'68 Camaro stock subframe mods.........

[AWDPete]

I believe I have narrowed down the list of needs/wants pretty well but I could still use some suggestions on the following:

Coilover LCA - strong and light

Adjustable hollow anti-roll bar

Full coilover, not a car specific fitment. Varishock, Afco, ????

I understand that with the stock sub the wheel and tire will be a little narrower than can be fitted with an aftermarket sub. What is generally considered to be the max size fitment?

Rocks!

[James OLC]

Originally Posted by AWDPete

I believe I have narrowed down the list of needs/wants pretty well but I could still use some suggestions on the following:

Coilover LCA - strong and light

Adjustable hollow anti-roll bar

Full coilover, not a car specific fitment. Varishock, Afco, ????

I understand that with the stock sub the wheel and tire will be a little narrower than can be fitted with an aftermarket sub. What is generally considered to be the max size fitment?

Rocks!

Control Arms - SpeedTech high clearance (assuming from your final question that you looking for the largest possible front wheel/tire)

Anti-roll bar - Hellwig Products has some great adjustable hollow bars

Coilover - budget dependant but I would take a hard look at the new RideTech shocks.

On my stock subframe I am running 275/35-18s on a 9.5" rim. I think that there is room for a 285 with a little bit of work.

I think that the OneLapCamaro shows some of the potential of a stock subframe. While I can see advantages to an aftermarket sub (mostly wigh respect to tire size and weight) I don't think that a well built stock subframe is a major handicap.

[CarlC]

Who in their right mind would put a 285 front tire on a stock subframe 1st gen?

Plans often change after the first "completion" and may effect your long-term outlook. I like reversible. It allows for new things down the road.

Don't worry about the stock wheel bearings. They are just fine for what we are doing.

[Mkelcy]

Originally Posted by CarlC

Who in their right mind would put a 285 front tire on a stock subframe 1st gen?

Oh, I know, I know - no one!

[coolwelder62]

Speedway motor's has some budget tubular a-arms for the 1st.gen's around 650.00 for upper's & lower's.They also have quick ratio steering boxes alot less than everybody else. they have springs, afco shocks,brackets.Alot of useable parts at lower prices.www.speedwaymotors.com or 1-800-979-0122.

[wrighton]

Great info. Really helpful. For those of us upgrading our stock subframes.

James you want to elaborate on how that 9.5 inch wheel fits with the stock subframe?

Looking at speedtechs web site I do not see a seperate reference for high clearance arms other than with the complete subframe set up? are there two different ones or are they same?

And do the speedtech and hothckins arms have the corrected geometry built in, and the Gull mod is not needed? am I getting this right.

So many decisions, again thanks for helping us narrow them down.

Pricing? Is the complete Chicane kit 5-6K, Great kit as I was reading but close to a full subframe cost?

[AWDPete]

While I am learning too, I do believe that none of the arms will correct what the GS mod does. To bring the car up to modern geometry specs you need to do onlyONE of the following along with geometry corrected arms:

A: do the Gulstrand mod

B: use tall balljoints, although I have seen both upper and lower extended bj - and at differant lengths. Not sure what is 'ideal'.

C: use the ATS tall spindle

Is this correct guys?

[Mkelcy]

Originally Posted by AWDPete

While I am learning too, I do believe that none of the arms will correct what the GS mod does. To bring the car up to modern geometry specs you need to do onlyONE of the following along with geometry corrected arms:

A: do the Gulstrand mod

B: use tall balljoints, although I have seen both upper and lower extended bj - and at differant lengths. Not sure what is 'ideal'.

C: use the ATS tall spindle

Is this correct guys?

Essentially yes. UCAs have some caster built in already making it easier to get to a good performance alignment. A good aftermarket LCA will reduce if not eliminate tire rub caused by running lots of caster (which moves the wheel to the rear of the wheelwell) by moving the lower balljoint forward in the wheelwell. Other than that, after-market arms are pretty.

[frojoe]

Originally Posted by AWDPete

While I am learning too, I do believe that none of the arms will correct what the GS mod does. To bring the car up to modern geometry specs you need to do onlyONE of the following along with geometry corrected arms:

A: do the Gulstrand mod

B: use tall balljoints, although I have seen both upper and lower extended bj - and at differant lengths. Not sure what is 'ideal'.

C: use the ATS tall spindle

Is this correct guys?

Tall ball joints or tall spindles achieve the same thing as the Guldstrand Mod.

The idea behind all of these is to get more negative camber as the wheel travels up through the suspension... this is done by increasing the downward angle of the UCA (in towards the subframe) relative to the LCA.

a) Tall ball joints move the ball joint end of the UCA up, steepening the UCA angle.

b) Tall spindle with stock-height ball joint also raises the ball joint end and steepens the UCA angle.

c) Guldstrand Mod lowers the cross-shaft mounting point on the UCA, thus steepening the UCA angle.

I think it'd generally be a BAD idea to combine any of a, b, or c because it would steepen the UCA angle far too much and make the handling twitchy and drastically reduce the tire contact patch, since the tire would tilt inwards (negative camber) so much.

But I'm not an expert, just what I've come to understand thru lots of reading.

I fully welded my stock subframe and have SpeedTech UCA/LCA as well as QA1 coilover conversion, Hotchkis hollow 1.125" swaybar, and Guldstrand Mod.

I also boxed in the very front cross member support, not sure if it'd do much but I could flex the c-channel by hand so any little bit could help torsional rigidity...

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/11903865-post169.html
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/11919822-post170.html
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/11929393-post171.html

Cheers!
-Joe

[AWDPete]

Originally Posted by coolwelder62

Speedway motor's has some budget tubular a-arms for the 1st.gen's around 650.00 for upper's & lower's.They also have quick ratio steering boxes alot less than everybody else. they have springs, afco shocks,brackets.Alot of useable parts at lower prices.www.speedwaymotors.com or 1-800-979-0122.

Thanks for the tip! Don't know why but it seems circle track/Nascar parts are less expensive? I have one of there catalogs from years ago but forgot about them