Suspension Upgrades

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Well I've decided it's time to help get the power I got to the ground. The drag bags are just not cutting it anymore.

So far I got the adjustable swaybars on and the rear crossmemeber bushings. The crossmember bushings were a mother... well the passanger side was, it took me 6 hours to do the passanger side while the driver side took 15 mins. I'll probably throw on my rear differental insert tonight.

I also have a set of new springs. I had to order new ones for the rear (yet again) since the rear crossmember bushings lifted the rear about 3-4 16's of an inch. So I do not want to jack it up any higher then it is, I went ahead and ordered 50% stiffer OEM height ones to match the front ones I have. The ones for the rear I have now would lift the rear another 6/16". Then I also have radius rod bushings to install as well.

I'm debating if I want to spend $650 for new struts and shocks? It would be a good idea seeing as how the front struts are never fun to do. Though with just spending $1350 for 6 months of insurance and $505 for one year of vehicle registration (what BS huh?), plus car payment, etc. I'm not sure if I want to spend anymore money ATM. I still have to get an alignment done after everything is on... I'm guessing around $100 for that, plus the rear cradle has to be aligned which runs $250-300.

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[IrTehL33T@DBeez 10+ year member]

sounds like you're off to a darn good start, you can wait a bit til expenses stop racking up to do the shocks i'd reckon

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Yeah forget the struts/springs for now. It's only 10 bolts to take out the struts/shocks and some time with a spring compressor for the struts. Just waiting on the new OEM 50% stiffer rear springs so I can get this thing finished up.

I'll also have to sound deaden this thing some. The new bushings bring out the road noise a lot, etc. Though they did really help stiffen up the car as well. Just the rear crossmemeber bushings helped out more than the drag bags ever did.

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Well going to have to order a new set of spings. I will have to go with the 3/8" ones up front and the 1/2" ones on the rear. Then I will have to add new strut mount bushings on the front and a 10mm spacer on the rear to get as close to stock height as I can. It will probably be dropped alittle which is fine by me, it's better than the car being raised.

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Man it's been forever. Parts have finally got to the shop. I just need to drive (60 miles one way //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif) and go get them and install them. Then take it back to them to have the front/rear cradle aligned and a 4 wheel alignment done. Then it's time to step up to some serious horse power/torque //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Lunchbocks 10+ year member]

Cool beans. I'm actually looking at some suspension components right now too evne though I have other purchasing I need to do. Looks like you're doin it right

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Cool beans. I'm actually looking at some suspension components right now too evne though I have other purchasing I need to do. Looks like you're doin it right

I've learned it's best to take your time and do it right the first time then to have to redo it all over again IMO. I just hope it's all worth it. Get this done then go down to talk about some forced induction... to see if it's right for me.

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Finally got it done.

Pedders 2142 front springs, Pedders 2589 rear springs, Pedders Strut Mounts, Pedders Strut Bushings, Pedders Radius Rods, Noltec X-Memeber Bushings, Noltec Rear Differential Insert and Hotchkis Sway Bars.

 

[davidfre21 5,000+ posts]

the pic in ur avatar looks like ur car at the track? What did it run?

I want a NBM trans am way to dam bad

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Yes that's my car in the the avatar. So far we have got a 12.00 @ 116, which was almost a year ago. The car has more in it, high 11's will be easy once everything gets worked out and mid 11's should be a good goal. Which is fine for a cam/bolt on 3800lb boat IMO.

I was going to take the car to the track yesterday. We have added a few things to the car since then too. Though we have been trying to work out a lot of the bugs in the car. Tuning is still pretty limited at this time. I was having some serious valve float issues and finally swaped out the springs to some Comp 921's, should have never went with the PRC's in the first place. The 18" wheels are killing me trying to get out of the hole. I need to find a set of 15's and put some good drag on them.

 

[bumpin_blazer 5,000+ posts]

i envy you and your gto lol. i'm thinking of HKS coilover's for my 06 mazda 6 but just not sure if i want/need to drop the 1500 on em' before i do a few other mods like rims/sway bar.