Front suspension

[Feltman]

I have my 81 up in the air for a complete front and rear end rebuilt. I have the front completely apart, including both upper and lower A arms. I am looking for some feedback. VBP has a product on page 13, item number 42030, Front Composite monospring system, catalog number V03. Has anyone installed this on their shark? If so feedback is greatly appreciated. It seems to be a economical option, since pricing all the stock components, they end up close to their listed price. I believe you still have to use the upper A-arms with the conversion.

Any good deals on upper and lower rebuilt A-arms?

 

[LannyL81]

Why not just replace the bushings and ball joints in your control arms and get a new set of coil springs? I replaced all the bushings in my '81 with the graphite poly bushings, put new ball joints in and got a set of coil springs from VBP. The best price I found on the bushings were from suspension.com.

Getting the old bushings out is pretty easy if you have access to a hydraulic press or should not cost much to have them pressed out....just the rubber if you use poly. Putting the poly bushings in is done by hand.

The new coil springs are shorter than stock and go in very easily.

I replaced all the bushings in the rear with the same graphite poly bushings except for the trailing arm which I did not remove.

I even replaced the motor and transmissions mounts with poly along with the pinion bushing.

I did replace the rear steel spring with a mono-leaf composite one...very nice...

Just my experience.

LannyL81
Tucson, AZ
:cool

 

[Chris Kennedy]

I would avoid using the Vette Products front mono spring. The reason is that I have noticed on cars that have it that it hangs low down----far enough in my opinion to cause a real potential for being struck by uneven roads, broken pavement, stuff on the roads etc. If damaged, these types of springs can disintegrate very quickly. Of course, if the roads where you live are good, that might not be a problem, but I live in Houston, and the town is like the third world and the roads are terrible and have lots of junk thrown about on them.

I would also stay away from the poly bushings---ALL poly bushings squeak, and for 99% of the time you drive the car add nothing. I use Vette Brakes high performance front suspension system, so can speak from experience.


--Chris Kennedy

 

[jdads2]

I will probaly rebuild the front end of my '81 this winter. Since the engine is out it should be relatively easier. The biggest problem is weather. My wife's car(67 Camaro) is taking up room part of the garage and my train layout another part. Now through in tables for parts and an area for tools I've run out of room.

Anyone have a spare garage I could borrow?