Would this be a good set up???

[jay'srs/ss]

My buddy is going to start ordering up some new suspension goodies for his practicaly bone stock 69 Camaro. His car has a 350, 350 trans, 10 bolt, & factory front disc/rear drum. Only add ons are a mild cam and Doug's Headers. The car will be mainly street driven, with the occasional local auto-x. He's picked out so far:

Speedtech Upper & Lower Control Arms
Ridetech Front Coil Over System-Non Adjustable
Ridetech Tru Turn w/ Spindles
ATS 670 Power Steering Box
New Sway Bar-Hotchkis or DSE
1.5-2" Drop Rear Leaf Springs-Hotchkis or DSE
Ridetech Black Series Non-Adjustable Rear Shocks???


The rear shocks descision is still up in the air. Ridetech offers different stroke options varying from 2.6-5". Not sure which one would compliment the front set up. His budget won't allow him to upgrade to big brakes or big wheels at this time. He will down the road though for certain. So he wants something that will work with his current tires and brakes. Which will be the stock disc/drum set up with upgraded rotors/pads and a new master/booster. The wheels will be either some wider vette style ralleys, or some run of the mill American Racing wheels. As far as his choice of UCA & LCA's, he liked the Speedtech's due to they apear to have a grease fitting for ball joints. Where as I think The Ridetech Strong Arms do not.

Just looking for some opinions if this set up should work well together, being a "pieced" together option vs. buying a complete kit from one manufactorer.

Thanks!

[Hotchkis]

My buddy is going to start ordering up some new suspension goodies for his practicaly bone stock 69 Camaro. His car has a 350, 350 trans, 10 bolt, & factory front disc/rear drum. Only add ons are a mild cam and Doug's Headers. The car will be mainly street driven, with the occasional local auto-x. He's picked out so far:

Speedtech Upper & Lower Control Arms
Ridetech Front Coil Over System-Non Adjustable
Ridetech Tru Turn w/ Spindles
ATS 670 Power Steering Box
New Sway Bar-Hotchkis or DSE
1.5-2" Drop Rear Leaf Springs-Hotchkis or DSE
Ridetech Black Series Non-Adjustable Rear Shocks???


The rear shocks descision is still up in the air. Ridetech offers different stroke options varying from 2.6-5". Not sure which one would compliment the front set up. His budget won't allow him to upgrade to big brakes or big wheels at this time. He will down the road though for certain. So he wants something that will work with his current tires and brakes. Which will be the stock disc/drum set up with upgraded rotors/pads and a new master/booster. The wheels will be either some wider vette style ralleys, or some run of the mill American Racing wheels. As far as his choice of UCA & LCA's, he liked the Speedtech's due to they apear to have a grease fitting for ball joints. Where as I think The Ridetech Strong Arms do not.

Just looking for some opinions if this set up should work well together, being a "pieced" together option vs. buying a complete kit from one manufactorer.

Thanks!


Jay – There’s a lot to be said about purchasing most your suspension parts from a single source…including you’re getting all the same geometry and suspension design done by a single manufacturer. Each manufacturer has a different idea of how to make a car handle well. One manufacturer may use lighter springs, bigger sway bars, and different shock valving to control the car and another one has a completely different way to design their parts and kits. Getting parts from different manufacturers and dialing them all in is possible for a decent result and lots of planning, but you may end up buying some parts twice in the process.

Carl Casanova’s ’68 has proven that getting a single Hotchkis TVS kit has been an awesome improvement in performance. He’s take first place in different driving events since his upgrade.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/camaro/sucp_1103_hotchkis_1968_chevrolet_camaro/index.html

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/02/sucp_1103_09_o1968_chevrolet_camarodrive-1.jpg

[jay'srs/ss]

Jay – There’s a lot to be said about purchasing most your suspension parts from a single source…including you’re getting all the same geometry and suspension design done by a single manufacturer. Each manufacturer has a different idea of how to make a car handle well. One manufacturer may use lighter springs, bigger sway bars, and different shock valving to control the car and another one has a completely different way to design their parts and kits. Getting parts from different manufacturers and dialing them all in is possible for a decent result and lots of planning, but you may end up buying some parts twice in the process.

Carl Casanova’s ’68 has proven that getting a single Hotchkis TVS kit has been an awesome improvement in performance. He’s take first place in different driving events since his upgrade.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/camaro/sucp_1103_hotchkis_1968_chevrolet_camaro/index.html

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/02/sucp_1103_09_o1968_chevrolet_camarodrive-1.jpg

I totaly get that. On my 67 Camaro I'm running a Hotchkis TVS System(minus the rear sway), with the addition of Speedtech Upper & Lower Control Arms. It handles awesome to say the least.

