Rear Suspension Mods for Drag Racing

[toast]

I took my 2010 Camaro out to the drag strip for the first time a couple weeks ago. The car did great although I experienced some wheel hop.

My car is currently 587 rwhp / 537 rwtq ... Andy at ADM Performance has it now. He is putting a smaller pulley on the Magna-Charger to increase boost. He is also installing 3.73 rear end gears and diff bushings, ADM dual fuel pump, injectors, Line Lock and a fresh custom dyno tune. This should net me slightly more than 600 rwhp.

With all this power on a stock drive train, I knew I had to make some suspension changes to lower my chances of breaking something. After doing a lot of research I decided to go with Pfadt Race Engineering suspension parts.

1) Solid Subframe Mounts
2) Rear Trailing Arms
3) Rear Tie Rods
4) Rear Balance Sway Bar
5) Engine Mounts

These parts with new bushings, including the diff bushings that Andy is installing, give me a good package for getting the car to hook up early with no wheel hop and maximize traction without breaking anything ... hopefully ...

I installed all these parts on my back in a hot Texas garage using jack stands, a floor jack and a motorcycle jack. Surprisingly, it was not that bad. The parts all fit well and the instructions that Pfadt provides are pretty good. I am an average shade tree guy with decent tools. Here is what I learned to pass on to you DIYers.

Sub-frame removal;
I removed the exhaust just behind the X-Pipe. I have a 3" exhaust and it was easier to remove the two single axle backs rather than removing the whole system as one piece from the headers back.
I removed the brake calipers and simply tie wrapped them to the brake line retainers on the front inside of the wheel well. This kept them safe and totally out of the way for the whole operation. To make it easier to remove the drive shaft flange, I left the car in neutral (M6). Be sure to mark the flange so you can put it back together the way it was. To lower the subframe assembly from the car I used a motorcycle jack. The car (on jack-stands) needs to be up pretty high. I had to add a couple 4x4's on top of my motorcycle jack to reach the subframe. The balance point of the subframe is closer to the front of the car than it looks like it would be as you lay under the car ... in front of the downward pitch of the lower control arm. This works out well because the front of the subframe is nice and flat.
According to everything I read, removing the old subframe bushings is the worst part of this job. This is true, but it is not horrible. Using a sawzall with a new, fairly coarse blade (have an extra on hand), cut from the center of the bushing with the blade down the middle straight out to the subframe. The blade will get very hot as it smokes its way thru the dense, grease permeated rubber. As you make this first cut the lower metal "hat" should fall out the bottom. If it doesn't, hit it a time or two with the dead blow, cut some more and hit it again. After the hat falls out start in the middle again and cut the opposite direction. Basically you are cutting the bushing completely in half. After it is cut, a couple hits with the dead blow will knock it out. If it binds (as one of mine did) retrace one of the cuts and hit it again. This step of removing the old bushings is rough on the sawzall, but it is not as difficult as you might imagine. If you just make these two cuts they WILL come out. No need to chisel or remove any of the rubber or heat it up or burn it ... it works. Here is a picture with the new solid subframe mounts installed ...

Trailing arms install;
After removing the OEM trailing arms, cut the outer rubber lip from the upright bushing BEFORE you remove the lower shock tower bolt and the lower control arm bolt. This way it is very easy to saw thru the rubber bushing without the upright wiggling around. Use a sharp serrated knife under the flap and cut straight in to the sleeve and pull the section off repeat this all the way around the bushing and you can remove the rubber lip in a couple minutes. To remove the old bushing you will need a special tool. Pfadt makes a tool for this, however at the time I ordered the parts I didn't think to order the tool. It was very easy to build a tool using a 1 13/16" socket, a 3/8" bolt, a 1 3/16" bearing driver insert (you could use a large nut instead) and a couple washers. Here is a picture of my home made tool ...

When I pressed the bushing flanges into the trailing arm and the upright I caged them with a 1/2" bolt and a couple washers. Although this is probably not necessary ... It made it very easy to firmly press both sides in at the same time. The trailing arms were extremely easy to install as was the sway bar ... ...

Engine Mounts;
The hardest part of installing the engine mounts was having to remove the header on the driver's side to get at one of the pedestal bolts. Otherwise it was pretty straight forward.

All the changes I have made to the suspension have made the car feel totally different. The handling is much improved. I expect these Pfadt updates will eliminate wheel hop and improve my 60 foot times ... I will find out at the strip in a couple weeks and update with some video ... Stay tuned ...

[PfadtRacing]

WOW! Fantastic write up!

ADM and Andy are great, we love those guys!

You mentioned that your goal was to eliminate hop and hook up early. The parts you got set up with are on-point

Not sure if you have seen this video or not but this is the performance advantage that you now have underneath your rear end:



I think this write up is such a good example of a car-guy, getting what seems to be a hard job done at home with the tools he already owns. I say "seems" because as toast found out, it really isn't that difficult. We will always recommend to go to a good experienced performance shop if the customer is unclear on if they have the right set up to install the parts, but I will refer people to this thread who need to know that it is completely doable for the DIY'er.

Please keep us posted on this suspension/goal progress!

[Apex Motorsports]

Excellent write up! Congrats on a rockin' set up.

[PfadtRacing]

bump for Tim being a great customer. Check your email Tim, sent you something just now. Also, anyone interested in drag racing using our suspension should see what team East Coast Supercharging just did with just our coilovers in this thread here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171798

These guys are going to be installing some of the same parts that Tim installed for more hookup at the strip. Take a look!

Thanks toast!

[East Coast Supercharging]

Nice vid, excellent view of how much the stock parts flex.