1badasZ

im about ready to start working on my suspension some and would like to know what i would be better off starting with. i cant afford to just up n buy a whole kit but would like to know what all i need to replace n i can just keep the list and get the parts as i can. also do i need adjustable or ?? i'm not trying to be all out race but will race with it and have near future plans of putting a 383 in but wanna get some of the rear suspension stuff taken care of first. thanks in advance

oh btw, what brand do most prefer

redneckgames

First and foremost is tires. It doesnt matter if you have the best suspension setup in the world, if you have crappy tires, it is not going to work as it should.

Most people start out with Tubular lower control arms (LCAs) and Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets (LCARBs). These will help reduce wheel hop.

Shocks are always important.

ws6transam

Do you have access to a welder? If so, one really cheap modification that works is to weld a 1/8 inch thick, 12-inch long, 1-inch wide piece of steel to the bottom of your lower control arms. "Boxing" the arms will give them much-needed strength in order to control the axle movement under hard acceleration. You can go even further by replacing the rubber bushings with high-durometer rubber bushings, or even with poly bushings. I found that lower control arms made a big difference with how the car hooks off the line, as well as when the car hits second gear.

Redneckgames is right about the tires too, if you are looking to make the car hook at the track, some good tires are important. However the tires you select have got to match your intended type of racing. Personally, I just sold off my 15 x 10 WELD draglites with the 11.5 x 27 x 15 drag slicks, because I just don't drag race that much and they were just sitting around on the tire rack. I prefer speed and corners on a road race course.

The relocation brackets that you weld onto your axle are items you use when you lower your car in order to corect our suspension geometry. They are important, again, if you are drag racing and you have plenty of horsepower and are experiencing problems with wheelhop out of the hole. Otherwise, there are other ways to improve your suspension.

Shocks! They are must-haves. Buy some decent rear shocks. KYB makes some good ones, as does Bilstein. Koni makes nice ones. You want an adjustable shock. For drag racing, the rear shock should be set soft, and for autocrossing and road racing, you need to turn up the damping a bit.

After addressing the lower control arms, the shocks, and the tires, you need to turn your attention to the panhard rod if you like to corner hard, or the torque arm if you like to accelerate hard. An adjustable torque arm will enable you to fine-tune your initial pinion angle in order to get the car to hook. Again, these are parts that really become necessary only after you've got 300, 350+ RWHP, or if you are looking to really corner hard at the track with some race tires.

1badasZ

i have some boxed ones on there already but donno how good they are. back in the day i had some of those lakewood lift bar things on there but the brackets ended up breaking from riding on the street i guess so i just left the control arms on the car. they are boxed with poly bushings

Injuneer

The boxed pieces, or a boxed stock piece is going to weigh twice as much as a simple tubular LCA. Tubular also leaves room for wider tires if you are headed in that direction.

The Lakewood bars ripped themselves apart because their poor design put the rear suspension in bind, and it tore them apart.

1badasZ

Ok thanks guys

6SpdLT1Z

I concur