Believe it or not, dialing in your chassis and suspension is (or should be) as important as picking the right cylinder head or cam. If you are on a budget, then maybe subframe connectors and shocks are all you can afford-and in some cases, that may be all you really need! A good set of Konis or Bilsteins could have turned a white-knuckle commute into a pleasurable driving experience back when I was hitting potholes and taking hairy curves on Route 21 in New Jersey, while using the LT1 Formula as my daily driver. As that project nears completion, I am glad that we later overhauled most of its hard parts, which helped to noticeably improve its handling and traction. Suspension mods may lack the sex appeal of a power adder or a good set of bolt-ons in the pages of a magazine, but on the street or track there is nothing sexier than an F-body, Vette, or Grand National with an aggressive stance. Taking a look at Tony Gomes' GN (page 22) and Bobby Lashey's '00 Camaro ("Dover Dream," Sept. '09, ), I am also reminded that even drag cars can have some serious 'tude in their stance.
Of course, modifying your suspension is about more than just looks-and if you are reading GMHTP then most likely you already have a pretty good idea of what a good torque arm, lower control arms, or shocks can do for your hot rod. But of course that will not stop us from covering this topic and testing every part we can get our greasy hands on. Additionally, it has come to our attention, too, that the general public seems to care more and more about handling-and why not? It's one of the most immediately apparent aspects of driving a car on the street, not to mention the track. Traffic may have been too thick to wind out Second gear, but it doesn't take long to assess a sloppy, soft-riding suspension. One freeway on-ramp is all it takes. That's exactly where I found out how inadequate the stock springs, Panhard bar, and sway bars were in my Formula. I have yet to have the same experience with a stock SS or WS6, let alone an SLP-modified version, but I would venture to guess they possess a marked improvement. I had the opportunity to drive Sam Strano's SCCA championship-winning LS1 Camaro years ago, and that is still my benchmark for how a fourth-gen should handle-though that may change with a new project car soon to be underway.
On the dragstrip, the suspension setup is the most overlooked aspect in the quest for lower e.t.'s (despite its potential to do so), however it can certainly increase safety and give the driver some serious peace of mind. Mark Piccione's bumper-dragging silver TA ("Running with the Devil," August '09) is a perfect example-without airbags, a big rear sway bar, adjustable shocks, wheelie bars, and many other heavy-duty components he easily could have buried the TA in E-town's wall on many occasions coming off the transbrake. [Also please note, his name is Mark, not Mike as printed previously. The author is being water-boarded as I type this. Sorry, Mark!] Even off the footbrake (or clutch dump), I've seen many an F-body, Buick, and Vette make a beeline for the concrete barrier-especially since it's become so easy to make good power with GM iron. With simple mods adding such an incredible amount of power it is easy to forget to upgrade your supporting parts (like the suspension).
Say what you will about the NHRA, but LT1-powered F-body Stock Eliminator competitors run low 10s with stock lift cams, stock heads/intake, and stock stroke motors. Know how they do it? By "cheating," yes, but also through chassis/drivetrain tuning and tremendous R&D. From the tire pressure, shock settings, airbag pressure, various styles and thicknesses of sway bars, to weight balancing ... the NHRA is a place where competitors wring every ounce of e.t. out of their combination. We invite you to do the same, and that is why this issue has been devoted to showing you installs and tests of suspension parts.
Suspension mods may lack the sex appeal of a power adder ... but on the street or track there is nothing sexier than an F-body, Vette, or Grand National with an aggressive stance.