I have the Eibach Pro System Plus waiting on back order (shocks, struts, springs, sways), plus a BMR adjustable panhard bar and Eibach camber bolts:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/eibach...stem-1112.html

Should I get some LCA's while I'm at it? I don't know much about suspension, but wanted to lower the car and do it right the first time. If LCAs would help me with traction I'd buy them for sure. Any input? recommendations? Thanks guys.

 

Best to do the whole rear suspension while your at it. LCA's with relocators, adjustable panhard rod along with an upper (I hear steeda has them in various lengths if you want to minimize the amount of adjustable bits).

The LCA's with relocators will correct geometry issues and help with traction. An upper will help as well and if you look into an adjustable UCA you can correct pinion angle.

An adjustable panhard will allow you to center the axle (you can take measurements, but I've always found it easy enough to just remove the stock bar, wiggle the body and then put the new bar in place as the springs center the axle).

Also consider replacing the axle side bushing on the upper control arm as its soft and prone to tear with abuse. If you decide to replace this bushing, the issue you face is either to use a rod end type bushing or urethane. If your going with a rod end type then you'll allow the axle to rotate as intended. If you go with a urethane type then you might want to consider a UCA with a rod end to accomplish the same thing. A standard UCA and a urethane bushing at the axle creates a lot of bind when the axle tries to rotate which can lead to odd behavior or broken components unless the car is going to be used as a drag car in which case its a non-issue, otherwise you'll want to facilitate the ability for the axle to rotate.

If your really keen on getting the most range of movement out of the rear then consider going to upper and lower control arms with rod ends. Not so great for drag racing but really good in the twisties as it allows a wide range of free movement.

I haven't tried BMR's rod end stuff, I've tried UMI's rotojoint equipped units (very similar to Sphoon items) and the two issues that cropped up were NVH (solid joints obviously) and the UMI lower arms didn't hold up well for me in daily use even with regular greasing. Otherwise I really liked then.

I'm trying out Whiteline's lower arms now and I like them so far, I'm just not enthralled with their adjustable construction.

Thinking about going with BMR non adjustable rod-end uppers and lowers in the near future along with the Steeda axle side bushing and see how that does. They use rod ends unlike the Sphoon and UMI units which use delrin as the rod end material. I would really like to see how they hold up under daily use.

 

^ Wow! Great write up. OP, Bob has definitely provided you with a ton of great information.

I see you already have the Pro-System plus on order, that's a really good set up! To answer you question, Yes. An Adjustable Upper Control arm is definitely a good idea and will definitely help with traction. You can correct the geometry of your rear and adjust the pinion angle. This will also help you get off the line a lot harder!

I hope this helps. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions or need some assistance!

-Dan

 

If you wanted to do the suspension right, and planned on running the car hard on the street and/or track, I would ditch the camber bolts and either stick with the camber you get from the drop or get CC plates. Then again with 1inch drop in the front you will get about 1.3-1.5 degrees camber, which is not going to ruin your tires.

 

Go with the LCA's and relocation brackets.

 

Why do you say not to use camber bolts?

 

Heard people talk about them breaking on the track, plus since 1" won't give you much camber you might as well not waste the money on them.

 

So will it negatively impact time on the strip?

What kind of NVH are you talking here?

I'm hoping to build a car that will handle the strip and track better but also not be harsh on the streets.

Really? This is good to know I was worried about getting into lowering the vehicle and then needed cc plates, bumpsteer kit, ball joints, whatever...I just didn't want to open a whole can of worms. I was leaning towards the Eibach kit as well.

 

I think with the Pro-kit, or something that lowers beyond 1.5 in the front you would probably want but not entirely need a bump steer kit and extended ball joints, which I believe the ball joints correct the roll center of the front.

 

Stay away from Rod ends, if your car is a DD and mainly street driven vehicle Rod ends will be a nuisance. Secondly, only rod end part you need in the rear of your car is the UCA however, this will severely increase Road noise. The reason you do NOT want rod ends in your PHB, LCA's.. etc is due to articulation. We have a live axle in the rear of our cars that needs to articulate, it needs to move... that's what the UCA is for. Stiffening your rear to the point of limited movement will cause a few things:

1st is breakage in your parts, increased stress with limited movement will break parts.
2nd and I hit on this earlier, articulation. Your rear end actually needs to move around a little. Proper dampers will help control movement and not limit it. Imagine a brick with wheels going around a corner, two things are going to happen, hop and sliding which actually decreases grip. From my experience on the road course and speaking with MANY race teams, articulation of your live axle is key. Many teams will actually road race without a rear sway bar so it allows some movement of the rear. Your dampers are your number one priority along with tires. Keep this in mind when making a purchase on suspension parts.

The typical answers are in many cases, wrong. I see this many times on the internet and forums when I see recommendations for suspension components, much of the recommendations come from what people have read. If you want some guidance on suspension let us know, there are many other shops you can talk to as well: Rehagan Racing, Strano, Performance Autosport, steeda and revanracing... just to name a few. I hope this helps you a bit, let us know if we can steer you in the right direction. We have 10+ years experience racing our cars on either the road course or the drag strip.

 

^ a stupid question..... what is rod ends,

 

Heim joints.

 

Thanks Brandon.

 

Easier to upset the rear axle due to a greater degree of freedom

Anything that creates a vibration in the driveline and transmits it to the rear will be evident as will out of balance/imperfect tires and the harshness when going over bumps, cracks, what have you. Its a general and perceptible increase in NVH as anything in the rear is transmitted through the rod ends to the car.

Urethane will be the best choice for the rear in your case, just keep in mind the upper control arm and the bind issues.

I'm still running my UMI panhard rod and UCA with the delrin (hard plastic) bushings so I've yet to assess the wear on them, the upper is fairly well protected from the elements compared to the lowers and the panhard rod at least in 2009 had that plastic splash guard for the axle side bushing which seems to have helped.

I wish I had disassembled the arms and taken pictures to show the wear, you could tell that grit of some kind was trapped in the joint. One joint didn't move smoothly and felt rough as you moved the joint around, the other had worn to the point that it had slack in it.

That's inevitable depending on how far your going to deviate from the stock set-up.

 

First of all, my apologies for resurrecting such an old thread, but after I came across this post, I just wanted to point out that the Eibach Pro kit springs only lower the rear suspension by up to 1.5 inches.. The front springs in the pro kit lower the suspension by approx up to 1.3 -1.4 inches..