General Suspension upgrades

[dlink]

Looking for information on what are good starter equipment that is better than oem spec. I drive a 2013 M6 LFX, down the line i'd like to get a quality set of coilovers but i want to start with the more basic upgrades. What are good bushings/contral arms/ toe rods/ chassis stiffeners or any other suspension upgrades over oem? My entire suspension setup is currently stock if you don't consider my 20'' rims and summer tires.

*Looking for quality but budget priced entry level upgrades, I don't want unreliable junk but i'm not tracking/dragging my car either, just looking to upgrade my daily.

[olblue75]

I'm running DSE toe and trailing arms, OEM FE6 LCA's, Z28 Upper control arm bushings, PAFDT aluminum subframe bushings, BMR 1" lowering springs, 1LE shocks, and a 32mm JPSS rear solid bar.
The front is pretty simple 28 mm 1LE sway bar, DSE links, 1LE struts, 1" BMR lowering springs, OEM strut tower brace, and JPSS LCA inserts.

[olblue75]

An just realized you have a V6 car so they didn't change the suspension around so your best bet to start off with is FE6 conversion and a set of V8/Brembo's. If your gonna have the go might as well have the whoa. I have a FE6 conversion as far as the rear LCA's (OEM LCA's are hard to beat) and links and a pair of front calipers, but you'll need to find a set of rear backing plates with e brake and rear calipers then everything will bolt right up. The 2 main players in suspension components is DSE and BMR, Ridetech is nice but very spendy and shock, struts, and coil over choices are all over the place. I check the classifieds 2-3 times a day for stuff and have gotten a lot of great deals. I think I have my suspension pretty well dialed in for my purpose of auto X and road course except for camber plates and possibly coil overs.

[12blkgrayRS]

Originally Posted by dlink

Looking for information on what are good starter equipment that is better than oem spec. I drive a 2013 M6 LFX, down the line i'd like to get a quality set of coilovers but i want to start with the more basic upgrades. What are good bushings/contral arms/ toe rods/ chassis stiffeners or any other suspension upgrades over oem? My entire suspension setup is currently stock if you don't consider my 20'' rims and summer tires.

*Looking for quality but budget priced entry level upgrades, I don't want unreliable junk but i'm not tracking/dragging my car either, just looking to upgrade my daily.

You have a few options in the springs, sway bar area. I currently have a 3 way adjustable BMR Frt/RR sway bars. Strut bar from a !LE. I had the BMR springs (pkg deal with sways) on my last 2012 RS, and the car was unbelievably neutral on the track, you couldn't upset it. This was on stock FE2 struts/shocks (they get hot on the track and handling gets sloppy). planning on either Koni or Bilstein to compliment the setup. The 1LE setup from GM is also a very good option for this car.
Like OLblue stated, finding a good set of brembo calipers is also a nice addition to the car's stopping abilities.

[KillboyPowerhead]

Originally Posted by dlink

Looking for information on what are good starter equipment that is better than oem spec. I drive a 2013 M6 LFX, down the line i'd like to get a quality set of coilovers but i want to start with the more basic upgrades. What are good bushings/contral arms/ toe rods/ chassis stiffeners or any other suspension upgrades over oem? My entire suspension setup is currently stock if you don't consider my 20'' rims and summer tires.

*Looking for quality but budget priced entry level upgrades, I don't want unreliable junk but i'm not tracking/dragging my car either, just looking to upgrade my daily.

Unless you're going to race the car then factory parts are your best bet so as to not break the bank, with a few exceptions:

First, replace the rear sway bar with the newer outboard-mount style; not sure what bars fit the V6 calipers other than JPSS's, although I'm not sure if JPSS is still around... Maybe someone can confirm if other bars fit (or if you go with the V8 brakes as mentioned above then no need to worry). The new style rear bar makes the Camaro a whole new car - huge difference.

Second, replace the cradle bushings with solid aluminum ones such as from Pegasus. The solid cradle bushings will again make your Camaro feel like a whole new car, even after the new style rear bar (I can say from experience).

