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1986 Daytona Turbo Z suspension upgrade .

3K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  carman 88 
#1 ·
Hello , Looking for some advice on known suspension upgrades for my 86 Z Daytona . I want the car as low as possible , will be using 16" or 17" wheels . Are the newer dual pivot lower control arms off 89 cars better ? the rear axle from 89 Shelby Daytona ( bigger bar inside , welded ends ) ? Better , Strut bar ? Reinforcement anywhere ? I have Eibachs lowering springs . Any knowledge of known improvements will help. The car will be street driven , some road racing events Will be powered by Modified 2.2 Turbo 2 intercooled SMEC , 555 5-speed .
Thanks in advance..
 
#3 ·
Thanks , I have also learned that the first gen., G body, Daytona and Laser . , Have shorter springs to begin with. I have parted several of both Gen. Daytonas , 84-86 and 87-89
and the first gen. cars have shorter springs , hence why Eibachs were not listed for these years ?? I have compared all the years that I listed with Eibachs. So I have cut a set of 86 springs , I would like to know what are the best ( Rich Bryant are out of my range ) I have konis , need rebuilt , I read some use the newer 1989 dual pivot front control arms. ? Read some control arms move the front wheels forward a little ? Looking for advice on what actually works ? there are several different rear axle assy. . I have saved everything off cars parted , now its time to start putting my car together . I do plan on buying poly bushings , poly engine mounts , ect. ect. consider welding in bracing if someone has had positive results , and advice . Thanks for your interest , and reply , hopefully someone has it all figured out , and will share their knowledge … I did score the big brakes off a 1989 Shelby Daytona , with the rear vented rotors,
 
#5 ·
Thanks , I have also learned that the first gen., G body, Daytona and Laser . , Have shorter springs to begin with. I have parted several of both Gen. Daytonas , 84-86 and 87-89
and the first gen. cars have shorter springs , hence why Eibachs were not listed for these years ?? I have compared all the years that I listed with Eibachs. So I have cut a set of 86 springs , I would like to know what are the best ( Rich Bryant are out of my range ) I have konis , need rebuilt , I read some use the newer 1989 dual pivot front control arms. ? Read some control arms move the front wheels forward a little ? Looking for advice on what actually works ? there are several different rear axle assy. . I have saved everything off cars parted , now its time to start putting my car together . I do plan on buying poly bushings , poly engine mounts , ect. ect. consider welding in bracing if someone has had positive results , and advice . Thanks for your interest , and reply , hopefully someone has it all figured out , and will share their knowledge … I did score the big brakes off a 1989 Shelby Daytona , with the rear vented rotors,
Are you looking to sell the Eibachs?
 
#4 ·
To use dual pivot control arms you will also need the dual pivot K frame. I know our stock cars don’t get much camber, I was thinking about switching to 91 and up knuckles with the bolt in bearings but after talking to some people who race G body’s who have don’t that swap they tell me they have had a very hard time getting back to 0 camber. I “believe “ that using those knuckles on single pivot arms adversely affects geometry. They bolt up... but they are not ideal. Lucky you as far as scoring 11 vented rears. I looked all winter and could only find one set but the buyer wasn’t keen about shipping no matter how much I pleaded. So I went with solid rears off a Lebaron, used the 3 mm spacer so I could get drilled and slotted neon rotors and upgraded to a 300M rear caliper with a 2mm larger piston. It won’t be as good as a vented set up but the rotors are 3.5 lbs lighter per side I did not know that 84 thru 86 springs were shorter. I plan on getting new 87 up style struts, I’ve heard the Blue Monroe’s are a solid choice, and finding some 87 up springs to cut. I’m currently trying to figure what springs would be best. I’m wondering if 3.0 springs out of a Daytona or Lebaron would be a good choice due to the heavier weight. Are you planning on reusing 86 struts? Check your rear sway bars for diameter. If you have the Shelby axle you may want to try that one. DONT swap the bushing out. I saw some one say that the Shelby bushing was stiffer that the poly replacement one. Not many people road race, autocross, or do HPDE/ track day events so turning info is hard to come by.
 
#7 ·
Getting the Koni's rebuilt these days from what I just heard are as much as getting a set of BC's from Rich. So if you're planning on road racing just get the BC's. It's a far better setup than even the Koni's and Eibachs with the way they adjust. You don't want to go much lower than Koni's and Eibach's anyway because you screw up the angle of the a-arms and mess up the handling by going to low. The pivot points should be parallel to the ground. 89-90 Kmember and arms bolt right on. Same geometry with dual pivots. You can even use your factory bar. 91+ have different knuckles which move the ball joint lower so you can lower the car more before affecting a-arm angle. I have not heard of people having camber issues with them. 89/90 11" fronts are much lighter than the 91+ 11's but you don't get the lower ball joint position. If you go with 91+ kmember and arms you'll also need a matching sway bar. My cars all run the 89/90 kmember, 87-90 1 1/4" sway bar and 89/90 11" brakes that have bolt in bearings. For the rear, 86-88 CS or ShelbyZ axle. Not only do they have the solid bar but the factory bushings are solid very hard rubber. I made the mistake of burning a set out and putting in Poly. Big Mistake. The factory bushings were way way better. Other cars got softer bushings with holes in them so poly might be an upgrade for those. I run 11" vented rears with the matching prop valve and MC though my daytona runs the D150 MC. The factory MC is easier to push where the D150 requires a lot of effort but I like it better for road racing. As far as alignment read this: Suspension & Steering Systems:Alignment Specifications
 
#8 ·
Hello , Thanks for your reply . Have been gathering and saving suspension parts for quite sometime now, The newest parts I have are from a 1989 Shelby Daytona, where I got the 11 inch disc front and rear , changing K member cuz of the bobble strut location for the Getrag 555 trans. , Are the dual pivots better ? noticed that some of the rear axle assy. have bigger bar that looks solid at ends , I did buy Poly for front and rear before asking anyone , Thinking that OEM bushing are over 30 years old and need replaced ? As far as using BCs was trying to save some money , Only because I have several Turbo Dodge projects I am trying to build at same time LOL . These cars are so addicting I think I have to buy everyone that I see locally for sale !!! Very hard to find here !! Thanks again for any and all your Knowledge . I will check into the BCs since it is the best route .
 
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