Hey all, my Sportwagon rides really smoothly. Too smooth in fact. It feels like I am riding on a cloud. I dont plan on any road racing, but will be adding boxed rear arms and front/rear sway bars (1 1/4front, 1 rear). I just need to stiffen the ride a little, there is too much travel in the suspension. Is this a spring issue, shocks, or both? Any suggestions on where to start? Thanks! Rick
If you can wait a few days I'll let you know what just shocks do ... ... mine is the stock original suspension, and while the ride height is nice and high I can easily compress the springs a few inches by just pushing on a corner (not leaning ... just arm muscle). I ordered a set of KYB gas-adjust shocks for all 4 corners and they'll be installed next week for the 1200 mile round trip to the BPG meet in Ohio 2 things - what ever you choose for REAR shocks, if the 67 is like the 68/69 the shocks are specific for the wagon and definately NOT the same as the sky/GS as the top mount is a straight shaft as opposed to a T. Check the manufacturer's site not just the parts store and specifically look for a listing for wagon/SportWagon REAR and not Sky/GS. I chose the KYB's because I've had a set on BigRed for over 10 yrs now and they still perform well. EDIT - I just went to the KYB website and it shows the rears are the same as 68/69 ... PN KG5521 Second, once you find the make/model of shock you want (get the mfg. part #) shop at RockAuto.com. The KYB's I ordered were 60% cheaper there than listed online at pepboys or advance auto.
Wow, great timing! I would appreciate the input. I also want to get this done for my 800 mile round trip to bpg.
Suspension travel should not really be a big issue. The rate at which it will go from full extension to full compression is probably more of a concern. Shocks and springs in combo will affect the ride substantially. If you just change the shocks without the springs, the change will be evolutionary, not revolutionary. A soft spring rate can't be corrected with just shocks. Swaybars will stiffen it a little but only when the tires try to be at different levels, such as the corners or really uneven roads. However, I'm a big proponent of softer spring rates and stiffer shocks to keep the car planted on the less than perfect roads we have in my neck of the woods. The other thing you should look at if you are so inclined, fatter tires. If you are running 70s and go to 60s with the proper rim and run the max recommended pressure, it will firm up the ride feel quite a bit. These old cars aren't Corvettes but we can make them handle quite well with some of the newer technology. I've put aftermarket upper control arms that give me +5 degrees caster and tall upper ball joints on my car. It has made a world of difference in the handling and confidence it imparts on the road. Good luck!
I am running 15 tires with 60s. So I guess I should look into springs as well. The other thing I would really like to change is the effortless power steering. There is a big disconnect from the road as there is NO road-feel in the steering wheel. It turns extremely easily, with no resistance. Is there a reasonable gear box swap for these cars to put some of that performance/responsive feel into the wheel?
For steering input, there are a couple of options. Do a search on here and there are a few different methods that'll pop up. One uses a jeep grand cherokee box, one uses a chevelle ss box, etc. The other option is going to lee steering, just make sure youve got a big budget for that one.
