Lowering and Handling

[Jculler1610]

I know that FFP makes coil overs for the rear and that ( tell me if I am wrong) 95 front srpings for a monte will fit but is there another way of lowering the car(93 Z34) and keep the mono leaf. I like the handling now but it can always be better.

Thanks Joel

[3car]

lowering/handling

Joel, ADDCO makes a 7/8" dia. sway bar for the z-34's.
Its just been redesigned to fix some mounting and noise
issues. Have not seen too much feedback on the new bar
yet to place an order.Addco was also running behind on
production so I'm not sure how soon they can ship one.
There is also a company called Birchmont(spelling?)
that makes a lowering monoleaf for the car.Don't know
anything about this poduct(more info is available on W-body
page). Hope this helps some.



BRIAN
92 Z-34 FFP stuff so far

[pwmin]

RE: lowering/handling

let me start by saying there are no good options. the best (imo) for handling is the stock leaf. i put coilovers on the rear and they dont handle as well lowered as the stock setup, but the car sure looks better. another option is the birchmount spring, but its substantially heavier than the stock leaf. i got st springs on the front (yes monte parts). you can also buy a/m trailing arms and lateral arms from gmpp (trailing) and bmr (trailing and lateral). there are various companies that sell stb's also. there is much more info on this on w-body.com. search there.


where in PA? i'm from harrisburg

[Kevwood]

You can also lower the car using the stock mono-leaf spring. RSM sent me an email with instructions on how to do it. Pretty simple, if I remember right you just flip some rubber mounts/spacers around and you gain about a 1 inch drop. I'll have to dig that email up.

i put coilovers on the rear and they dont handle as well lowered as the stock setup

The car doesn't handel as well? I was going to order the FFP coil overs this winter, but now I want to hear more from you. So you gained cosmetics but lost performance? Go on...

[blackbombshell95]

that not handling well with coilovers is WRONG. Your car will handle a lot better with those coilovers. Did u see that xcross vid in the track section from oldskoll. He has the coilovers as do I. And he whooped on a Vette in the turns.

I did notice more body lean with the coilovers. But with the addco sway bar on the rear the car handles like a beast. The addco bar will compliment the coilovers just fine. Ask Aweb80. As we have virtual exact setups. The best thing is when 1 tire takes a dip, the whole back end doesn't bounce like with the leafspring!

I'm suppose to get the revised version of the bar. Don't buy the bar from any of the retailers. I would call Addco direct and request the revised version. just ask for Trey.

I hope this was of some help.

[93GTP]

You can also lower the car using the stock mono-leaf spring. RSM sent me an email with instructions on how to do it. Pretty simple, if I remember right you just flip some rubber mounts/spacers around and you gain about a 1 inch drop. I'll have to dig that email up.

Yes please do dig up that e-mail. I want to get the rear down some more on my car since I have the Intrax front springs on the way. I don't want to go with a metal rear leaf since I've ridden in a few W's with them and the ride is much more harsh. I also don't want to use the coilovers. I already have about 1 inch of sag, so another inch would be just about perfect

[Kevwood]

I'm suppose to get the revised version of the bar. Don't buy the bar from any of the retailers. I would call Addco direct and request the revised version. just ask for Trey.

I hope this was of some help.

Thanks, it was help, I guess I'm back on track for the coil-overs. I already bought the Addco bar, but I'm not having the banging issues like you guys are and I'm pretty sure that the bar was tight when it was installed. I don't remember being able to slide the bar within the bushings - quite the opposite, the bushings barely fit and I had to use an impact to get the bracket to set over the bushing. I guess I should get it up in the air and check it out now that I have about 1K km on it now.

[blackbombshell95]

jack ur car up and check the bar to see if it moves back and forth.
. Well i think that Aweb80 and I had the problems because we were lowered with the coilovers? I know tons of people were having trouble who didn't have the coilovers. go to w-body.com/forum under the suspension area. It should be on the first 3 pages. There will be a thread about the sway bar.

I hope Aweb80 will chim in. Because we both have coilovers. And so does oldskool. Both of them have done autocross with those coilovers. I'm planning to do so very soon. :P oldskool doesn't have the sway bar yet.

[Kevwood]

I'll check that out, I'm at Lightspeed today for my tune up so I'll have a chance to get the car in the air and check it out. I can't see having the coil-overs making a difference, I have the KYB's already so it should be the same.

So if the bar is moving around is Addco replacing the bars with the new design at no charge?

[blackbombshell95]

no charge. coilovers make a difference. U have 1 leaf spring. when 1 of the rear wheels dip, both of them bounce. which isn't good for overall handling. With coilovers each corner has its own spring. U need to drive my car to find out.

[pwmin]

coilovers:

the good(besides all the noise and other inherent problems): stiffer suspension=better handling, more independent movement between wheels, lower center of gravity

the bad: loss of stability provided by transverse monoleaf (can be somewhat made up by addco bar; less suspension travel (at least in mine)

i'm sure there's others i cant think of right now

i'm not saying they are bad and i dont have any tests to prove this, but my car handled better with the monoleaf than it does with the coilovers. not sure with the sway bar as a factor because i didnt have it in before the coilovers. maybe it handles better with the addco sway bar/coilovers than it would with the stock monoleaf/addco sway bar. but when i put the coilovers on it didnt feel as stable in cornering as when i had the stock leaf in.

imo, good tires will do as much or more for you than most suspension mods

[blackbombshell95]

I hated my handling when I had no sway bar and the coilovers. when I put the sway bar on it felt better than with the monoleaf.

[AWeb80]

Sorry it took me so long to chime in Corey.

Yes, I love the CO's and the ADDCO bar copliments them very well. I have auto cross vids, but my friend hasn't got them on the computer yet.....I need to kick his butt for that.....

anyways, Low profile tires always help in handling, and a size wider too...mine are and inch wider than stock and are the same tires that come stock on the new GTO....they are sweet, check my sig.

Jculler1610, you might be interested in the Rear STB that I make and sell. Of course i'm gonna promote my product, but if you want some input from guys that have got it from me, just check out this link...

Rear STB info

There are a few pages to it, but it only takes a minute to get through the rif-raf posts.