New F-body Camaro questions.

[greygoose006]

well i just got an 85 IROC-Z and was wondering what kinds of suspension setups you guys would reccomend.

the primary use of the car is a daily driver, but that is a pretty loose definition.
actually, it will be used for picking off imports by the dozen on the highway, and turning corners faster than any other car out there (as opposed to mostly drag racing).

it has a 350 in it and is pushing around 400 crank hp and 480 crank lb-ft.

other than new shocks a few years ago by the previous owner, there are no suspension modifications that i know of.


what kinds of things should i be looking into doing



on a side note, i dont think that i am quite up to the level of understanding that some of you are at... after reading through a few threads, i am officially intimidated, but i decided to post anyway.
i appologise if i am the very definition of a NOOB, but hey, everyone starts somewhere... right?

[MrQuick]

Don't get intimidated. Its just a bunch of words on a screen.

IROC's are a great base for a nice handling car.

I like to start by tightening up the suspension pieces. Have a seat and a nice cup of coffee.

Welding up the k member is a cheap start. Also loc-tite and safety wire the mounting bolts.
Replace all worn steering components.
BMR control arms or just boxing the stock stuff helps too.
Strut tower brace helps a bit.
Go with Del-A-Lum control arm bushings.
Find a 1LE anti sway bar set.
Pony up a subframe connecter set. X type work perfectly.
Rear suspension can be bought or made up from separate parts.
Get a nice set of quality struts and shocks. Bilstein or a set of AGX will suffice.
Beef up or replace the rear panhard bar and support.

Some other good ideas around here. http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showforum=1

[greygoose006]

Don't get intimidated. Its just a bunch of words on a screen. lol. thats a good way to look at it.


IROC's are a great base for a nice handling car. :woot:



Welding up the k member is a cheap start. Also loc-tite and safety wire the mounting bolts. well welding is out of the picture for me so that wont happen


Replace all worn steering components. lol. i guess you cant get those from a junkyard...
i plan to replace all the bushings with urethane ones


BMR control arms or just boxing the stock stuff helps too. so, i guess i better ask a dumb question here...
what exactly would upgraded control arms help?
i know that they are a good thing, but i am a visual learner and have never played around with them and dont know how they work together...


Strut tower brace helps a bit. i guess, but it seems like it would make routine engine work a lot harder...
i'm not that hardcore about handling yet.


Go with Del-A-Lum control arm bushings. i'm guessing that these are the stiffest and best ones out there...
will do


Find a 1LE anti sway bar set. is this the only option?
with my caprice, anything that was 9C-1 or Imp-ss spec was an upgrade and could be found for pretty cheap.
what are the stock sizes for front and rear bars, and what are their rates? (if you know)


Pony up a subframe connecter set. X type work perfectly.
Rear suspension can be bought or made up from separate parts.
Get a nice set of quality struts and shocks. Bilstein or a set of AGX will suffice. well i definitely cant afford AGX
i got the car for $500 so you can get an idea of my budget from there.

[BonzoHansen]

subframe connectors are a must.

[MrQuick]

well i definitely cant afford AGX
i got the car for $500 so you can get an idea of my budget from there. Well seeing you saved a bunch of money you have more to spend right?:pat: An average IROC out here will cost anywhere from 2-$3000.

Clean and inspect that member for cracks.

Anything to stiffen up the control arms helps.

Them AGX shocks and struts for a set will put you back $450. Not bad for 4 way adjustable.

A removable heim joint monte carlo bar will ease repairs.

You can still find 1LE bars floating around...I found a set at a swap meet for $125 That front hollow bar works killer.

[81Nascar]

I think MRQUICK pretty much nailed it. Just in stock form those cars out handle about 90% of what's out there even today. Nothing like new bushings and front steering parts to also help maximize handling as well. Best advise I can give from experience with a third gen is STIFFEN CHASSIS! STIFFEN CHASSIS!! They are very flexable cars thanks to being built kinda cheap.

[Norm Peterson]

Use Del-A-Lums in the front control arms only. And don't go blindly throwing poly bushings in the rear control arms - the extra roll stiffness that they provide back there is not entirely a good thing (and is more properly the job of the rear springs and sta-bar anyway). Said another way, there are better choices for rear suspension bushings. Poly-balls (J & M?) and Johnny-joints (Currie?) come to mind, and there is a home-brew partial fix as well.

There's plenty of threads here and elsewhere that discuss bushing "bind", but the short answer is to avoid or minimize it.


Norm

[greygoose006]

so Del-a-lum bushings should go in the front control arms.
what about the swaybar end links?
are poly bushings desired there or are del-a-lum ok?
forgive me, but i am new to the whole suspension tuning side of cars.

are there body to frame bushings that can be replaced with del-a-lum or urethane?

at least for now, i dont think that i have time for a full on SFC but if there are braces i can bolt in, i would love suggestions on where to look.

in my b-body, the big thing to do was bolt in a buick frame brace or class 3 hitch.
this strengthened the rear half of the frame, but was not permanant.

[Marcus SC&C]

Subframe connectors,engine bay brace (they`re almost all quick removable),beefy PHB (Spohn Perf. makes nice ones),good shocks/struts,good tires and you`re pretty much done. If you do rear arms listen to Norm about the bushings. I think Edelbrock makes a set with a urethane race spherical bearing on the frame side or you can use Currie Currectracs for G body and just don`t use the swaybar mounting holes (you don`t need em). The IROC already has a great steering box,decent suspension geometry and some factory chassis bracing. Bear in mind that IROCs were already really good handling cars out of the box. Mark SC&C

[MrQuick]

so Del-a-lum bushings should go in the front control arms.
what about the swaybar end links?
are poly bushings desired there or are del-a-lum ok?
forgive me, but i am new to the whole suspension tuning side of cars.

are there body to frame bushings that can be replaced with del-a-lum or urethane?

at least for now, i dont think that i have time for a full on SFC but if there are braces i can bolt in, i would love suggestions on where to look.

in my b-body, the big thing to do was bolt in a buick frame brace or class 3 hitch.
this strengthened the rear half of the frame, but was not permanant.
On the end links you are limited unless you make a set using heim ends. Not necassary.

The front frame bolts metal to metal on that body. no bushings used. Just make sure you make them bolts stay tight.

Try Summit, or grouppurchase.com for the subframe connecters.

On the rear arms im using QA1 hiems and johnny joints frame side on Jon A style links.

Marcus, should a rear sway bar not be used? never mind i got you, they bolt to the frame not the arms.

[zman1969]

I just thought id throw in my .02c i have had a 87 trans am since 91 the newest car i ever bought with 44k on it WS6 suspension and i drove it for years, after time lots of squeaks and rattles came to my attention, I soon found thirdgen.org - lots of good info there - everbody recomends weld in subframe connecters, "wonder bar" and a strut tower brace - i bought Alston SFC and wonderbar in a group purchase thru top down solutions : www.top-downsolutions.com (http://www.top-downsolutions.com) Lon there was a great help to me and those 3 modifications made such a difference it still rides so much better than ever. I should of done these years ago Mr quick and the others are right on! and a word of info your IROC should have a factory one - the only cars that came with them were IROCs good luck with your car :cool: