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Old 12-15-2004, 01:19 AM   #1
84HOtransam
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Working out suspension details. Opinions needed..

Ok so far my suspension is stock. The only upgrade I have is the Lakewood traction action lift bars. They helped but I would like to get a new torque arm, lower the car no more than 1-inch, if not just install stiffer springs. Im going to use the car for the street and strip..non daily driver.

Sphoon
Sub-frames
Torque arm-adjustable, mounts to the trans crossmember w/ drive shaft loop.

Thunder racing lowering kit
Panhard rod, relocation brackets, pro-kit springs

Global west steering brace.

KYB AGX shocks.

What strut tower brace fits carbed cars?

It has a stock rear sway bar that I replaced all the bushings and end links with polyurethane ones.

I really like that massive pro sway bar that spohn it just looks too heavy and almost over-doing it.

If I can make the Lakewood traction action bars work then ill keep them..if not then ill sell or trade for good aftermarket adjustable ones.

Any opinions or does anyone have any of these parts?

I’d like to do everything all at once. Pull the rear, clean it up weld the brackets, paint it, re install it with all the new parts and lastly weld the sub-frames in..



and once i have all of these adjustable suspension parts does anyone know how they are adjusted for best performance. i always wondered which way you would want to put the load on the rear using the torque arm, panhard rod and control arms adjustments.
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Old 12-15-2004, 08:35 AM   #2
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Edlebrock, Spohn, and another company make three point tower strut bar, that fits the TBI system, which is relativly the same fit on a carb'd car.

I found em through www.fbodymotorsports.com Â*just for reference.

Also when I had my Spohn Tubular weld in Subframes welded in it made a world of a difference, in ride quality alone. When I look at my time slips before and after, I really didnt notice a significant change in ET or MPH.
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Old 12-15-2004, 12:34 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TransAm4Life
Also when I had my Spohn Tubular weld in Subframes welded in it made a world of a difference, in ride quality alone. Â*When I look at my time slips before and after, I really didnt notice a significant change in ET or MPH.
with the subframes im looking to elminate the slight creaking sound i get when i back out of my driveway..

who welded those in for you? how much did it run you?
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Old 02-09-2005, 02:29 AM   #4
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yo whats up its chris from rutgers- anyway i got kyb shocks and struts not sure if i have the model your lookin for but i would be careful what you do with the subframe connectors unless your lookin to run like 11's you do not need them there a painn to get installed, add needless weight to your car, and i doubt they will fix your creaking problem any old muscle car is gonna have its creaks and groans
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Old 02-09-2005, 01:44 PM   #5
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hey man welcome to the club...what campus you on? i live essentially around the corner from livingston

about the subframes...transam4life had em on a car runnin high 14s and they definately helped ride quality...i would even go so far as to say unless you have a hardtop you need em for a car as old as a 3rd gen...**** i wanna get em in mine asap...but thats cuz i got a vert
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Old 02-09-2005, 03:20 PM   #6
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I was ALWAYS told, subframes on a 3rd gen are a much needed part. When you put in an engine, or one that creates more power then factory its going to cause the frame to twist, when the power eventually gets to the ground. It stopped EVERY noise that ever came from ratles anywhere in the car.

I think I payed around $140 or less through www.fbodymotorsports.com and I had my neighboor weld them in. They didnt do as good as a job as I hoped, but I had the main welds grounded down and smoothed out, and some spots were re-welded.
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Old 02-09-2005, 08:18 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camzcruizer
yo whats up its chris from rutgers- anyway i got kyb shocks and struts not sure if i have the model your lookin for but i would be careful what you do with the subframe connectors unless your lookin to run like 11's you do not need them there a painn to get installed, add needless weight to your car, and i doubt they will fix your creaking problem any old muscle car is gonna have its creaks and groans
SFCs help every uni-body eliminate creaks and chassis twist. Not as good as a roll cage but combined the 2 and the car is torsionally stronger than the majority of full frame cars. First mod on ANY uni-body is SFCs no matter what power plant.

Now how much power are you putting down 84HOtransam? I'd do the torque arm last, I'd also get LCARBS inplace of the lakewood traction arm setup which induses binding (big no no).
Also if you're serious about drag racing you'll want the biggest rear sway bar you can fit even if it is 20lbs on the car it'll drop your 60' by more then enough to compensate for the added weight.
As for the adjustable stuff, get a panhard bar to center the rear, then either get adjustable LCAs or an adjustable torque arm to get the pinion angle optimal.
Don't go pro-kit springs if you're serious about the strip car thing. Get straight weight springs, pro-kit is a heavy progressive spring ment for street/daily driven cars.
Also, don't get the heavy blobal west steering brace. It's overkill, get the lightest one or have a shop make one for you for like $30.
As for the STB, don't do it. Again, that's for cars that need the front end chassis stiffness which drag cars do not. I've got one and it's increases my cars interior noise. I only have it in the car because it stiffens up the front end by a LOT and I love to through my car around corners.
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Old 02-10-2005, 12:11 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fasterthanyou
Quote:
Originally Posted by camzcruizer
yo whats up its chris from rutgers- anyway i got kyb shocks and struts not sure if i have the model your lookin for but i would be careful what you do with the subframe connectors unless your lookin to run like 11's you do not need them there a painn to get installed, add needless weight to your car, and i doubt they will fix your creaking problem any old muscle car is gonna have its creaks and groans
SFCs help every uni-body eliminate creaks and chassis twist. Not as good as a roll cage but combined the 2 and the car is torsionally stronger than the majority of full frame cars. First mod on ANY uni-body is SFCs no matter what power plant.

Now how much power are you putting down 84HOtransam? I'd do the torque arm last, I'd also get LCARBS inplace of the lakewood traction arm setup which induses binding (big no no).
Also if you're serious about drag racing you'll want the biggest rear sway bar you can fit even if it is 20lbs on the car it'll drop your 60' by more then enough to compensate for the added weight.
As for the adjustable stuff, get a panhard bar to center the rear, then either get adjustable LCAs or an adjustable torque arm to get the pinion angle optimal.
Don't go pro-kit springs if you're serious about the strip car thing. Get straight weight springs, pro-kit is a heavy progressive spring ment for street/daily driven cars.
Also, don't get the heavy blobal west steering brace. It's overkill, get the lightest one or have a shop make one for you for like $30.
As for the STB, don't do it. Again, that's for cars that need the front end chassis stiffness which drag cars do not. I've got one and it's increases my cars interior noise. I only have it in the car because it stiffens up the front end by a LOT and I love to through my car around corners.

the car just has some bolt-ons for now but im going to build a bigger motor after the suspension is tightened up... my car runs 14.5's at 95 and i think with that mph i should have quicker et's..my 60' is 2.1/2.0... i think i can get my et's down with some suspension work..

the car isnt daily driven but i do like to throw it into the turns and such Â*so i am leaning towards the front suspension mods..

if there was one single suspension mod you to improve handling what would it be?

and to improve 60' times?
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Old 02-10-2005, 03:54 PM   #9
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LCARBS would be first. Then SFCs. Over at thirdgen.org if you do a search for my name and, SFC, torque arm, LCA, STB, it should come up with a few threads. One of them has me giving a HUGE reply with details on the order of suspension parts.
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Old 02-10-2005, 10:11 PM   #10
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My spohn subframes and lca's and lca relocation brackets are getting welded in tomorrow. Alot of people on thirdgen.org say that subframes are the best thing they did and they should be done first. I can't wait to get my car back tomorrow to see how it feels!
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