suspension ideas???

[bret loibl]

Hello there... I am getting ready to build a 65 gto pro touring type car (ls2..6 speed 18's) what i need are some ideas for the suspension...I want to do a nice,better than stock suspension that has a good stance and handles nice,It dosen't have to be a trick of the week full race setup but just a good front and rear upgrade...I have seen the ads for global west and others...any thoughts? also looking at steering and a brake up grade...just wondering who to call first....Any info would be great Thanks...

[MrQuick]

Keep it simple I'd go with a Hotchkis full kit with ATS tall spindles and C5 front and 98+ Camaro rear brakes. Nice hot street package.

[novanutcase]

Keep it simple I'd go with a Hotchkis full kit with ATS tall spindles and C5 front and 98+ Camaro rear brakes. Nice hot street package.

That's a pretty sweet street setup but you know once you do it and drive it for a while you're going to want more! LOL!!

John

[Marcus SC&C]

There are a lot of good choices out there right now. Mr. Quick is certainly on the right track. The ATS AFX tall spindles offer the best geometry and performance bar none on the A body chassis. No hype,the numbers don`t lie. Make them part of a well balanced system (sounds like a breakfast cereal commercial...) and you`ll have excellent street manners and road race car handling to boot. The Hotchkis package would work but there are better choice for the upper A arms. The Hotchkis ones work but offer limited alignment options with the AFX tall spindles and common ProTouring ride heights (they`d work better in this case without the offset cross shafts). Stock upper A arms are not a viable option. The FX spindles are so much taller the stock arms are no longer the right size or shape. We offer a package with the AFX spindles and fully adj. A arms made to work perfectly with the AFX spindles. The Hotchkis springs would be just fine,Eibach or GW are also very good. If you want to get all out we also offer Varishock coil over packages front and rear.
The rear Hotchkis bar is good for this application but the front one is larger than necessary. It`s great for a stock geometry car but an AFX car is a whole different animal. It can and should use a smaller front bar than that.
In the rear Currie Currectrac arms are the top choice. In our tests no other arms offer the freedom of articulation,long term durability and strength of the Curries.
The C5/LS1 style brakes are perfect. They work great and are a very well balanced package on and A body. Baer offers a really attractively priced ($700 less than the normal 13" A body system!) GT-AFX system just for the AFX spindles. A cheap way to get into Baer`s super beefy rotors,pads and braided hoses etc. for just a little more than plain C5 stuff. C5 brakes are great on a C5 but their OE lightweight rotors warp quickly on a 3,600lb. A body.
Don`t forget about the shocks! They`re hyper critical but often chosen as an afterthought. Hotchkis Bilsteins are great for a street car. They`re a little soft in rebound for auto cross or track days etc. if you`re going to do any of that step up to a knob adj. shock all around. We`ve gotten excellent performance and durability from Alston Varishocks.
Finish it off with the steering. Lee makes THE best Saginaw box out there. The ratios are basically the same as everyone elses but their experience and TLC they put into each individual box really shows in the road feel and response. Either their 800 or 670 series boxes would be great but since you don`t really need any extra clearance in the steering box area on an A body I`d suggest the less expensive 800. Spend the $100 you save on the something else on the car or take your wife or girl friend out to a fancy dinner so she gets off your case about being in the garage working on the GTO all the time. Mark SC&C