I am in the middle of rebuilding my front suspension and was wondering if I am wasting my time by re-using my original front springs. Of course I am on a budget but I don't want any regrets once I have the car back together. I will be running a sb with an estimated 400 hp. If new spring must be had where can I get the for under $200 for a pair
:confused:

What are your plans/expectations of the car?
By that I mean do you want good handling, is the car to be lower than stock, is it a drag only car?
David

Well, are you happy with your present springs b/c if you are then why change them unless the questions David has asked come into play??

pdq67

I'd say unless the car is a totally stock Camaro with skinny tires, the usual wider tires used these days will require stiffer springs than stock.

If you are drag racing only, pretty soft ft springs might be the way to go, but for a lowered street car with wider than stock tires, I'd like to see front springs around 500-550 lbs/in. cars driven even harder, open tracked or autocrossed can use 650-700.
David

Thanks, I should have talked about how I am going to use it. It is not a drag racer! It has 2 droped spindles and is a street driver. I really like the stance of the car as it was with the stock springs. But I want it to plant and have decent handling when I hit the gas. Here is a pic of the car. The only thing that will be different is that I got rid of the Iroc rims and went back to corvette ralleys with 225/60 r15 on the front with 275/50 r15 on 11 inch wide rims on the back.
http://www.navy-ndi.com/my%20car.JPG

What do you think David??

A complete set of really GOOD adjustable shocks AND a bigger front sway-bar?

And if he wants to get into it, go the Del-alum bushing route for the A-Arms and then S/F bushings and S/F/C's plus good rear spring bushings...

(OR even full poly everywhere like I went.. But I'm not worried about any possible suspension squeaks, either)...

Looks like the rolling stock is fine up to now...

I'm saying this b/c I don't think he is after a corner carver or a drag car but rather a good taught/firm street ride!!

pdq67

With that much tire you need springs in the 550 to 650 range. If your roads are on the rougher side the softer springs would help but 650 lb springs will allow you to go lower without bottoming out.

Since you are using drop spindles, you will need a slightly taller spring than most aftermarket tuners sell.
A moog #6041 will work for a 650 rate. You will have to cut it to set ride height, but not as much as normal since the spindles are lowering two

A Moog #5536 will yield a rate of 500 to 550 depending on how much you shorten it. One end is like a stock camaro spring, the other is different but you will be cutting that end anyway.

These springs are available pretty cheaply at any auto parts store from Moog or TRW, same part numbers.
Get a 1" front sway bar if you don't allready have one. Rear springs like Hotchkis or Global West really help the rear end corner and hook up coming out of a turn, they lower the rear too, so you'll have to figure out if they lower too much for your use.

I'm not fond of the Polly A arm bushings. If they are greaseable, you have a chance they won't squeek or bind up. They can add extra friction that will make your springs act stiffer, since the extra bushing friction is added to the spring rate. I have a buddy who has totally stock front springs on his Z/28, he drives it in open track events and the car is stiffer riding than my 67 with twice the rate of front spring. This is due to his squeaky stiff polly bushings. His are the early type and he's had them in there for many many years.

The stock rubber bushings are ok, but with your tire sizes they will deflect quite a bit when cornering hard. The Global West Del-A-Lum bushings are great. They are greaseable and don't flex. They have a Delrin liner that won't squeak or stick.

Get solid subframe to body mounts. Rubber or Polly will not do the job. You don't want any flex between subframe and body.

Tubular upper A arms are a good addition. Speed Tech, Global West, Detroit Speed have them. They allow increased positive caster which helps handling. If you have manual steering, the added positive caster may make the steering a lot heavier, consider adding power steering if you get the upper A arms.
David

There you go two answers!!

A full-on rebuild that will really get with it or just a good street ride, imho.

Please do it your way and then comeback and tell us how you went and if you like it..

You can find all the info right here by using the search function with regard to how others have posted how they've done all this to their cars, David and me included..

Good luck.

Thanks David..

pdq67

Thanks guys very helpfull, but I am afraid you opened a bigger can of worms than I expected! graemlins/clonk.gif