WildBlue goes RideTech

[GeoffP]

I figure it's probably time to start a new thread since I'll be doing some suspension updates to WildBlue over the next few weeks. I've already received ridetech upper and lower StrongArms, HQ coil overs and TruTurn upgrade kit to compliment my ridetech spindles. Plus I just ordered the RideTech 4 link with heim ends and the matching HQ coil overs this afternoon to take advantage of the Christmas sale thanks to Matt's Classic Bowties. Matt's has really been a huge help making sure I got the right stuff ordered and offering suggestions to my parts choices. I highly recommend them if you're looking for a 3rd party vendor to buy your parts through. They also treated me right on the Vintage Air Gen IV setup I bought this summer.



In addition to the RideTech parts, I recently got a set of low mileage 243 heads from a friend for a great deal and just received new MLS GM head gaskets from Jegs today. My LS1 spec iron block engine should really pep up with the increased flow and bumped up compression of the 243's over the 241's.

This is probably enough for an intro - pics to follow in the next couple of days!

[GeoffP]

Well I've spent the better part of the weekend helping my wife get ready for her grade's Christmas party (she's a teacher) since it's at our house this year so I don't have anything to update other than I cleaned the garage some. I did take some pictures of the parts I've recieved so far so once I get them posted somewhere I'll get them posted.

[rocketrod]

I figure it's probably time to start a new thread since I'll be doing some suspension updates to WildBlue over the next few weeks. I've already received ridetech upper and lower StrongArms, HQ coil overs and TruTurn upgrade kit to compliment my ridetech spindles. Plus I just ordered the RideTech 4 link with heim ends and the matching HQ coil overs this afternoon to take advantage of the Christmas sale thanks to Matt's Classic Bowties...

I also bought a Ridetech Level 2 setup from Matt's Classic Bowtie's! HOwever did you upgrade to the heim joints? If so, how much?

[GeoffP]

Ok here's a pic of the a-arms and the coil overs. I haven't even unboxed the coil overs yet other than to open box and pull one out to see what it looks like (very nice). I went with the HQ coil overs front and rear thinking ~$1200 difference is enough that I should try them first over the TQ's. If I want more I can always sell these and buy the TQ's later.



This second picture is my newly purchased 243 heads. I'm reading that I should see a bump in compression up to 10.5:1 over the 241 heads 10.1:1 compression ratio. That plus the improved flow characteristics should be a decent improvement (or so I hope).



I have a friend who wants to sell me a brand new Texas Speed 220r on a 112 lobe sep angle that I might buy but funds are WAY short trying to get the ridetech parts paid for. It may still work out if I can get him to trade it for some labor on the 6.0 he's building...we'll see. I am expecting the 4 link and rear coil overs sometime next week so next Saturday will hopefully be mine to work on the car finally!

[rocketrod]

Subscribed since I will be doing this install in the coming weeks..

[srh3trinity]

That is a nice pile of parts.

[GeoffP]

I also bought a ridetech Level 2 setup from Matt's Classic Bowtie's! HOwever did you upgrade to the heim joints? If so, how much?

Yah I wanted the heim ends since I plan to beat on the suspension pretty hard. I don't see spending the kind of money it takes to buy these suspensions if you're not going to beat the stew out of it! ridetech's site quotes a $200 difference but buying during RideTech's Christmas sale really saved me a good bit of money getting the discount on the 4 link by ordering it with the coil overs plus free shipping. I'm pretty sure I ended up spending less by buying during the sale with the heim upgrade than I would have without the sale price for the standard kit. Matt's really did me right.

Stephen - I've got all kinds of parts! I've been trying to clean out everything I'm not using without losing my rear even though I have given some of it away to make room for this project. I've got two 4.8/5.3 blocks I really need to get gone along with a set of early 4.8 heads (sitting next to the 243's in the picture).

[srh3trinity]

Stephen - I've got all kinds of parts! I've been trying to clean out everything I'm not using without losing my rear even though I have given some of it away to make room for this project. I've got two 4.8/5.3 blocks I really need to get gone along with a set of early 4.8 heads (sitting next to the 243's in the picture).

I know the feeling. I have some LSX takeoff parts that I have been listing/relisting on eBay to make some room and put a little change in my pocket for the build. My parts collection is getting to the point where I am going to be forced to start working on the car because I am running out of storage space.

[rchaskin]

Its getting good now!!

[GeoffP]

Slight delay...found out today that my rear suspension order was delayed due to ridetech being out of "blocks" Not sure what that is exactly...guess I'll know when they arrive next week sometime. Needless to say I won't be working on the car this weekend as planned except to start taking the Hotchkis stuff off the car.

