Front suspension rebuild!!!

[bad64chevelle]

Originally Posted by qwikz28

why didn't you throw some polys in there?

I broke my set of Poly's. Maybe it was just that set was a defect, but I went with solid motor mounts and they have worked well. Poly Trans mount though and its not very violent.


Looks great Ted!!!

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by deadtrend1

yea, stock ones fit, along with the TDS ones, couple other brands. The oversized ones like UMI or Spohn sell, are too big and they never tell you you have to grind your fans to make it fit.

For 99% of most of the applications, do you REALLY NEED the oversized bars? (other then bragging rights) The stock IROC alone is a good upgrade for the street and I've never heard of anyone bending one those unless your doing some really HEAVY autocross. I was quite surprised when I first found out that the Firebird never had one and that the GM bean counters figured that whatever problem it solved in the IROC's could never happen in the Bird's. Yeah right!

[Teds89IROC]

Thanks again guys! The wonderbar I have is Spohn and after I bought it I heard about all the problems with it. Ed, the reason why I bought the bigger one is because I have 275 tires up front. Years ago I heard creaking from the area of my steering box when I would turn the wheel and one day at school I went to turn into a parking spot and the bolts holding the box to the frame broke. I was able to see part of the frame had cracked from the box twisting so my boss welded it back up and I bought a new steering box. I decided to go with the bigger wonderbar to alleviate some of the pressure put on the steering box and the one frame rail. The new wonderbar makes the stock one look like a joke.

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by Teds89IROC

Thanks again guys! The wonderbar I have is Spohn and after I bought it I heard about all the problems with it. Ed, the reason why I bought the bigger one is because I have 275 tires up front. Years ago I heard creaking from the area of my steering box when I would turn the wheel and one day at school I went to turn into a parking spot and the bolts holding the box to the frame broke. I was able to see part of the frame had cracked from the box twisting so my boss welded it back up and I bought a new steering box. I decided to go with the bigger wonderbar to alleviate some of the pressure put on the steering box and the one frame rail. The new wonderbar makes the stock one look like a joke.

Gotcha point. You already had a problem BEFORE you had the Wonderbar installed. My point was that if you are looking to improve the handling and relieve the pressure at that area, it is a great part to install BEFORE the problem sets in. I wonder if ANYBODY ever checked out the area around the steering box from an IROC that had on the Wonder bar to see if any cracking was starting to occur? Aside from the fact that the Spohn is thicker, have you heard of anyone that had on the STOCK bar and twisted it out of shape. For most of us(you included)I think that we drive our cars on the safe side of ultimate handling. Whatever floats your boat, if you like'em thicker, then buy the Spohn or save some bucks and put on a stock IROC bar which may very well work just as good. Just my

[Teds89IROC]

I'm not sure if you just overlooked it, but my car is an original iroc and I've had a stock wonderbar on the car the whole time. The steering box broke off of the frame rail while the stock wonderbar was on the car. I think what caused greater stress on the steering box against the rail was the fact that I got rid of my stock 245 tires (and wheels) and put on 17" wheels with 275 tires. Any wonderbar is better than none, as in your case, but because I already had problems occur with the stock wonderbar in place I wanted to get a bigger one.

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by Teds89IROC

I'm not sure if you just overlooked it, but my car is an original iroc and I've had a stock wonderbar on the car the whole time. The steering box broke off of the frame rail while the stock wonderbar was on the car. I think what caused greater stress on the steering box against the rail was the fact that I got rid of my stock 245 tires (and wheels) and put on 17" wheels with 275 tires. Any wonderbar is better than none, as in your case, but because I already had problems occur with the stock wonderbar in place I wanted to get a bigger one.

OK Ted, I didn't know the past situation. I'am quite surprised that your STOCK bar gave up, but the larger wheels and tires must REALLY put a load on that piece. I guess if you have the stock WS6 suspension, the bar should work OK, but for most of the people that have upgraded to 17" wheels and tires I guess they are in for a world of trouble down the road.

[Teds89IROC]

Car is done I'll try and get pics tomorrow! I'm scheduled for an alignment next Friday at 9am

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by Teds89IROC

Car is done I'll try and get pics tomorrow! I'm scheduled for an alignment next Friday at 9am

Since I'll be putting in the Eibach Pro-Kit springs in the next few weeks, let me know how much lower the car ACTUALLY GOT? They say 1" lower. Also how does it ride? You have the 17" wheels and tires, so that alone would have caused a harshness in overall ride, while I still have the 16" Goodyear GS-C tires.

[Teds89IROC]

I'll def. post up about it. Just looks alone I saw a difference with the front when I let it down off the jack stands and I heard they settle a little more over time.

[Teds89IROC]

pics in multimedia