Upgrading Jbody suspension

[92lebaronGTC]

New bilstein struts are on the way from Welcome to FWD Performance, Inc. I just placed my order. I'll post after they are installed with pics, I can't wait, my current struts are so worn out.

[92lebaronGTC]

New struts came in yesterday! I rented a spring compressor and I should have these installed by tonight! I'll let everyone know how it all goes. I should get a front wheel alignment as soon as I can after this right??

[crazymadbastard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92lebaronGTC New struts came in yesterday! I rented a spring compressor and I should have these installed by tonight! I'll let everyone know how it all goes. I should get a front wheel alignment as soon as I can after this right??

Sweet, mine still feel ok I have monroes- and something else out back.
def keep us updated. You will def need an alignment right away.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92lebaronGTC New struts came in yesterday! I rented a spring compressor and I should have these installed by tonight! I'll let everyone know how it all goes. I should get a front wheel alignment as soon as I can after this right??

Yes alignment ASAP. I've seen enough toe change swapping struts to wear out a tire in a week! Dial in -1.5 degrees of camber on each side in the front. Toe at 0 to a hair out. Put -1.0 in each side in the back and toe at 0. If you don't want to run that much camber then dial it back but keep the 1/2 degree difference front to rear. It'll make the car corner balanced. I run that much in my daily driven tona with no issues so it's not a huge amount of camber. Some people just get nervous for some reason. And alignment shops will freak out cause it's outside their computer's specs for the car. But just tell them to do it. You'll love how the car hooks in the corners.

[Reaper1]

This is great, if the car can adjust that much. I've seen a few that won't without camber plates....

[GLHNSLHT2]

The key is to keep the 1/2 degree split front to rear. You won't have quite as high as a limit with say -1.0 and -0.5 but the car will still be very balanced. With "stock" alignment settings according to the tire stores computers you have a range of 0-1 degree POSITIVE in the front and 0-1 degree NEGATIVE in the raer. This leads to an understeering ride the outer sidewalls and no traction when the nose lifts on launch PIG! So throw those settings out the window and tell them to shove it if they say that's all they'll align it too.

One word of caution with the good settings. Be careful on the 1st couple corners. The car likes to hook so well if there's a curb or other obsticle at the apex of the corner you'll probably hit it So make sure you get used to the car before getting too crazy cause it'll be a whole different animal.

[92lebaronGTC]

Thanks for these last few posts with all the info!! Good stuff, i'll write it down for when I get my alignment tomorrow, and OH MY GOD does it need it. I drove about 15 miles after putting those struts in, and I would refuse to go above 35mph because of how scary it felt. I parked my car and took the bike to work today. After tomorrow though everything will be good and i'll post up with results and how good or bad these struts are. I like them a lot so far though, my old ones were from the factory 137,800 miles ago!!! These make the car wayyy less bouncy.

[92lebaronGTC]

Alright just got the car back from the shop, they dialed in -1.5 camber in both sides and gave it zero toe in, on the ride home I only had a few good turns but from what I can tell this car is a completely different animal now. I love how much better it rides compared to stock and WAYYYY better than before I got a good alignment. Thanks everyone for your help!!!

[92lebaronGTC]

With some more road testing I have done I pretty much think they did a top notch job on my alignment because the car has never handled sooooo good!! It sure makes driving fun again!! Corners are my favorite and I can't even really break these tires loose now. Good info on those camber specs!! Does it mean i'll have any different wear pattern on my tires now? My old struts kinda made the outer edges of my front tires a little more worn out. I'll give it a rotation and see what happens!

[GLHNSLHT2]

Old thread and didn't see the last post. Any update on wear? Your old tires/struts wore on the outer edges because you didn't have enough NEGATIVE camber. This allows the tire to roll over on itself when you take a corner. With enough negative camber the tire will roll onto it's contact patch fully and give you max traction.

[vader85]

Are those stock springs?