i need help choosing a suspension. I just bought a drum to disk brake kit for the front and thought might as well do a suspension upgrade too since im going to have the wheels off

my question is what should i buy i dont really know too much about suspension parts the car is a street/strip car with a 355 about 425 h.p
it has bone stock suspension except for a full set of energy suspension bushings and im just looking for something that will help me out at the track and will also help me out on the street with a smoother ride
nothing crazy


i was looking at these kits from jegs


Competition Engineering/Moroso Suspension Kit
http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/2472100k.jpg


or Jegster Drag Race Suspension Components Package
http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/55041040K.jpg



please any feed back will help

Richard,
Lot's of options and lot's of threads on this here depending on your desired goals for your car. Depending on your budget these options may narrow or expand. A lot of guys here have done the next to nothing cost wise G-mod. A lot of guys upgrade to after market upper control arms, some do upper and lower. A bunch have gone to the Hotchkis TVS. Some do spindles, springs, shocks, leaf springs, front/rear sway bars or any combo of the above... The picture I am trying to draw for you is that there are many combinations. When I did it (doing it as we speak) I chose a pre-designed package or kit so this way I don't have to piece meal things together and hope I got it right. Not saying it can be done as I know it's done all the time. Checkout some sticky threads under the suspension forum or do some quick searches on the parts I listed above. One thing for sure, you won't find a solution in 5 minutes. You need to research for a while, learn your options in respect to your budget and overall goal of your suspension for your car. I dug for a while before I pulled the trigger... Good things take a long time...

i need help choosing a suspension. I just bought a drum to disk brake kit for the front and thought might as well do a suspension upgrade too since im going to have the wheels off

my question is what should i buy i dont really know too much about suspension parts the car is a street/strip car with a 355 about 425 h.p
it has bone stock suspension except for a full set of energy suspension bushings and im just looking for something that will help me out at the track and will also help me out on the street with a smoother ride
nothing crazy

please any feed back will help

I'm not sure what your goals are for your car. It appears (based on the kits you highlighted) that you're more interested in drag racing than in corner carving. If that's the case, look for posts by a member "Drag Fabricator." He was very much into drag racing and, IIRC, made some detailed posts about his setup which performd very well. There are a number of other very experienced drag racers on the board as well, who could also provide lots of information. However, I think you need to refine your question as to use and budget at a minimum to get useful responses.

If you're more interested in corner carving, there are probably hundreds of threads discussing the various options.

first: i had no idea there was a brakes and suspension section or i would of posted there

second: for sure im going to do shocks and springs and a traction bar i just dont know what else to go with

third: i dont have a budget and i dont want a corner carver just something that drives real good on the street


how are the global west kits ?

I like the slide-a-link better than the old slapper/lift bars.... But would like the CalTracs better. Drag shocks a plus,and sub-connectors a must.


Oh, and don't leave out the drag tires :D

Global West level 3 kit is what I am putting on. This includes upper/lower control arms with del-a-lum bushings, 1 inch sway bar, 1 inch drop springs and Koni adjustable shocks (you can go with QA-1 as well). Rear mods include 1.5 inch drop multi-leaf springs, del-a-lum shackle kit and Koni shocks. The kit also includes solid interlocking body bushings and sub-fram connectors. I went with GW as I heard a lot of good things about their upper control arms as well as the overall company on this site. Keep in mind that upper control arms contribute a lot to any front end mod on a 1st gen. Lower arms not much (if any) at all, but do look cool. They have been in business for a long time and according to what I read here and other places, they have pioneered a lot of the concepts you read about. A lot of the guys here use the Hotchkis TVS along with GW upper/lower control arms. I have not seen very many using the Hotchkis upper/lower control arms along with the TVS. Whish I could tell you if I made the right choice but I can't as I am still in the middle of the conversion.

Oh yeah...one more thing, "no budget", does that mean money is no issue? ....if so then, I got this pair of 28C gold plated upper control arms that I want to sell you... :yes:

Keep in mind that upper control arms contribute a lot to any front end mod on a 1st gen.

Not really. Aftermarket UCA's make it easier to get more caster. Other than that, they do little to affect handling.

Mike, who's UCA's do you have on your car?

