagner's car is doing the same shit mine did, and hopefully we can work that out this year.

 

There are many options out there, but since you will be heavily drag racing it I'd lean towards a Viking set-up. For the money you get adjustability, and quality parts. You may consider a short torque arm, should work pretty well at the level I suspect you'll be. I also think an airbag in the right rear spring is a very good idea if not running a huge rear sway bar or coilovers. Enough sway bar to combat body roll isn't worth it to me on a street strip car given that an airbag will do the same thing.

 

Do some reading, lots of people have made these cars fast so picking a good starting point should be easy. Just remember that every car is a little different, and different power levels, different tires, and different application of power all require a little different tuning. At the very least error on the side of tunability rather then something that you have to replace if it doesn't do what you want. Keep in mind that most of the info you find on 4th gen f-bodies are guys running power adders in a street car that all seem to run well on stock suspension (at first glance anyway), or a lot of marketing fluff that most keyboard warriors take as gospel. I'm no expert in track tuning but if you need some help with geometry and alignment let me know.

[99StockGT]

If you have 160k on original stock components I would definitely say it's time to replace whether or not you bumped up the power and engine weight. They've had a long hard life and time for some new shiney bits.

 

The nice part with your platform is anything you could possibly want to get into has already been sorted out by others before you. As always when it's replacement time, why buy stock when for just a liiittle more you can get something better?