[GeoffP]

A friend of mine is letting me borrow his Miller Spectrum Thunder plasma cutter. He said it's suffering from a weak arc and was told it needs a new ground cable to fix the arc problem. I'm thinking the cable looks solid and probably just needs to be cleaned at each end to improve conductivity of the cable. This is a good step towards doing tubs. Hopefully someone will chime in on the filler pieces for the frame - I would love to be able to buy the pieces pre-cut if they don't already come with the tubs (don't think they do).

[GeoffP]

It's getting good now - the Hotchkis parts are all pending sale. My ROH Snyper wheels (17x8 and 17x9) with BFG 245/45-17's and Nitto NT-05 275/40-17's will be for sale very soon as well. SOOOO...Its time to start looking for wheels and tires. I'll be looking for wheels very soon and need some suggestions. I can't afford more than $250-300 a wheel including the cost of spacers since I know $250 per wheel isn't going to buy a custom offset wheel. Anybody got any pointers? I'm looking for 18x10's with 275/35-18's front and 18x11's with 315/35-18's (or is it 315/30-18's?) rear. I'm not going to try to squeeze 335's in the wells since I'm pushing my luck to get the car tubbed and back together by spring.

[Garymac69]

The problem going with 315/30/18 is that they are smaller in diameter than the 275's. No one really makes a 315/35/18 for our use (except drag radials). Not a good look IMO. I'd suggest maybe going with a 265 in front. The ridetech 48 hour Camaro used 335's. Why would you have a problem?

[GeoffP]

Yah I figured out that there's not much choice in 315's in 30 or 35 ratio tires. Depending on how brave I get I might try to fit a 335...I just don't want to mess up the quarters any worse than they already are before I can afford to have them replaced in a few years. In regard to why I would have trouble, 67/68's aren't as wide as 69's so you have to either push the deep tubs into the body further or stretch the quarters (or both).

So how about a few pictures? They're from my cell so they aren't the best but some progress has been made!









I've got both sides of the front suspension stripped to this point but no pictures from the driver's side since I wanted to get wrapped up for the night.

[GeoffP]

It's a good thing I'm doing this because you can see how dirty everything's gotten - Shameful!! I'll be glad to get everything cleaned back up again and get it all painted nice and pretty. I may even take a grinder to the weld splatter from the factory welds and knock a bit of it off if i get very industrious. It's a good thing I've got a head swap planned as part of my winter upgrades because it would be a PITA to get the upper arms off otherwise.

I'm planning to get the rear suspension apart tomorrow night and get it cleaned up as well before reassembly with the new ridetech pieces. I may not start reassembly until after Christmas. My priority is getting the Hotchkis stuff off since's it's all sold except for the rear sway bar. If anyone's interested, I have it for sale in the classifieds section. I'll make you a great deal on it! I thought I had it sold but I haven't heard anything from the potential buyer since last week.

[rocketrod]

Looks great!

[Rod]

Just a question why the swap from Hotchkis to ridetech? I think both companies are great and I have added a fantastic mix of both to my car, in fact I have many upgrades happening right now also

[GeoffP]

I've got several reasons for wanting to make a change:

1. Adjustability and choice - single adjustable and triple adjustable coil overs and spring rate choices.
2. Wheel hop - my car has noticeable wheel hop since I added 1" drop blocks to get the height where I wanted it.
3. Ride - I've ridden in cars that have both DSE and ridetech setups. They ride WAY better than Hotchkis' TVS does.
4. Mix - I don't like mixing parts because inevitably some part just doesn't work well from one manufacturer's system to the other.
5. Support - ridetech has had someone at nearly every event I've been to and they are more than willing to offer help when asked. I've NEVER seen Hotchkis at any event on the east side of the U.S. even before I started auto crossing.

Please don't think that I'm saying Hotchkis is a bad company because they aren't and I'm not disappointed in the quality of their products. I just want something different and I think RideTech is the answer to get the results I'm looking for.

[GeoffP]

Ok so I just couldn't get motivated to work on my car tonight thanks to a no good very bad day at work. I figured I'd just get frustrated and end up breaking or damaging something. More updates in a couple days hopefully!!

[Rod]

Please don't think that I'm saying Hotchkis is a bad company because they aren't and I'm not disappointed in the quality of their products. I just want something different and I think ridetech is the answer to get the results I'm looking for.

just asking I'm always curious, I run parts from both companies (ridetech & Hotchkis) along with Global west, DSE and Helwig so I was just asking and watching the build