Pro Touring Setup for Daily Driver

Discussion in 'The whoa and the sway.' started by Christopher Spouse Drew, Oct 26, 2018.

  1. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Hey guys, so in class were about to get to suspension and its a perfect time to upgrade my suspension. I know QA1 has good quality products that work but they come with a big price tag. I want to know a good solid set up someone has done that didn't break the bank. I want to daily drive this car and every time I turn this car i feel like im gonna flip haha just kidding. I just want a tighter, more responsive setup. Share your setup, thanks guys.
     
  2. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    Check out UMI suspension. They frequently have 10% off around major holidays (summit will show that 10% off too) and you can get nice springs in both lowering and stock height and plenty of other great stuff.
     
  3. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member

    I went with UAMIstage 2 on my 1964 Skylark and am very happy. Purchased in the November 10% off sale and the savings paid for the front end links from Proforge.

    Have 1000 miles on it and it corners flat, smooth and launches beautifully.
     
    Grandpas67 likes this.
  4. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Thanks guys ill check it out!
     
  5. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    You should be able to fit a larger front sway bar from a later second gen Firebird/Trans Am for a big improvement.

    Also, tall ball joints like ProForged sells will help with camber gain. With the aftermarket control arms, you can dial in quite a bit of positive caster to overcome many of the inherent design flaws with the GM A-body suspension.
     
    Lucy Fair and sailbrd like this.
  6. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Is the F body front sway bar going to bolt right in or I need to do some mods?
     
  7. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

  8. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    No hard mods, just the correct frame brackets and slightly longer end links.

    The factory style rear bar works better than none on a budget.
     
  9. Philip66

    Philip66 Well-Known Member

    I’ve done this for a couple other new guys on here, Christopher I’ll do it for you too!
    A couple years ago I ended up with several brand new 1 1/4” front sway bars.
    If you’ll get me your address I’ll ship one out to you, but you’ll have to buy the frame mounts and the end links.
    There is no other single mod you can do that makes as much of a difference as a larger sway bar. IMHO anyway...
     
  10. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    Coil overs are a lot of money for not a lot of gain. The only advantage to coil overs is they are easy to tune. If your factory style springs are right there is no advantage. Viking shocks will give you a double adjustable for about the same price as QA1 single adjustable. Don't go more than 17 inches on your wheels our cars are simply not designed for ultra low profile tires. Avoid poly bushings in the rear suspension. Cheap trick is to look for Camaro 1LE rubber bushings for rear suspension. Good place to spend money is quality rear control arms with spherical bushings. Cheap way is to box your own control arms and get some spherical bushings from Currie Enterprises.
     
  11. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    I have the qa1 rear single adjustables. The lower axle brackets don’t seem the greatest honestly. I’m sure they’re fine but I wish they sat a bit more inboard and were a bit beefier like other coil overs I’ve seen.
     
  12. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    I really appreciate that Philip! Is the 1 1/4" sway bar beefy enough? I agree with you about the importance of the sway bar. So where do I get the mounts and end links from?
     
  13. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    What coil over would you go with if you did it over?
     
  14. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    I like the coil overs to adjust my ride height easier and tune them in quick if I decide to go on a road course.
     
  15. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    You can get everything you need at Advance Auto, Auto Zone or the like.

    Here's the end links I've used with good luck: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/driveworks-suspension-sway-bar-link-kit-dw-k8265/15510351-P

    Here is a set of frame bushings that should work. I can't find the ones I used at the moment: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mog-k7326/overview/

    Here's a link to a whole kit possibly for what you want: https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspe..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6HJH3XMT5WPCWKQEWMZP
     
  16. ilikebmx999

    ilikebmx999 Well-Known Member

    I would of went with the UMI ones. They’re a few hundred bucks more but the mounts are more substantial and a bit more inboard and way less of an angle. Plus independent rebound and compression adjustments. I don’t dislike the qa1’s, I just think there’s better for not much more.
     
  17. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Thank you Greg!
     
  18. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Ill have to take a look at them and compare.
     
    ilikebmx999 likes this.
  19. cjeboyle

    cjeboyle Gold Level Contributor

    I used this kit from UMI along with the big front sway bar and a set of No Hop bars from TA and feel I got a great value for the money. It is a very basic setup with no adjustability but it completely changed the way the car (72 Skylark) handles. It never leans around a corner and launches straight as an arrow with no wheel hop.
    Cliff
     

    Attached Files:

  20. Christopher Spouse Drew

    Christopher Spouse Drew Well-Known Member

    Can you give me the link to this setup?
     

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