Mike, who's UCA's do you have on your car?

Stock GM with del-a-lum bushings.

Stock GM with del-a-lum bushings.

I'll have to report back once I'm done with my conversion but based on what I read here as well as "Marketing" info from GW, UCA's should improve corner entry and bumbsteer. At least they seem to be pretty proud of their product as they do talk it up a lot. May be hard to tell on my mod as I am doing so many other things that should also help out...

I'll have to report back once I'm done with my conversion but based on what I read here as well as "Marketing" info from GW, UCA's should improve corner entry and bumpsteer. At least they seem to be pretty proud of their product as they do talk it up a lot. May be hard to tell on my mod as I am doing so many other things that should also help out...

Both of which result solely from the increase in positive caster. I'd urge you to spend a few minutes reading David Pozzi's first generation Camaro suspension discussion. It takes a few minutes but is extremely informative. http://www.pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension.htm#Handling

Again, aftermarket UCA's are simply an extremely expensive way to get postive caster, which you can get without the aftermarket UCA's.

How about a tvs.
I am confused cause I thought you said street STRIP which means drag race to me. And when it comes to F bodies and sub 500 hp caltracs will get it done all day long on the drag strip

Both of which result solely from the increase in positive caster. I'd urge you to spend a few minutes reading David Pozzi's first generation Camaro suspension discussion. It takes a few minutes but is extremely informative. http://www.pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension.htm#Handling

Again, aftermarket UCA's are simply an extremely expensive way to get postive caster, which you can get without the aftermarket UCA's.


thank you for posting this website

How about a tvs.
I am confused cause I thought you said street STRIP which means drag race to me. And when it comes to F bodies and sub 500 hp caltracs will get it done all day long on the drag strip


yes i did say street/strip

but only here or there at the strip

its mostly a street car and for show

i just want something that will help me lower some 60 ft. times

and drive really nice on the street




i would do a sub frame install
but i dont want to hack the frame to a numbers matching 68 rs

and i know i said not a corner carver but i might as well do it and get something really good instead of just ok


so im just going to go with a global west stage 3 kit with some Qa1's

or maybe even send my disk brake kit back and get the category 5 kit since it already comes with disc brakes

does anyone have price estimates on these kits

hopefully no more than 3 thousand cause thats almost a price for a new subframe



oh and for the rear i'll go with some traction bars for sure and anything else you guys would recomend

nothing to crazy for the rear end because i plan on buying a bolt in 4 link kit with coilovers but not for awhile so all i need is a temporary fix until then

so im just going to go with a global west stage 3 kit with some Qa1's

Nothing in the GW kit fixes the geometry of the front end suspension in a '68 Camaro. For that you need either a tall spindle, tall ball joints or the Guldstrand mod. You (understandably) don't want to cut up your car, so tall ball joints or a tall spindle would seem to be the way to go. The best tall spindle I'm aware of is the ATS version (www.T56kit.com (http://www.T56kit.com)). I don't know if Tyler is back in operation and you don't want a spindle with a lot of drop built in, so that may leave you with tall balljoints. I'd urge you to contact Mark at SC&C (www.scandc.com (http://www.scandc.com)) and talk to him about what you're trying to do.

You might also find the suspension discussion in this thread starting at about post 9 informative: http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=151501

And I'd reread David Pozzi's suspension discussion.

There are a lot of solutions out there; it would be nice to spend your budget on things that really work to solve the issue.

Hey the best advice I can give you at this point is think about your goals and be realistic.
Think hard for a week or so. Seriously not being an *** or anything but think about what you want and can afford. Focus only on those two things goal and budget.
When your done with that call Frank and he will get you what you need likley cheaper then you thought just tell him your goal and budget.

http://www.gpsuperstore.com/

Nothing in the GW kit fixes the geometry of the front end suspension in a '68 Camaro. For that you need either a tall spindle, tall ball joints or the Guldstrand mod. You (understandably) don't want to cut up your car, so tall ball joints or a tall spindle would seem to be the way to go. The best tall spindle I'm aware of is the ATS version (www.T56kit.com (http://www.T56kit.com)). I don't know if Tyler is back in operation and you don't want a spindle with a lot of drop built in, so that may leave you with tall balljoints. I'd urge you to contact Mark at SC&C (www.scandc.com (http://www.scandc.com)) and talk to him about what you're trying to do.

