cheap handling mods?

slow87

New Member
Joined
May 14, 2003
Alright the handling on my regal could use some serious improvement. My 4,400 pound impala feels like sports car compared to it. The car only has about 40k on it so I doubt the bushings and ball joints are worn. I looked at some past posts and read something about missing body bushings. Does this apply to my 87 turbo regal? I'm looking for some cheap easy mods to do(read: No new beefy control arms etc.) but a new sway bar is doable. So educate me, and give me an idea what are the weak links in the stock set up. And what will give the most improvement for the least amount of change.

thanx
The kid with the slow TR
 
BETTER HANDLING

With the presumption you've already got a good front-end alignment, quality/proper-sized tires, & new Bilstein (or at least KYB) shocks, here are some beginning "basics" to start:
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1.)
www.johnsperformance.com

From John, get the rear-seat braces & the missing GM bushings, including the "GNX" bushings.

2.)
Then, from several sources for used parts, get the GP & Cutlass G-body "triangulating" front braces, along with the rad support-to-fender braces.

3.)
Doing 1 & 2 will make significant improvements. If you wish to do more, next could be upgrading to the hollow 1LE front sway bar.

If you want to balance the front 1LE in the rear for handling, get the 1" rear bar from Global West.
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If drag racing is your primary intent, the www.hrpartsnstuff.com rear bar looks like the current state-of-the-art.

The ATR rear bar is yet another possibility.
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HTH :)
 
Can I use the "pink" bushing's for the missing ones? (I have a good source for those)
And this 1le sway bar is it from a 2nd gen f body?
 
HTH

"Missing" Body Mount Cushions

Lower
Position #4 GM#457915
Positions #3,5,7 GM#377801

Upper
GNX (2 per car) GM#488610
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3rd Generation Camaro 36mm Lightweight Hollow front sway bar GM#14094344

Bushings for above GM#14094389
 
Cool thanx, The bushing mod should only cost me about 10 bucks:) since I already have them all except the GNX ones. Gotta love interchangable parts!!!
 
Don't assume your suspensions bushings are OK just because you have a low-mile car. Remember that the car is pushing 20 years old and those rubber bushings decay with time and exposure to weather, heat and cold, even if the car hasn't been driven a lot.

One easy and cheap way to improve handling on our cars is to get a proper wheel alignment with some negative camber dialed in -- more than stock. A good street setting would be something like -.5 degree negative camber on up to -1 degree. This will cause more front tire wear, but if you rotate your tires it won't be a big deal. It will improve handling a lot by helping the front tires grip better in corners, reducing understeer.

If you're REALLY on a budget, KYB shocks will improve your handling, but Bilsteins are better (at around $200 for four). Lowering the car helps a lot, too, and you should be able to get a spring set that will lower the car 1-2" for around $200.

Next, get some good 50-series high performance tires designed for handling. Dunlop SP Sport A2, Kumho Ecsta 712, BFG G-force KDW are some examples. You'll be amazed what a difference good treads can make.
 
I replaced the body bushing, added the two up front reinforcement bars, added the rear "X" braces and KYB's all around. They made the car handle well. I just added the ATR rear bar and now it goes around corners like a slot car. I couldn't believe the difference. It virtually eliminates body roll. Definitely worth the money (~$180??). Can't wait to get it to the track and see if it will improve my 1.6 60' times.
 
I second the suspension bushing comments. My car had only 45000 miles on it when I changed my bushings in the entire front suspension and the car tracks much differently. My car had the triangulating front frame braces, the Kirban frame rail to rail brace, Bilsteins, Moog 5660 front springs, new Ball joints and outer tie rod ends.

Also, a lot of people go for the polyurethane front bushings and rave about the improvement but they're comparing against their worn out rubber ones. New rubber ones work really well too.

I also used the pink bushings in all the missing bushing locations because they are slightly stiffer than the other ones. Best 20 minutes I ever spent swapping those in.
 
is there somewhere or someone that has a picture of where the missing ones are go. I feel like i am driving a boat down the road as it slides around. thanks
 
Results

So just for the heck of it I used the pink bushings and the black ones.

With either set the "wandering around" feeling from 35-60 was gone. When I did the black I just added them to the missing locations except the one over the hump. It made a noticable difference and helped a lot.

Then since someone said they used the pink ones(there a little bigger and stiffer than the black ones)
I took the ones off my impala(upgraded from the black to the pink and thats the only handling mod to it)
And I used the pink ones anywhere I could easily( I did 6 locations with them) and the car was even tighter. Felt much more conncected. Of course I'm not sayin it was like a slot car but the big problem of it feeling "loose" was gone. It was good enough for me. The ride quality was a little worse, but nothing the average gear would really care about.

Now I have to go swap bushings back since I decided I will be using the pink ones.

Newchapter,
there easy to find most of the missing ones were on the drivers side by the door starting from by the firewall and back. All you have to do is crawl under there follow the frame and you will see them. There just rubber "cushions" that go where the body is bolted to the frame. There is a busing on top(between the frame and body) and one on the bottom(between bolt head and frame).
 
Where can I get these pink bushings, are they cheaper then the stock ones that the venders sell.

burnout
 
The pink bushing are gm bushing's.

P/N - Description- Cost (ea.)
377801- Stock 5/8" thick soft rubber (Black)- $7.16
457917- New 3/4" thick firm rubber (Dk Green)- $4.24
457915- New 7/8" thick firm rubber (Pink)- $5.41

I'm not sure what is stock for regal's but the 377801 are o.e. b body bushings. These prices are from my receipt from about a year ago(so the prices may of changed)
 
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