Front Suspension Rebuild

[olgreydog7]

Honestly, look into coil overs. The ride is better and the handling is better. I had urethane bushings in my LCAs. They wore out enough that the passenger side dissentigrated. The LCA would move in it's socket depending on the road conditions. Talk about scary. Either stick with the rubber(don't) or go with delrin(do). When the car is sitting on the ground, the sway bar should be parallel to the ground. Get the end links in the length that allows that to happen. You are better off measuring and then buying the proper length of bolt than buying links that are "for a 2 inch drop."

 

[scottydsntknow]

Eh, have had coilovers before. Coilovers give you adjustability which is great for many, I don't need it on my car. Factory style setup properly done can handle just as good as a coilover setup properly done. I also do not like putting all the weight onto the strut tower for a street car. Drag=sure. That's just me, I know a ton of ppl do it and have 0 issues for years.

 

[dhoening]

.... When the car is sitting on the ground, the sway bar should be parallel to the ground. Get the end links in the length that allows that to happen. You are better off measuring and then buying the proper length of bolt than buying links that are "for a 2 inch drop."

I think he meant to say the “steering tie rods” should be parallel to the ground.

 

[shurur]

I think he meant to say the “steering tie rods” should be parallel to the ground.

This is what he means.
You subtract the spring drop from the oem bolt length and purchase that new shorter bolt length. (fastenal)
Then you hacksaw the bolt tube to match the shorter bolt length.
and install the endlinks.

The sway bar is level (unsprung) as you look at it from the side of the car.

Front Sway Bar End Links & Bushings

Miracerros is a "good explainer" as Vonnegut would say..

 

[dhoening]

Sorry. I thought we were talking about bump steer. The stabilizer bar has nothing to do with that.
I left that component stock and have had no issues.

 

[52merc]

I bought the shorter adjustable Energy Suspension 9.8125 end links. When installed it should make the ends of the swaybar parallel with the ground. I don't want coil-overs. The springs I have now are good for me. As it is, I bottom out when going over just about any speed bump, and that is with OE exhaust. I still have the OE end links on the car, so I can't just cut the tube and get a shorter bolt. The OE end links are a solid piece with humps that the washers seat on.

I'm putting Global West bushings in the LCAs. They are greaseable, and should outlast any urethane bushings.

I'm just waiting for the Bilstein struts and the Global West bushings. Everything else is ready to ship, including the Bilstein shocks.

 

[52merc]

This is getting to be very frustrating. I checked my Summit order and found out that the Bilstein struts are 10-Oct-18 delivery to them. They never even sent me an email notice. Also, my Global West bushings are now 20-Aug-18 delivery. That is the third or fourth time their delivery has been pushed back. I guess the front end rebuild will have to be put on hold for now and I'll get started with the IRS rebuild instead. I have everything for that except the shocks, which are ready to ship.

 

[scottydsntknow]

Try Jegs or somewhere else? I've found Jegs to be actually a little better than Summit. Or go direct from the manufacturer?

 

[52merc]

That is easily said, but I live in Canada. Every individual order must be customs cleared and taxes paid. For example, my FTBR bushing kit cost me USD 80.00 for shipping plus CAD 131.00 [USD 98.00] for clearance and taxes. To try and control costs I have to make the orders a reasonable size so I only get dinged once for customs clearance. Summit includes the customs clearance in their shipping, so there are no additional surprises. You should understand that being in Spain (I believe from your location). Nobody provides free shipping to Canada, regardless of how much you spend.

The Summit price was the best when I ordered, take my word for it. I checked about 10 or more different websites, including Bilstein and Gobal West. Bilstein Canada was over CAD 500 each for the struts and GW was more for the bushings plus shipping and clearance. I've not tried Jegs yet for shipping to Canada, and I might just have to try them. Bilstein delivery has been a real issue forever and even worse lately (I believe due to a plant relocation).

Everything else is ready to ship, but Summit only ships complete orders across borders to control customs clearance costs to the customer. I can't afford to have 4 or 5 partial shipments sent with each one costing 100 bucks for clearance.

Sorry about the rant.

 

[01yellercobra]

I read somewhere that Bilstein is on national backorder. I'm not sure what's going on with them. Do you have to pay the customs fees if a "friend" sends you the parts?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[52merc]

Anything crossing the border has to pass through customs and be cleared. Small dollar items sent by mail (US Postal Service) often are cleared without additional charges. Anything of value gets charged a brokerage fee and other taxes such as our GST (Goods and Services Tax) which has to be paid on any purchase. Canada has some of the highest taxes because we enjoy such advantages as universal health care. We still are operating under NAFTA, so there are usually not duties as such.

 

[scottydsntknow]

Lol I didn't know you were in Canada. Yeah definitely summit then and completely get what you need to do in that regard... I actually have a USA po box being active military so I get everything to me in Spain completely duty free and VAT free. Just takes an extra week coming milair.

Sent from my Z978 using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[52merc]

A quick update. My GW bushings and Bilstein struts aren't scheduled to ship now until after 10-Oct-18. This project is now on hold and likely won't happen until next spring now. What a drag.

 

[scottydsntknow]

I know Bilstein has a backlog of orders, a lot of ppl are just getting used Termi shocks and sending them in to be re-valved. As far as the bushings, that kind sucks. Honestly for not a ton more money you can get a whole tubular A arm from BMR...

 

[52merc]

I looked at the BMR LCA before ordering the Global West bushings. I might revisit that again since my X2s are also on back-order with Amazon.

 

[scottydsntknow]

Yeah the pricier version of the BMR arms comes with an "X2 style" balljoint. They claim the geometry is the same and so is the result. I'm gonna get them for damn sure because my front end is loose AF. Just over the winter I'll do all that plus a UPR K and offset rack bushings. Also need moar low...

 

[52merc]

My GW bushings are finally ready to ship, but my struts are still 7 wks away. Since I've finished rebuilding the IRS, I think I'll start on the front end work without all the parts. I'll install just the rack bushings and the bumpsteer kit. I'm really interested to see what difference just thoughts changes make.

 

[cartec]

I was contemplating changing my struts and shocks as part of the front end work. I can't seem to find anyone that has Bilsteins in stock. There seems to be a real shortage at this time.

I was lucky and found shocks on eBay a while back. I got all four corners for 200 bucks and around 80k miles on them.

If you find some that need to be rebuilt, you can send the fronts in ...

Service - BILSTEIN

There is pricing on that page.

Good luck.

 

[52merc]

I can get the new struts for what it would cost me to pay for shipping and rebuilding of some used struts, even if I got the struts for free. I'll just have to wait. Its not a big deal to wait. My Cobra time is rapidly coming to an end for this year.

 

[52merc]

Well, it finally happened. My Bilstein struts and Global West bushings arrived today from Summit. I ordered the struts the beginning of July.