You might also find the suspension discussion in this thread starting at about post 9 informative: http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=151501

And I'd reread David Pozzi's suspension discussion.

There are a lot of solutions out there; it would be nice to spend your budget on things that really work to solve the issue.


oh im doing the gmod

oh im doing the gmod

Bingo!

I went with a full Global West set up. I called and spoke with the owner, Doug Nordin, I believe. He asked me my budget and what I would be using the car for. He picked a combination of parts that worked good for my application and brought it in right at my budget. Everything was easy to install and works fantastic. I couldn't be happier with their product. That's just me though. The nice part is, with the parts I have, upgrading will be simple thanks to what he set me up with. Give Gobal West a call.

I went with a full Global West set up. I called and spoke with the owner, Doug Nordin, I believe. He asked me my budget and what I would be using the car for. He picked a combination of parts that worked good for my application and brought it in right at my budget. Everything was easy to install and works fantastic. I couldn't be happier with their product. That's just me though. The nice part is, with the parts I have, upgrading will be simple thanks to what he set me up with. Give Gobal West a call.

I'm really happy that you're satisfied with your GW installation. However, we're dealing with engineering. The parts do what they claim or not; and all the engineering data is that the GW parts- without something that changes the front end geometry - don't give you a solution to the negative camber gain issue.

I too spoke with Mark at SC&C. I have GW uppers and am using the SevereDuty X-tall UBJ's for the camber curve improvement. The rest of my front suspension is GW bushings in stock LCA's, Hotchkis coils (got a good deal) and shocks TBD.

I'm really happy that you're satisfied with your GW installation. However, we're dealing with engineering. The parts do what they claim or not; and all the engineering data is that the GW parts- without something that changes the front end geometry - don't give you a solution to the negative camber gain issue.

Look, I never said I was trying to split the atom, nor did the original poster. My car is set up for a street driven application with maybe an ocassional trip to the strip (which is 2 hours away so probably not). I was merely telling him MY experience and how it worked for me. Maybe he doesn't have to or want to do all the physics that you are suggesting. From the looks of OP, he has a kit in mind that will just bolt up without any fabrication. Maybe what you are pointing to is a cheaper mod, but he doesn't want to do the math. I don't know? Maybe he doesn't want to address a negative camber gain issue or cares. It's all about research and asking a lot of questions.

Look, I never said I was trying to split the atom, nor did the original poster. My car is set up for a street driven application with maybe an ocassional trip to the strip (which is 2 hours away so probably not). I was merely telling him MY experience and how it worked for me. Maybe he doesn't have to or want to do all the physics that you are suggesting. From the looks of OP, he has a kit in mind that will just bolt up without any fabrication. Maybe what you are pointing to is a cheaper mod, but he doesn't want to do the math. I don't know? Maybe he doesn't want to address a negative camber gain issue or cares. It's all about research and asking a lot of questions.

I interpreted your post as another endorsement of aftermarkt UCA's as a geometry solution, apparently I was incorrect. I didn't mean to offend you, nor to suggest that what you elected to do was in any way "wrong."

I interpreted your post as another endorsement of aftermarkt UCA's as a geometry solution, apparently I was incorrect. I didn't mean to offend you, nor to suggest that what you elected to do was in any way "wrong."

No worries. BTW, I never said I had GW UCA's. Uh....but I do. They actually have worked very well for me. I don't know anything about the mod you are suggesting. Maybe its cheaper and easier. I have no idea. Pics?

I went with a full Global West set up. I called and spoke with the owner, Doug Nordin, I believe. He asked me my budget and what I would be using the car for. He picked a combination of parts that worked good for my application and brought it in right at my budget. Everything was easy to install and works fantastic. I couldn't be happier with their product. That's just me though. The nice part is, with the parts I have, upgrading will be simple thanks to what he set me up with. Give Gobal West a call.



thnx for the info

Bingo!


do you have the link for the gmod template

i forgot where i seen it

do you have the link for the gmod template

i forgot where i seen it

http://www.pozziracing.com/first_gen_suspension_geome.htm#Re-located upper mount