2nd gen camaro rear suspension HELP

[David Pozzi]

I agree with Blake. At the point where you mini-tub the car, keeping leaf springs requires relocation of the leafs & shocks, that money is better spent doing a link suspension or Torque arm and getting a little more stability and tuneability. A big benefit from the lower unsprung weight is the ride quality improvement which also can help the car maintain traction over bumps when running hard. But leaf springs do work well if you don't need 335's on the rear.

[SLO_Z28]

how many guys can have shocks "Made and dynoed" to work??

I would argue that everyone here should do that. One thing I don't like about a non square tire size is you will almost always be chasing an understeer problem. As far as tuning spring rates, its really not different than a coil over setup, you dont just stab in what the "kit" sells and call it good, you have to match the springs to the car and leaf springs are about the same price as coil over springs. They are much harder to change though, and the coil overs are MUCH better for corner weighting a car.

I actually just noticed, what does the speedtech kit do for a swaybar?

[killer69]

I would argue that everyone here should do that. One thing I don't like about a non square tire size is you will almost always be chasing an understeer problem. As far as tuning spring rates, its really not different than a coil over setup, you dont just stab in what the "kit" sells and call it good, you have to match the springs to the car and leaf springs are about the same price as coil over springs. They are much harder to change though, and the coil overs are MUCH better for corner weighting a car.

I actually just noticed, what does the speedtech kit do for a swaybar?

LETS GET IT ON!!! lol the coil over springs are only 75.00 each for the good ones. and don't discount the shipping cost. I do agree that matching the springs can make a big differance.
as far as a sway bar we ran one on my Nova and to date have not found a signifigant improvement on track with or without. we are working on an option for both first and second gen cars. because people ask for it.

[5spd540]

I decided to keep leafs on mine for the reason of I want to go out on the track and play with the guys with all the new suspension stuff while I am still old school

[badazz81z28]

I decided to keep leafs on mine for the reason of I want to go out on the track and play with the guys with all the new suspension stuff while I am still old school

People have had great success with Leafs. I wiil say one thing, don't waste your money on PTFB crap. STAY AWAY FROM DAVE!

Has Hotchkis released their 3 link yet???

[5spd540]

No can do on dave I want to finish my car this year. I will say dave has good stuff but his service sucks

[badazz81z28]

No can do on dave I want to finish my car this year. I will say dave has good stuff but his service sucks

I have had all his parts before. They are so...so....parts. I ended up selling ALL of it for Hotchkis. His customer service and the wait for shipment is beyond what one would consider unacceptable. As far as his other suspension stuff (Ball joints/tie rods etc), its all cheapy Elgin parts. Buyers beware for sure.

[5spd540]

I saw a guy with a TA at let local race track and he was putting it on all the new camaros and vettes with a 35 year old car with all daves stuff on his car

[SLO_Z28]

LETS GET IT ON!!! lol the coil over springs are only 75.00 each for the good ones. and don't discount the shipping cost. I do agree that matching the springs can make a big differance.
as far as a sway bar we ran one on my Nova and to date have not found a signifigant improvement on track with or without. we are working on an option for both first and second gen cars. because people ask for it.

The down side to not having a sway bar is that all of your chassis roll is then controlled by the spring, the result will be less a less compliant ride, and less weight transfer which will limit forward acceleration. The upside is that you don't unload your inside rear tire on turns because the sway bar is picking it up. Ideally some of your roll control comes from sway bars, the exact amount depends on a lot of factors but there is an ideal balance.

Now lets get back to the kit, and what you actually gain with the torque arm. The instant center is lower, and is tunable in a more ideal manner by adjustment of the rear control arm angles. You can set ride height in a more ideal way because you can control the installed height of the coil over by knowing the corner weight and spring rate. The other benefit of the coil over is being able to set the cross weights (which can be one of the bigger changes in a cars feel), while this does affect ride height the 2 should be thought of as being different adjustments achieved in different ways. You can also adjust the roll center of the car and get the rear to weight jack more, or less, depending on the desired results. You can use the pan hard rod as a tool, along with an adjustable sway bar to get more or less roll steer from the rear.

The biggest thing for any product is proven results, you can talk about theory all you want but the proof is in the pudding. No offense but I don't buy into the fact that you've been campaigning this style of kit on your first gen as proof of concept, the two platforms are not even remotely the same. Now I'm not saying that this kit does or doesn't work, just that your earlier argument is invalid.

[5spd540]

I have had all his parts before. They are so...so....parts. I ended up selling ALL of it for Hotchkis. His customer service and the wait for shipment is beyond what one would consider unacceptable. As far as his other suspension stuff (Ball joints/tie rods etc), its all cheapy Elgin parts. Buyers beware for sure.

That is true about his service how does he stay in business

[badazz81z28]

That is true about his service how does he stay in business

I don't get it....So many warning and people still buy....Than they post a thread saying hes not delivering....Some people are dumb!

[5spd540]

I don't get it....So many warning and people still buy....Than they post a thread saying hes not delivering....Some people are dumb!

I dont know why he is so slow

[Hotchkis]

Weekend car some autocross for fun and some dragracing mostly street driving
I have 4 wheel 12in disc on it now steering I have not done yet.
money why worry about it now. I have a ton in it already
Yes all work will be done in my shop.
I have a tko600 and a dart 540 for the car now the motor will be making low 700hp and mid 600tq

5spd540,
I would definitely suggest taking a look at our TVS system. If you are looking for the an easy option with proven results then this is it. Our latest Stage2 TVS system has everything you need from leaf springs to sway bars and chassis bracing to shock absorbers. Every part of this system was designed to compliment the others to give you a complete, well-engineered kit. In last 2010's Super Chevy Suspension shootout a Hotchkis TVS-equipped F-Body bested the competition (including cars with Independent Rear Suspension) by 0.02 seconds in the autocross - not bad for a car with leaf springs. This same car was also driven by Pulitzer-Prize winning Automotive Journalist Dan Neil who said about the car, "In 20 years, the best car I’ve ever driven.” Not only will the TVS system give you the ride and handling you are looking for while autocrossing, but it is still compliant enough not to enjoy on a daily basis driving on the street. For more information on the TVS Stage2 kit please visit http://www.hotchkis.net/stage-2-tota...ck-2-drop.html for info on the 70-73 kit or here http://www.hotchkis.net/search.html?...mitForm=Search to see the rest of our 2nd-Gen F-Body products.
Here is a picture of all that is included in the TVS kit:



If you decide that you want to take the next step beyond the TVS Stage2 system then I would suggest looking to our brand new 3-link system. This kit eliminates the leaf springs and replaces them with more traditional coil-over shocks. With its improved geometry, new trailing arms, adjustable Panhard Rod, and adjustable shocks, traction is improved while wheel-hop is greatly reduced. The adjustable upper trailing arm also allows you to make pinion angle changes easy. For more information on this kit please visit: http://www.hotchkis.net/19701981-cam...ming-soon.html



This setup was also featured in a recent Super Chevy article that you can find here: http://www.superchevy.com/features/c...vrolet_camaro/

[73RSZ28]

I have all PTFB stuff been happy with all of it. True some waiting is envolved, but Dave is good people he offers a wealth of knowledge for free. I think people get nervous when orders don't show up in a week or two. I will say this, the last order I made was through Keith at Custom Works and it was a little easier. Keith emails quickly and also offers real world knowledge for free. Oddly the parts still shipped directly from PTFB but in half the time as normal. I think Dave has issues with the retail side of the business.