85 Z51 suspention rebuild advice

[Igor]

Hey guys,

I have an 85 z51 car. It has about 70k miles.

The bushings and shocks need replacment. What I want is to improve the ride and noise quality in the car. The handling is important, but the roads around here are nothing to write home about, so control over rougher roads is important.

As such I have been leaning towards KYB shocks. I need a shock that will simply improve the ride, and the cost is attractive. I figure if they don't work well for my setup, its not a very expensive mistake.

What I don't know is how well do they work with z51 setup?

I would like to replace ALL the bushings and u joints as well. Is there a quality bushing kit that includes all the parts necessary? Or do I have to buy a bushing kit, and still purchase bushings that the kit does not come with. What I want is to make one purchase and then go hard on the car and get it done.

From what I understand, my car should have 30mm/22mm sway bars?

If you feel KYBs are not for me, what do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[vetteoz]

I know of no one who does a whole car kit

Vette Brakes & Products, Inc. - Detail
Vette Brakes & Products, Inc. - Detail
The only bushes not included above are the two big batwing bushes

Chevrolet Corvette Listings Page 1

KYB's
Vette Brakes & Products, Inc. - Detail

Are you happy with the ride?
Early Z51's have the hardest suspensions , many change to later softer springs to "improve" the ride

 

[Baldie88]

I put KYBs on my 88 Z52 car and the ride improved considerably. I can definitely tell a difference in the ride quality and am very happy with them. It's still "firm" but at least I can keep my filling in my teeth.

Ron
"Baldie88"

 

[Igor]

Thanks.

I think I will go with KYBs, and will do poly bushings/tie rods/alignment at the same time.

A friend of mine had some KYBs on an 87 Regal once, they worked great for the price!

 

[Hib Halverson]

If you truly want to "improve" the ride and noise from an 85 with Z51, the first thing you need to do is downgrade the car to base springs, stabilizer bars, shocks and front lower control arms. That will make a significant improvement in ride.

If you want to improve noise and harshness, stick with stock rubber bushings.

KYBs are a low-end shock but will probably ride better than the Z51 Bilsteins. A better choice would be to send your existing shocks to Bilstein in California and have them "revalved" to the base shock specs. That will soften the ride.

 

[Igor]

Sorry I need to clarify things.

I am not looking to turn the corvette into a smooth cruiser. What I meant by "noise" is creeks and squeeks of worn/broken/harsh suspension parts.

What I want is a freshened suspension so parts are new/in good working order. I know poly/global bushings will be rougher then stock, but what i want is new parts that are reasonable to use on the street.

KYBs seem to have a good rep. I know for $40 its not going to be a performance shock. Am willing to risk $160 to try them out. I am thinking combined with all the other z51 parts the ride will still be very firm but a bit more tolerable on typical street roads. Maybe I am wrong. $160 is not that bad....

 

[vetteoz]

will do poly bushings/tie rods/alignment at the same time.

Might be lucky
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