Trailing Arms and Toe Rods

[Bow94z]

Looking for advice. After some searching i am finding mixed reviews if upgrading trailing arms and toe rods are worth it.

Stock 2015 SS M6 with mods in sig. Car is mainly a street car with some 1/4 track time.

I will be upgrading to Rear solid cradle bushings and 3:91/Trutrac and looking for a few more upgrades while the rear end is being worked on.

I was going to put in Differential bushings but I think I am going to stick with factory rubber as i don't want added noise.

I am thinking about BMR non adjustable Trailing and Toe rods. Car will maintain stock ride height.

Or should I try and find z28 trailing arms and toe rods?

feedback appreicated!

[bstromback2002]

I have a spare set of adjustable toe rods still brand new in the box if you do decide to go that route. I can’t really comment on the improvement since I did so much to the car at once.



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[cdb95z28]

Z/28 toe rods and trailing arms are the same as the SS 1LE and ZL1

[KillboyPowerhead]

Originally Posted by cdb95z28

Z/28 toe rods and trailing arms are the same as the SS 1LE and ZL1

If memory serves, the Z/28 trailing arms use a stiffer inboard bushing than the 1LE and ZL1 (and SS and V6 - all the same), as well as a stiffer outboard bushing at the knuckle end but you'll need to buy the whole knuckle to get it. At least this is what my research told me a few years ago when I decided to upgrade to the Z/28 parts.

In any case, stiffer rear components will help keep the rear planted and reduce dynamic alignment changes when accelerating/braking hard which is useful for launching the car/having fun. I say dooo iiit! Noticed a difference in my V6 so I can imagine the difference will be even more noticeable in a V8.

[bottletalk]

your worried about noise so ur putting in solid cradle bushings but keeping stock diff bushings?
if that's the case don't go solid and just get the bmr complete poly bushing kit or at least cradle and diff.

[cdb95z28]

Originally Posted by KillboyPowerhead

If memory serves, the Z/28 trailing arms use a stiffer inboard bushing than the 1LE and ZL1 (and SS and V6 - all the same), as well as a stiffer outboard bushing at the knuckle end but you'll need to buy the whole knuckle to get it. At least this is what my research told me a few years ago when I decided to upgrade to the Z/28 parts.

In any case, stiffer rear components will help keep the rear planted and reduce dynamic alignment changes when accelerating/braking hard which is useful for launching the car/having fun. I say dooo iiit! Noticed a difference in my V6 so I can imagine the difference will be even more noticeable in a V8.

I stand corrected. Here are the part #s

Trailing Arms:
Z/28 (FE6) 23104900
All others (FE2, FE3, FE4, FE5) 92246140

The toe rods are the same between the Z/28, ZL1 and SS 1LE:
22845487

[KillboyPowerhead]

Originally Posted by bottletalk

your worried about noise so ur putting in solid cradle bushings but keeping stock diff bushings?
if that's the case don't go solid and just get the bmr complete poly bushing kit or at least cradle and diff.

I did solid cradle bushings and didn't notice much if any extra noise/vibrations. Going from the old style inboard-mount rear sway bar (which I believe was 22mm diameter and hollow) to the new style outboard-mount bar by JPSS (32mm and solid) made a huuuge difference (mainly with body roll, but helped reduce wheel hop when launching too), and then later on when I added solid cradle bushings the difference felt almost the same as when going from the old to new rear bar.

You definitely won't regret doing the solid cradle bushings. Again, was a noticeable difference in the V6 so I'm sure the benefits on a V8 will be that much better.

[CamaroCracka]

If you are spending money on toe rods and trailing arms, go with aftermarket as there is not much difference with the Z28 units. They don't add NVH and are way stronger.

Did not see a lot of NVH from solid cradle bushings, but did see a lot of NVH with Delrin diff bushings. The Delrin diff bushings did allow my deaf ass to hear the diff whining on acceleration, so now I know the pinion bearings are going.

[Bow94z]

Originally Posted by bottletalk

your worried about noise so ur putting in solid cradle bushings but keeping stock diff bushings?
if that's the case don't go solid and just get the bmr complete poly bushing kit or at least cradle and diff.

Correct. Seems like most feedback i read about solid cradle bushings do not add alot of noise, but the diff bushings do.

for ~$300, i think aftermarket trailing and toe rods are the way to go while the cradle is dropped on the car.

[FASTFATBOY]

I put the Dorman replacement toe rods on my ZL1 4 years and 30K miles ago, they have been solid.

[olblue75]

Go aftermarket toe, trailing and lower control arms an call it the day lots of adjustability that you wont get with OEM crap. As far as cradle go solid AFE, Hendricks or DSE all great products that wont cause NVH. Leave you diff bushings alone unless you want to fill t he voids with a dense RTV. If you can find a OEM rear Z knuckle switch to those the jave better bushings (but they are no longer made). Get the front Z28 Tension rods (I think thats what they are will make steering more precise. Then get some good shocks Bilstien B-6's or a set of Koni's deending on what you are using the car for.

[phoenix78]

Originally Posted by Bow94z

Correct. Seems like most feedback i read about solid cradle bushings do not add alot of noise, but the diff bushings do.

for ~$300, i think aftermarket trailing and toe rods are the way to go while the cradle is dropped on the car.

To add to this, I've got BMR delrin rear cradle bushings and Hendrix offset poly differential bushings. The cradle bushings were installed several years before the differential bushings. My auto Camaro is a daily driver.



In my opinion, the cradle bushings added little to no noise (I'm leaning towards none). The ride quality feels like almost stock, though it might be slightly more stiff. I'd personally recommend them even for a daily driver.


On the other hand, the differential bushings definitely made noises and vibrations more noticeable. Coasting from around 45 mph or higher is usually accompanied by clunking (not super loud) noises and sometimes shaking backward/forward. A friend helped me confirm that my driveshaft is properly secured. The noises and shaking stop with any amount of pressure on the gas pedal. I spoke with someone at a local performance shop that noticed the same thing with aftermarket diff bushings on their... Corvette? I only bought the bushings because my car is lowered quite a bit on coilovers (fixing the resulting suspension geometry) and I was having a GPI SS3 cam installed.