Re: bushings Bill Sorry... somehow I missed your post last week.... I haven't ordered it yet. But I found them on the web site that Bruce suggested in this thread : http://www.hrpartsnstuff.com I still haven't decided what to do. I think I'll bite the bullet and order that bushing set tonight. I'm going to look for "no hop bars" first though. If they are considerably cheaper and easier to install I might try them first. BTW... I was under the car today for another reason and looked for the "braces from the upper to lower control arms".... It has them! I never noticed them before... or saw anything like them before. Pretty cool. :TU:
another viewpoint.. Now, I know everybody loves those poly bushings.. But,. before you go spending a ton of dough, let me tell you my experience, with 2 different 500+ HP 11 second street cars. Brand new stock rubber bushings..for the staggering price of $8 each... Lakewood no hop bars.. I like the solid upper mounting of those bars, and they are about $125.00.. This changes the angles of the suspension arms, and converts the car to an "anti-sqaut" situation.. the car body will lift slightly in the rear under power. Huge difference in traction.. on the street especially. The orginial 500 Hp GS we did when we went into business, did not have these bars, and it would litterly fishtail, in second gear, from a 30 mph roll.. The second one (GSX) we did, we put the arms in, and that car would just pick up and flat haul, with the tires just "squeeking" a little bit.. Same cars, same rear end ratio and rear, but the GSX did have a little bigger rear tires (275 BFG's vs 255's..) But I feel the first car would benefit from the bars. GSX also had airbags, but we really only used them at the strip. No major issues with ride.. can't even tell the top of the rear is solid mounted. Do the bars and bushings, and for about $200, you will have a completely different car. All the fancy arms are nice, and great tuning aids if your out to get the fastest 60' time possible on the strip.. but I think the "average" guy spends way too much money on the rear suspension, and not enough on the cylinder heads... Generally speaking.. My .02c and experience, take it for what you think it's worth.. JW
Rick, I also feel that JW is right on the money here. Well said. Anything other than this is a waste of money and SHOULD be spent elsewhere... With the money you'd save from buying all new high-dollar upper and lower control arms, you could do like Jim suggested and still have enough left over for new HD U-joints, a TA rearend girdle and maybe a pair of slicks! Excellent advice JW!
Thanks for all the comments everyone! It's a done deal. I ordered a poly bushing set AND the Lakewood no-hop bars. Should be here Wednesday-ish. I was putting it off because I didn't want to spend the money. But what was I accomplishing by putting it off? It's no fun to drive right now. If I even try to "get on it" a little, it hops around so bad it makes my teeth rattle, not to mention what it's probably doing to my u-joints and new posi. Now I have a few days to get my driveshaft safety loop(s?) made up at work so I can install it (them?) while I'm redoing the rear suspension. :Brow: :TU: :beer Next on the list...... Tailpipes! The 3" exhaust stops just before the rearend, and I can smell the fumes when I'm driving it unless I roll both windows down. :gt:
Actually... it's suprisingly quiet for what it is. It has full size 3" mufflers on it. (Summit cheapies I'm guessing) It definately "opens up" at WOT though. Especially with the 3200 stall torque converter. :Brow: The fumes are definately a problem though. It's still running a bit rich and that doesn't help matters any.
I'm feeling pretty dumb right now...... I was cleaning out my garage to make room for the 70GS, I'm hoping to do the bushing swap and no-hop bar installation sometime this weekend, and I refuse to work in the driveway again. So anyways.... I'm cleaning stuff up and I discovered a brand new set of poly bushings in a box that came with the 70GS. I guess I didn't need to buy those. ou: Oh well... now I guess the 71 will get some someday too! :gt:
"Tradin' Stock" ... LOL... I like that. :laugh: Well.... after many hours of work this weekend, the rear is back in with all 4 arms boxed and all new poly bushings. The no-hop bars won't fit my rear end (see my "coil springs up side down" thread for details. But anyways... of course, it rained most of today so I can't see if it's going to wheel hop anymore. All it does is slide around on the wet pavement. I also bought some "spring smushers" to lower the car a little and get the shocks in a workable range. The springs are so strong that the shocks are pretty much all the way extended when it's just sitting. Doesn't make for a very nice ride. Hopefully tomorrow it's nice out and I can "test out" the wheel hop situation! Jeeze.... that sounds like rough work don't it. :Brow:
Well... I drove her to work today and took "the long way home" tonight. :Brow: Definately no more wheel hop, but also not an ounce more traction than before. Definately need some softer tires in the rear. But at least I can "play" now without worrying about throwing u-joints left and right. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! :TU: :beer
Re: another viewpoint.. I can vouge for everything Jim said here. Before my car had the "no hop" bars, mine to was very greasy (even with poly bushings, boxed lowers, and airbags). Since the install of the no hops, there is no more 2nd gear burns (getting on the freeway). It still won't do it even with the SuperCharger. The No hops are the single best upgrade I've made to the rear suspention!
