Sporty-X

I'm feeling shocks are definitly too soft. What are the others first mods that will help get a better handling with a 4th gen Z28 ?

Pierre

teke184

shocks will definatly help.

another thing would be to upgrade the sway bars. made a huge difference in the feel of my car in the curves.

also worth getting are some SFC to tighten up the frame and body. any of the weld in types will work fine.

and of course...good rubber

Sporty-X

arethe SLP/bilstein shocks good ?

teke184

they are better than stock...so take that as you will

Honda Hunter

In another thread on a bigger board shocks and springs all around was rated number 1 I think. Then sway bars. after that lca's, phb, and tq arm bar. Last was sfc's. Get some LS1 brakes also. Much better than the stockers.

2000GTP

Bilsteins are one of the better shocks that offer good street manners. They would be a good start. Also, tubular lower control arms and a panhard rod will make a noticable difference and are very affordable upgrades as well.

JimMueller

My opinion, in order:

1) Tires (it's the only thing touching the ground)
2) Shocks (Koni Sa in front, Bilstein 3rd gen rears)
3) Hollow 35mm bar front, hollow 22mm bar rear

- Unless you're bending your OEM torque arm, not critical.
- Unless you've bent your PHB or lowered your vehicle, not critical.
- Stock LCA's with poly bushings are fine, or tubular with the chassis side softer than the axle side. Boxed aren't that good for handling.
- If you get new springs, make sure they are matched to your shocks.
- If you lower the vehicle, you may also need LCA relocation brackets to get back your instant center.

Buy and change one thing at a time if at all possible. For one, it reduces the troubleshooting process if something goes wrong. Second, you feel what has changed in the behavior of the car and it's easier to tweak later.

The best guy to talk to about this is Sam Strano.

swndlr27

What about a strut tower brace? Where does it fall in the hierarchy?

JimMueller

There's debate on a shock tower brace. Most say that it's a useless mod because of how the load is distributed in our towers. There are others who claim they can feel the difference.

I moved mine from the 95TA to my 98Z when I bought it new. Just in the vain hope that maybe it would somehow reduce rattles. I don't believe that it did, but it's not hurting me to leave it on. I'd say it's less critical than everything else in my previous post.

Honda Hunter

I think if anything the 3 point stb's may work but the 2 points are useless.

Sporty-X

what are best shocks suggested so for a reasonnable choice ? Are spring change necessary too or just shocks can make a lot them selves ?

teke184

how would the 3 points be much better than the 2pt? the theoretical purpose of the STB is to reduce side to side movement of the front end...shock towers. why would connecting it to the firewall have any affect on the side to side movement?

flusz28

strut tower brace is a mode to do for sure.... when my car had stock springs/struts i noticed how well it keep the front end tighter. its a cheap mode too.. if struts don't make a difference why do most new cars have them now??

stephenspann27

I'm thinking I should do shocks, springs, lca reloacations brackets and sway bars. Someone said above to match the shocks to the springs, does that mean that if you have 2'' drop springs be sure and got shocks that are designed for a 2'' drop? Also, I'm not wanting to spent over $200 on shocks, any suggestions? Another thing, I'm wanting to get rid of my 16's and go to 17's or 18's to improve handling, but I know if I do that my brakeing it going to be horrible which will force me to upgrade those as well, and it begins to snow ball $$$$$. Is there much difference in handling between 16's and 17's? I have salad shooters, and it seems like the backspaceing they have is conducing to tire roll. hah, one other thing, I'm thinking of puting a cage in my car, anyone notice much handling different with a roll cage? Supposidly it stiffens the car.
any info would be appreciated, sorry for the lengthy incoherent post.

Skull Leader

Anything made of stamped steel should be replaced like the LCAs & panhard rod. That's what I did first. Then I did shocks & springs at the same time. MY G2 SFCs stiffen the chassis more, but I notice I "jump" around alot more.