But my buddy wants to go a lil more extreme. He plans on going 255's in the front and 275's out back. That's why he likes the Tru Turn from Ridetech. Also the Ridetech Coil Overs are a hell of a bang for the buck. So does that mean he should go all Ridetech? Maybe, but I talked to Ridetech and they suggested the same thing. Keep it all with one manufacturer. They said since he's going coil over in the front, he should do a 4 link with coil overs in the rear. Which I get that too, but he doesn't want to drop that kind of dough right now. He has about $7-8k to spend on new suspension, steering, brakes, wheels, & what ever else pops up.

I'm trying to steer him towards a TVS kit or something similar. But he's pretty dead set on the Ridetech Coil Overs. He just might end up buying a few different combos of rear shocks, finding the right set to balance out the suspension. Unless someone else has some more input of how he should set it up, that could be what happens.

[Rod]

I would opt to run adjustable shocks or coilovers on what ever set up you run, I have the TVS on my car (Plain Jane) and at NMCA/NMRA West Coast Nationals, I couldn't reduce my lap times after 6 runs on the track, I jacked up the car and added some Qa1's right there in the parking lot and set them half way and dropped over 2 seconds on the next run, after that a few runs later I swapped out the rear sway bar for a Adjustable rear sway bar from Helwig and set it in the middle and the car dropped another second

[Hotchkis]

Jay – We’re glad to hear that you like your TVS system on your ’67! :) Where can we find pictures of your car? Do you ever go to Pleasanton Good Guys events?

Either way your friend goes, we’re sure he’ll have fun.


Rod – There’s definitely a lot to be said about an adjustable sway bar, especially when everything else on the suspension is dialed in mixed with tires, power, and driving skill. You and your awesome garage-built car looked great out there. :)

We offer an adjustable rear sway bar for the first-gen F-body and it's hollow, for reduced weight with equal torsional stiffness to competing rear adjustable bars that are solid. The part number is 2207RC (http://www.hotchkis.net/6769_camarofirebird_rear_sway_bar_chassis_brace.ht ml).

[MrQuick]

I would opt to run adjustable shocks or coilovers on what ever set up you run, I have the TVS on my car (Plain Jane) and at NMCA/NMRA West Coast Nationals, I couldn't reduce my lap times after 6 runs on the track, I jacked up the car and added some Qa1's right there in the parking lot and set them half way and dropped over 2 seconds on the next run, after that a few runs later I swapped out the rear sway bar for a Adjustable rear sway bar from Helwig and set it in the middle and the car dropped another second was this before or after lunch? j/k

3 secs is huge when slinging cones.

[jay'srs/ss]

Jay – We’re glad to hear that you like your TVS system on your ’67! :) Where can we find pictures of your car? Do you ever go to Pleasanton Good Guys events?

Either way your friend goes, we’re sure he’ll have fun.


Rod – There’s definitely a lot to be said about an adjustable sway bar, especially when everything else on the suspension is dialed in mixed with tires, power, and driving skill. You and your awesome garage-built car looked great out there. :)

We offer an adjustable rear sway bar for the first-gen F-body and it's hollow, for reduced weight with equal torsional stiffness to competing rear adjustable bars that are solid. The part number is 2207RC (http://www.hotchkis.net/6769_camarofirebird_rear_sway_bar_chassis_brace.ht ml).

Here's a pic of my car...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/12/IMAG0057-1.jpg

[jay'srs/ss]

Okay got an update! After collecting more research, here's the set up my buddy is leaning towards:

DSE Upper & Lower Control Arms
Ridetech Tall Spindles
Stock Height Coil Springs
Koni Shocks-Non Adjustable
New Front Sway Bar-DSE or ???
DSE 2" Drop Leaf Springs

Some maybes:
Subframe Connectors
New Body Bushings

I think this will be a good starting point. He can see how he likes this, and if he wants to go more he can. But I'm not sure if the Ridetech Spindles will work okay with the stock disc brakes. I tried a search and didn't see any info regarding that.

Doing Subframe Connectors would be ideal. Except he wants some that would be bolt ins, no cutting or welding.

[Hotchkis]

Okay got an update! After collecting more research, here's the set up my buddy is leaning towards:

DSE Upper & Lower Control Arms
Ridetech Tall Spindles
Stock Height Coil Springs
Koni Shocks-Non Adjustable
New Front Sway Bar-DSE or ???
DSE 2" Drop Leaf Springs

Some maybes:
Subframe Connectors
New Body Bushings

I think this will be a good starting point. He can see how he likes this, and if he wants to go more he can. But I'm not sure if the Ridetech Spindles will work okay with the stock disc brakes. I tried a search and didn't see any info regarding that.

Doing Subframe Connectors would be ideal. Except he wants some that would be bolt ins, no cutting or welding.


We’ve run those bolt-in subframe connectors before. They won’t do a lot for your friend unless he’s strictly going in a straight line…but they are great for reducing ground clearance and also protecting your floorboards. When he’s ready for some better subframe connectors, let him know that ours are easy to install without cutting up your floor pan with minimal welding in the rear and bolt-on in the front. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xEvdRXvPqA