Front Suspension Geometry

[bduncan]

Long story short, I slid my camaro against a wall at Road America this weekend and damaged/destroyed the front drivers side tie rod, and upper and lower control arms.

So now I'm looking to upgrade these components on both sides, and I was curious if anyone knew if the ZL1 parts would fit on an SS. I figure that Chevy would have probably put more durable parts on the higher end models, but I don't know if they will fit. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[gtstorey]

The front suspension parts are all the same, at least from what is now available. You can compare part numbers for the various pieces at one of the online GM parts suppliers. I thought some of the bushings were different on the Z28, but even they show the same part numbers. They may have been the same or the Z28 parts may no longer be available.

The above doesn’t include sway bars and struts.

[0stones0]

If I may ask, where were you on the course? Carousel has always been a touchy spot for me.

[bduncan]

I went off right after the kink. I apexed too early and unsettled the car on the curbing. Sadly the grass was really wet that morning and once one of my tires was off it sucked the rest of the car off track.

[AlanRubin]

Front, there are no UPPER control arms, just the two lowers on each side.
Lower Rearward, Lower Forward. NO UPPER... Rear has an upper...

You can use ANY front pair per side, from ANY 10-15 car.
Same with the tie rods, and tie-rod ends. I have a V6, and
put a 1LE suspension on. It all fit, with the exception of the
rear sway bar, I do not have Brembo calipers, so I had to keep
the V6 sway bar. I have one practically new 1LE rear sway bar and
end links, and will have another from an SS with 48,000 as soon
as I swap cradles.

I need the rear portion of a manual car or SS drive-shaft to swap.

[gtstorey]

Originally Posted by AlanRubin

Front, there are no UPPER control arms, just the two lowers on each side.
Lower Rearward, Lower Forward. NO UPPER... Rear has an upper...

You can use ANY front pair per side, from ANY 10-15 car.
Same with the tie rods, and tie-rod ends. I have a V6, and
put a 1LE suspension on. It all fit, with the exception of the
rear sway bar, I do not have Brembo calipers, so I had to keep
the V6 sway bar. I have one practically new 1LE rear sway bar and
end links, and will have another from an SS with 48,000 as soon
as I swap cradles.

I need the rear portion of a manual car or SS drive-shaft to swap.

Were there any differences between the parts from the V6 to 1LE? I did a little more digging this morning and the ZL1 does list a different outer tie rod. Not sure that it is better since the Z28 has the same part number as the SS.

[CamaroCracka]

Even the Z28 radius arm was just an SS arm with a hard plastic insert. Pedders and others make inserts that work similarly and definitely an upgrade you want to do.

Some of the bushings on the knuckles might have been different, but you can't get the knuckles any more.

Pre 2012 models have smaller sway bar end links you definitely want to upgrade. If you don't bend them, the ball joints on the ends fall apart.

Unless you are running the Z28 shocks and springs, you want the 1LE bars or aftermarket. Z28 bars are only 25/26 because the springs are so stiff. ZL1 are 25/28 with progressive rear springs and Magnaride shocks.

[AlanRubin]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

Were there any differences between the parts from the V6 to 1LE? I did a little more digging this morning and the ZL1 does list a different outer tie rod. Not sure that it is better since the Z28 has the same part number as the SS.

The mount holes for the front end links are bigger. See, I put the 1LE
sway bar in, before the struts. I had to drill out the mount hole in the
V6 strut for the 1LE end link stud. 15/32 was the drill bit used for a perfect
fit.

Front and Rear struts bolt right up.

ZL1 may use a beefier tie-rod end for the wider tires, which put more
stress on ALL the ball joints.

Front LCAs are all the same.

Rear Arms are all the same, different bushing configuration, as mentioned.
I put Whiteline inserts in my front forward LCAs.

2012+ rear LCAs have both mounting holes for the dog-bone end links, and
the rod end-links for the SS and 1LE sway bars.

Knuckles are the same, front and back.

The biggest difference is, the V6 automatic wheel bearings -vs- any
manual or SS car. They have a bigger diameter hole for the axle shaft
spline, larger diameter axle shafts. However, you can use ANY wheel
bearings up front. They all fit in the same knuckles. I put SS rear
knuckles on mine.

There isn't even a difference with the MAG RIDE F/R struts, you'd just have
the wires hanging, and stock damping. However, you can hook them
up to a manual dialed in Pulse Width Management setup so you can
dial in your ride. I would put separate controls for front and back. Use
a volt meter to learn readings for the stiffness. OR, an LED so the
brighter it is, the stiffer the ride...

You can use the SS exhaust on the V6 too. The V6 is 2.5" to the
resonators, then goes 2.25". The SS is 2.5" all the way back.
The NPP exhaust works too, you can wire in a vacuum pump and
control the valve yourself.

I am putting an entire SS cradle in my V6. I just need the rear piece
of the 2-piece shaft. No one has them.. That will set me back. I do
not want to buy a whole driveshaft assembly when I only need the
rear portion.