Handling

[83reeeegal]

so guys my car drives like sh*t... I was told this was goin to happen but it's all good. I know it's goin to take a couple hits at it before I get my car how I want it.. However I do need some better handling on it asap. Im pretty sure the cars a bit too bouncy because of the lowering springs, it feels like i'm driving on a cloud not as stiff as i'd like. What can I add? I plan on getting a thicker sway bars, poly bushings, better shocks, maybe some 2" drop spindles in the front...u know... tha small stuff. What do you guys think?

 

[melloelky]

if the car is to bouncy it's the shocks not the springs.sway bars-springs-bracing etc are the dumbest parts of your suspension.the shocks are the brains of the whole operation,cheap shocks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.spend as much money as you are comfortable w/on the shocks, sway bars, poly bushings are certainly an improvement but behind bad shocks/cheap ones you're not getting your money's worth out of them.start with good shocks and go from there.

 

[83reeeegal]

if the car is to bouncy it's the shocks not the springs.sway bars-springs-bracing etc are the dumbest parts of your suspension.the shocks are the brains of the whole operation,cheap shocks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.spend as much money as you are comfortable w/on the shocks, sway bars, poly bushings are certainly an improvement but behind bad shocks/cheap ones you're not getting your money's worth out of them.start with good shocks and go from there.

if the car is to bouncy it's the shocks not the springs.sway bars-springs-bracing etc are the dumbest parts of your suspension.the shocks are the brains of the whole operation,cheap shocks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.spend as much money as you are comfortable w/on the shocks, sway bars, poly bushings are certainly an improvement but behind bad shocks/cheap ones you're not getting your money's worth out of them.start with good shocks and go from there.

that makes sense, I guess the only good thing about my current shocks is that they're compression and rebound adjustable. I'll have to hop on that. What else would u add?

 

[fleming442]

BUT, if the springs are too soft, the best shocks in the world won't fix it. Ever ride in a hooptie that someone dropped by heating the springs?
Springs set the ride and height; the shocks control it. You need stiffer springs the same installed height.

 

[xitabl442]

that makes sense, I guess the only good thing about my current shocks is that they're compression and rebound adjustable. I'll have to hop on that. What else would u add?

Are your shocks new? Sounds like you could start by adjusting them first.
Ride quality is separate from handling, but will affect each other. Lots of discussion on this here already.

 

[xitabl442]

Another thing to consider is a set of 17" or 18" wheels. There is less deflection in a lower profile tire than the stock size tires. Plus almost all of the aftermarket brakes require a larger wheel, likely your next upgrade once you can drive a little harder. If you are considering replacing the spindles, you might look at a spindle that corrects the geometry, that will open up your options on brake upgrades as well. Of course this all comes at a hefty price, so you have to budget this out.
A less expensive place to begin is front and rear frame braces, check with UMI as they are a supporting member here. I got some of my stuff from SCandC as UMI wasn't 'into Gbodys yet.
Good luck ,keep us posted.

 

[83reeeegal]

Another thing to consider is a set of 17" or 18" wheels. There is less deflection in a lower profile tire than the stock size tires. Plus almost all of the aftermarket brakes require a larger wheel, likely your next upgrade once you can drive a little harder. If you are considering replacing the spindles, you might look at a spindle that corrects the geometry, that will open up your options on brake upgrades as well. Of course this all comes at a hefty price, so you have to budget this out.
A less expensive place to begin is front and rear frame braces, check with UMI as they are a supporting member here. I got some of my stuff from SCandC as UMI wasn't 'into Gbodys yet.
Good luck ,keep us posted.

I'm glad you mentioned that man, i'm actually very interested in putting in a larger diameter... don't know if I should go 18's or 20's but wouldn't my lowered look effect it? Lets say I do plan on installing 18's, could I still lower it? and another thing, I really enjoy the appearance of low profile tires therefore I'd go with the most lowest profile tire out there. But then again i've read certain tires aren't really compatible with certain rims so I really don't know... Which spindles correct geometry ? I didn't know that you can chose a spindle of that type. I thought it was usually just to lower the car and the geometry is automatically leveled... and as far as the question you made to the shocks, yes they are new but I followed the ratio of what's it's suppose to be from the manual that came in the shocks package and well I made the correct adjustion. I should just mess with it a bit though in order to get less rebound and more compression.

 

[melloelky]

i believe he's referring to the AFX style tall spindle..i think.
the run of the mill dropped spindles thaqt you see everywhere don't change the geometry @all. they simply raise the the wheel up into the wheelhouse accordingly.
depending on what you're looking to do with the car/spend they may be to spendy.

 

[bob64]

Check your shocks, do the bounce test, push down on one corner of the car 3 times and release, if the car continues to bounce replace your shocks to start with.

 

[airboatgreg]

I am also thinking in the deep dark parts of my deranged and distorted imagination about handling on my El C. I replaced the springs and the front end is tight with a relatively recent set of good shocks. I like the idea of up-grading the steering box as mentioned on this forum but have little experience with a really premium grade of shocks.
Thoughts? Recommendations?