new suspension

[70staged]

I am looking at upgrading the suspension on my 70 Skylark. The suspension on the car is all stock. There is no sway bar in the rear just the front. I am not going to be doing an auto crossing anytime soon. The real reason for wanting to upgrade is because when I am going down the interstate at 70mph or faster I feel like I am floating.

The blacktop highway to the house has a lot of corners to it so I something that sticks decent. The rear suspension I want to hook up good as well because I would like to take it to the drag strip sometime. And maybe if there is an auto cross event near me I might try my luck.

[65 drop top]

You have lots of options, your budget and goals will be the deciding factor. But a good starting point would be springs, shocks, and sway bars. Next step up would be tubular control arms all around.

[UMI Performance]

Hello,

The A-Body gives us all kinds of suspension options and it is very easy to put together a kit that will work for all types of driving. Most customers are looking for exactly what you are after. A nice driving street car that can handle the turns and run autox if needed. This is all easily achievable.

Are you looking to rebuild everything at one time or do it in pieces?

Below is a kit just to give you an idea on an entire suspension rebuild that offers great results. We have others options too and we can easily piece together a different type of kit.

http://umiperformance.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_254&products_id=587

Please let us know if you have any questions. We would be happy to help you.

Thank you,
Ryan

[70staged]

as far as the rear suspension how well does it perform with weight transfer at the drag strip

[UMI Tech]

The Stage 2 kit Ryan mentioned is a good all-around performer. By lowering the car slightly (1" all around), the rear geometry becomes favorable and tends to have zero wheel hop. Forward traction is pretty nice for an all purpose setup.

For a more strip focused setup, we can substitute lift bars for lower trailing arms to enhance forward traction. There are a number of shock options available to enhance weight transfer as well. The factory style Bilsteins are soft enough that weight transfer still happens, just not as quickly as a Viking or QA1 set to soft rebound.

Like mentioned above, budget is important and we routinely help customers get the best bang for their buck by picking the correct parts in the correct order.

Let us know what you need.

thanks

ramey

[70staged]

I like the looks of the stage 4 kit on your website. I would prefer the 1/2" taller ball ball joints on both control arms. What would need to be changed out for a better hook up at the drag strip? And does this kit make that floating feel go away at higher speeds?
I bought the car and the kid said that the suspension was rebuilt but i do not really believe that as it sits low in the front, I think they put in small block springs. I do not really want to go lower on the front suspension if I can help it. I can post a photo of the car later on this week. My car does have a Big Block Buick in that I plan on rebuilding this summer.

[BMR Sales]

70staged, Your Stock Suspension "Floats" as compared to new cars. You are looking at 40 Years of Suspension Innovation. Can you imagine how much better your Skylark was vs a 1930 Vehicle?

The things you need to ask yourself is, do you want to just improve over Stock, do you want to A/X, will you be going to the Dragstrip? These 3 Areas are looking for different ideals - Regular is Comfort with added precision, A/X is about Cornering, and the Strip is about the Launch.

The next thing you need to address is Budget & Time Frame.

What you might want to do is start with Springs & Wheels/Tires. 40 Year Old Springs are bound to Sag and have lost any performance they ever had. Springs are Cheap & Easy to Install. Tire Technology has changed and just putting on some new skins will be a Drastic Improvement.

T.C.

[UMI Tech]

The Stage 4 is pretty versatile and does a nice job at making a car capable in all three disciplines (street/strip/auto-x). The floating feeling goes away with the UMI front upper a-arm as the factory caster settings are moved from 0-1 degree to a much more stable 5-6 degree. A UMI car will go 120 mph and feel like 50.

For drag launch purposes I've been substituting our lift bars out back to gain 60ft performance while maintaining some assemblance of capable cornering. We can also do some stuff with our Pro-Tour bar out back along with relocation brackets. That upgrade makes for a triple threat.

Our G-body currently has this type of configuration. Relocation brackets out back set on the lowest holes, Pro-Tour bar set on shortest holes for increased rear roll resistance, shocks set to 90/10 up front and we're hooking. To go auto-x, we move the rear arms up one hole, soften the rear bar, adjust the shocks to 4/9 and hit the course.

Looking forward to the pics.

later

ramey


I like the looks of the stage 4 kit on your website. I would prefer the 1/2" taller ball ball joints on both control arms. What would need to be changed out for a better hook up at the drag strip? And does this kit make that floating feel go away at higher speeds?
I bought the car and the kid said that the suspension was rebuilt but i do not really believe that as it sits low in the front, I think they put in small block springs. I do not really want to go lower on the front suspension if I can help it. I can post a photo of the car later on this week. My car does have a Big Block Buick in that I plan on rebuilding this summer.