I was thinking about doing some brake upgrading and wondering what I should go with. I would like to take the car on some street courses eventually, but would still like to have the option of running 15" wheels, since that's what i currently have. 1. So should I just drop the bucks and go with Baer, or Wilwood, or do the blazer brakes? 2. Also is it worth getting those AFX spindles for better geometry? 3. Should I get a drop spindle? 4. Will I need taller then my 5658 coils? I also plan on getting new upper and lower control arms (front only as the rear is h and r). 5. Which ones should I go with? 6. If I'm doing all this should I grab some new pitman arms or anything else.
Any input would be greatly appreciated :biggrin:
1)buy PBR brakes. I looked on the back of my Baer brakes and it said PBR...why not just buy the same brakes for half the cost? Unless you like shiny paint. Then by all means spend 2x's the money. I put AFCO rotors on mine and I love em.
2)AFX will fix the geometry issues like no other product. Next best thing is the stage2 plus arms,
in my opinion. I believe there are factory ball joints that work besides the Howe ones, however will they work with the SPC arm? I don't know.
3)No drop spindles. I can show you some pages from "How to make Your Muscle Car Handle" that explains why its not a good idea unless you change a few other areas of the suspension.
4)Don't need front lower arms. Waste of money.
5)Get some Varishock double adjustable shocks instead of the LCAs in the front. Only rebuildable aluminum shock that allows for that kind of adjustment (256 settings...yes, 256)
6)Plot the points and find the instant center with the new pieces. If you need to raise/lower the pitman arm then go from there.
I would checkout Hellwig's rear swaybar too. Its super cheap and fully adjustable, and mounts to the frame so it mechanically is functional, unlike bars that mount to existing holes.
If you want, I can send you some scanned pages I took from my book that explains why you don't really need the AFX spindles, and why the lowers aren't a real necessity.
I just spent an hour today on the phone with a company and I asked the guy straight up if adding LCAs in the front will really do much for my car and he told me that they honestly wouldn't. He didn't try to sell me on anything, and explained so much stuff to me, it was amazing.
Also, if you're considering grabbing from SCandC (who I spent an hour with on the phone today) then call them and they'll be honest and tell you what you need. You gotta figure if the guy wrote a well-respected book on handling, and has helped design parts that other companies
copy...he probably knows what he is talking about. I told him my uncle was looking to drop quite a bit of money on a suspension package and he told me honestly that I didn't need quite a few things and saved my uncle a ton of money. That gets my respect.
There is a reason their suspension packages pull from different vendors. No 1 company makes the best parts for every respective area.
Thats my 2cents. I don't know a lot about suspensions. I'm reading as much as I can, and talking with people who have learned from others and have years of experience tuning cars.