Third, GM offers some pretty solid upgrades from the Z28:

Front radius rod bushing insert;
Rear toe link (comes with bushings);
Rear trailing arm (comes with inner bushing; can purchase aftermarket outer bushing such as from Pegasus);
Rear upper control arm inner bushing;
Rear shock mounts.

Forth, once your "foundation" is set then look into springs/shocks or coilovers. I'm currently running Eibach springs with the factory shocks but will be buying BC Racing's ER coilovers in the near future... yay.

Fifth, if that isn't enough you can also look into camber plates (such as from Pegasus), adjustable arms (such as from BMR or DSE), and whatever else your need for speed desires.

[gtstorey]

Originally Posted by KillboyPowerhead

Third, GM offers some pretty solid upgrades from the Z28:

Front radius rod bushing insert;
Rear toe link (comes with bushings);
Rear trailing arm (comes with inner bushing; can purchase aftermarket outer bushing such as from Pegasus);
Rear upper control arm inner bushing;
Rear shock mounts.

What is the difference in the rear shock mounts? I've already done the rest of the Z28 parts (plus the knuckle) but I didn't realize the shock mount was different.

[JDP Sales]

Originally Posted by dlink

Looking for information on what are good starter equipment that is better than oem spec. I drive a 2013 M6 LFX, down the line i'd like to get a quality set of coilovers but i want to start with the more basic upgrades. What are good bushings/contral arms/ toe rods/ chassis stiffeners or any other suspension upgrades over oem? My entire suspension setup is currently stock if you don't consider my 20'' rims and summer tires.

*Looking for quality but budget priced entry level upgrades, I don't want unreliable junk but i'm not tracking/dragging my car either, just looking to upgrade my daily.

I would suggest looking at our anti-wheel hop package! It's a good starting point that won't brake the bank. It has Pegasus Solid Sub-Frame Mounts, UMI Performance Rear Trailing Arm and Toe Link Package, and JDP Motorsports Rear Upper Control Arm Bushings. All solid parts that we have been running for many year on many 5th gen Camaro's.

You can check out more information by clicking HERE. Also feel free to call or email us at anytime with questions.

Cheers,

Kayla L.
801.545.4215
sales@jdpmotorsports.com

[KillboyPowerhead]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

What is the difference in the rear shock mounts? I've already done the rest of the Z28 parts (plus the knuckle) but I didn't realize the shock mount was different.

The Z28 rear shock mounts have a stiffer bushing. The 1LE uses different/stiffer shock mounts compared to V6 and SS, and the Z28's are stiffer still.

[olblue75]

Does anyone have the Z28 rear upper mount PN???

[gtstorey]

It looks like the rear shock mounts for the FEA/FE5 suspension are 22836727 left and 22836734 right.

[SS 310H55A]

Originally Posted by KillboyPowerhead

The Z28 rear shock mounts have a stiffer bushing. The 1LE uses different/stiffer shock mounts compared to V6 and SS, and the Z28's are stiffer still.

Originally Posted by gtstorey

It looks like the rear shock mounts for the FEA/FE5 suspension are 22836727 left and 22836734 right.

The ZL1 (FE5) and 1LE (FE6) both use the same rear shock mounts. I've never heard of the z/28 (FEA) having a different rear shock mount, but I could be wrong.


Various other threads on here have the part numbers 22836727 and 22836734 listed as 1LE/ZL1 part numbers. Now what's confusing is I've also seen 22922446 and 22922445 listed as the part numbers for 1LE shock mounts:
https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...treet-23123397


What I suspect is that all four part numbers above refer to the exact same part.

[gtstorey]

Justice Pete said they were different here:
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showt...light=22836727

Per Justice Pete "The hour glass shaped rubber bushing is harder, denser.

22836727 / 22836734 "

[SS 310H55A]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

Justice Pete said they were different here:
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showt...light=22836727

Per Justice Pete "The hour glass shaped rubber bushing is harder, denser.

22836727 / 22836734 "

Good to know because there are a number of threads on this forum that reference those part numbers as being the 1LE/ZL1 bushings. Thanks!