Front Suspension Mods

[RLE80L48]

Has anyone done the change over kit to the mono spring set up? Looks pretty neat. Was wondering how much of a job it is and a rough cost of all involved. I'll bet it really increases handling. Also looks like a cool winter time project.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

i did mine in stages, the front first and then the rear a couple days later. i went with the performance plus kit from VB&P. the new a-arms are not necessary, but do make the job easier and a lot cleaner looking when done. the difference is night and day. it truely delivers on the promise of C4 handling and ride quality. adjustments are super easy, ride height and spring rate can be adjusted independently. this feature makes autocross with your daily driver a comfortable reality. i think the front kit runs $650 and the rear is around $600. with the new a-arms and new balljoints, tie-rod ends, etc. it is more. the whole perf plus system is $1900 for front and rear, comes with everything including poly bushings. all you need is your front knuckles, rear trailing arms, brake assemblies and time. everything else is replaced in bolt on fashion with no alterations to the car, so if desired you can return it to showroom condition easily. if you like cornering and good ride characteristics, BUY IT!!! Brian

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

I'm glad you asked; I've been thinking of doing the same mod to the front of my 78 Daytona. If you do the install let us know how it goes.
Brain, did you do the rear of your as well? I'm asking because I had the dual mount rear system on the 78, but when the spring sagged out I try to buy a replacement spring. I was told they didn't have just the spring to sell me. I removed the whole thing and went back to the stock 9 leaf. Do you a a part number for a replacement rear spring? One last thing; What carb are you running on your 406? I also have the 400 SB, but still using the stock Q-Jet. It seem to do fine, but I'm always looking for a little HP.
Well I kinda got off the topic, so Good luck if you decide to do the change-over and let me and the rest of us know how it goes.
Gary

 

[69MyWay]

I have it on my 69.

The instructions could have been written better, but other than that it is a fairly straight forward conversion.

The car drives, handles, and looks great under there.

I am a little paranoid about snagging the front spring on road debris, etc, but other than that...it is perfect.

 

[groovyjay]

I have it on my 69.

The instructions could have been written better, but other than that it is a fairly straight forward conversion.

The car drives, handles, and looks great under there.

I am a little paranoid about snagging the front spring on road debris, etc, but other than that...it is perfect.

I agree with what the man said, except mine is a 79.

 

[1979toy]

I'm doing my '79 currently. My buddy and I worked about 2 1/2 hours taking everything apart last night. We also removed the upper A-arm bushings and installed the new poly bushings. I have electric fans only in my car so it was a bit quicker than a stock engine would be. With the stock fan shroud in place we would have had to remove it. It also helped that all of my hardware was (cough, cough) well lubed. Maybe next month I'll do a front seal on the crankshaft.

 

[RLE80L48]

Sounds good. Thanks for the replies everyone. 1979toy, which kit did you decide on?

 

[1979toy]

I got the VB&P kit that included the lower A-arms. I kept my upper A-arms with poly bushings. I finished the project about midnight last night with no drama at all, it was a straight forward bolt on swap. I can't speak for the handling yet, the alignment is WAYYY off. I'm leaving in a few minutes for the alignment shop.

 

[Last Ride]

Hey all--

I have been in a mental battle with this for a few days. I have heard mostly good things about the Vette Brakes setup. Everyone I have talked to that has had it has said they liked it. I talked with some drag racing guys yesterday that said it will most likely hurt my 1/4 mile time and that a modified stock suspension would work better in a drag-prepared car. This is the same guy that piloted a C3 into the 8's with the IRS! Anyway, I told him that I had already bought the Performance Plus system from Vette Brakes, and he said the the REALLY fast C3's are running stock-style suspension. Even the ones that had been switched to the monospring were eventually switched back. I guess it boils down to what you want out of the car. I have not yet completely decided whether or not to go ahead with the install or sell the Performance Plus system. If you are just looking for a cruiser, it would probably be a great mod. If you want a serious drag car, the setup could end up costing you .5 seconds on your ET. Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

LR,
i think the 99.9999999999% of the time the car is used, the VB&P kit will be well worth the install. true it may hurt your time from a windage under the car issue, but the drop in weight makes up for it. so the way i see it, the drag times are a wash, and daily driving is the deciding factor. anyone that is into dragging seriously does not have a street friendly car!! they most likely went with the old style suspension to "skirt" the rules. i may be wrong, but i don't think there is a track in the nation that will let a car run with an IRS that is in the nines, must less in the eights. it is too big a safety factor to have drivetrain components that double as suspension components. a blown half shaft on a car that does 170mph is down right deadly, hince the rule. just my humble opinion, put the kit on and reap the rewards. Brian

 

[Last Ride]

Brian--
I am still leaning towards putting it on. The tech guy at Tom's said that it's disadvantage lies in the fact that instead of lifting each side independently under load, it would need to lift on the entire front of the car. I think this COULD be a good thing becuase that way, there is less chance of the front wheels lifting off the ground and then slamming back down and breaking things. By the way, the 8's that he ran were at 154 MPH, and he was using a 6-link rear (not that that would keep you front breaking half shafts). Thanks for the advice!

Bryan

 

[RLE80L48]

Are there venders at Carlisle in Aug. that sell the front kits. Maybe they would have specials or at least save on the shipping.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

Bryan,
i am not sure exactly what your getting at, but i'll guess a little. are you looking at weight transfer from front to rear?? if so, it will take megga hp and traction to pick the front wheels and you most certainly will want a completely different drag race only suspension. the other bonus from the VB&P kit is the latteral balancing, or left/right lift from torque. with the stock suspension the rearend is basically on a pivot, the spring can work like a teader-todder when viewed from the rear. with the dual mount kit and added sway bar, the torque is better applied to both tires. the two biggest draw backs in the stock suspension are non-even loading of the tires and camber changes thru the suspension travel. the torque has a tendency to lift the left rear tire, and then your left with one wheel for traction. the other issue, camber, allows the tires to swing in an arc (when viewed from behind) and only at mid travel are the tires perpendicular to the ground. at either end of the suspension travel, only about 1/3 of the tire tread is actually on the ground, resulting in less traction. so for street cars, the logic points to the VB&P kit, it helped mine get traction off the line. with out it, my ETs would be a good two seconds slower and the crowds would love the smoke shows. i hope i didn't confuse anyone, it has been a long day and i'm rambling, sorry. Brian

 

[1979toy]

I've finished my installation and alignment and even when on a poker run with my new front suspension now. This thing handles like a big go-cart now, it's great. The suspension compliance on the front is much better than before. I was surprised that the ride got smoother in the process. Having the ride height independantly adjustable without affecting the spring rate should be a big plus when I find time to play with that.

As I mentioned above, I got the VB&P mono spring kit with the lower A-arms. The lower arms have new ball joints installed and poly bushings. The other parts that I changed were;
Upper ball joints, just because I was there.
Upper poly bushings to complete the changeover to poly.
1 1/8th front sway bar.
5/8ths rear sway bar.

Total wrench turning time was about 12 hours with a friend helping me for about 8 of those hours. One person could do the work unaided. No drilling, cutting or bending is required, it's a straight bolt together process.

On the downside, as mentioned above, there is some loss of ground clearance and the lock to lock truns on the steering wheel are less due to the spindle stops being relocated on the lower A-arms. This causes it to be a bit of a pain to park in a tight parking lot. Getting the kit that uses your stock lower A-arms would solve that issue.

 

[AKRAY4PLAY]

sweet!!! glad you like yours, Brian