I have a 1970 GS 455 that has tons of upgrades, and was built from the frame up from two parts cars. Runs and drives fine, but handles very very poor. I had a 72 skylark that was bone stock, and handles infinatly better, so I know something is wrong. Up front... All new suspension components and brake setup. KYB shocks and new coils. Disc brakes, all new, except for the factory proportioning valve from a disc brake car. 1)The centerlink is bad, :rant: and is causing the steering to be really out of whack....anyone know where I can get a good one? 2)Also I have been thinking of getting a quick ratio steering box from Y.O. any one have one....is it worth the money? Could I get a IROC steering box and change the gears myself if Im pretty handy? o No: In the back.... High lift coils from JC whitney and KYB shocks for a 70-72 A body ( and yes the shocks are over extended, so I know thats a part of my problem :af: ). I dont know how to know what shocks to get to compensate for the chasis sitting higher. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated....or if anyone else is in the same situation, let me know maybe we can help each other. :beer Thanks, Rob
Find a 1-1/4" front sway bay from a '76-81 Trans-Am or Rally Sport Camaro. Bolts right on, bushings need to be changed. Look at a rear sway bar, still available new. Box in the lower rear control arms. Kits available for this too. Put the two swaybars on my Skylark two years ago,& a set of AC Delco gas shocks this year.This car is at stock ride height. Completely different animal to drive. Very little body roll. Nice riding car.
Reply I forgot to mention that. I have front and rear sways, urathan bushings, and fully boxed arms and it still rides like a freightliner. :rant:
same problem i have..... Read your post.......I just did 68 GS....all new trw GS coils, i bought Heavy duty's for back, new ball, joints, tie rod ends, energy suspension sway bar mount kit, and cheapy monroe gas-matic's. It's not that i handle poor now, ...i'm getting a what feels like a over-extension "clunk" in rear? on passenger side. I'm thinking all my bushings are shot....upper and lower rear arms? I've learned alot on this site....but i cannot find a thread that addresses this issue. On smooth roads it rides like a cadillac, here in tennessee all roads are like a road course, so it actually handles great, as far as steering goes ........I talked to the folks at "Flaming River" products, they make a sweet a-body conversion kit that uses a trick Vega style box......that weighs like 23 lbs less than stock box. I have manual steering, so thats what my next big purchase is....$500. Once my rear gas shocks get pumped up, the clunk subsides......... does not go away though :rant:
If you have a stock size front bar, you will notice a tremendous improvement in cornering with a 1.25" bar, as Steve mentioned. I changed from a 15/16 front bar to a 1.25 last year, plus added a stock rear bar. Makes a huge difference.
reply.... :eek2: $500 for a quick ratio steering box......I know that year one will rebuild yours with all new IROC internals for $300, but I was also told that you can get one off of a 70 TransAm and it will be the same 3 turns lock to lock. I have seen a few on e-bay for less than $100. Thats probably the way Im going to go.
reply.... Yes it seems like alot, My car came with manual steering, last owner decided to upgrade to power......as far as he got was installing, a blown out power box. I'd spend more buying pump, hoses brackets, if they can be found! My car is a GS clone, so its going semi pro street/G-machine. I'm returning to manual steering and the flaming river unit is very trick 3 turns and it weighs 23 lbs less than stock box. i believe it has alot of billet parts. Its all about weight to me.. aluminum heads/intake, steering box, battery in trunk.......thats about 250lbs off front end! Now if my wife will just give me my credit card back!!!!! ou:
reply... hmm...well that is a pretty good weight saving, and billet is real nice stuff so I cant argue with that. I started out wanting to go stock....but I still have too much testosterone left in my system from my teenage years, and it got the best of me. My car is an actual GS, but all the changes I made were bolt on stuff to not hurt the value, and I keep all the original parts, but the steering just sucks. Its hard to keep the car straight at 55...my speedo goes to 160...and Id like to get there, but not untill all of these issues are fixed. :3gears:
I had that problem with mine when I had air shocks in the rear - I'd imagine the heavy duty lift coils would cause the same issue. I ended up going with Hotchkis coils all around - lowered the rear about 1" from stock, but their small block springs are too high pressure and the front sits too high now :rant: Could have something to do with my poorly matched 14" wheels, though (previous owner). But back to the topic, I believe if you swapped out those rears for some stock GS springs (moog, PST carries their own brand) you'd have a HUGE improvement. Remember, those springs in the back are a higher rate for carrying more load, and under lighter loads they will ride like a HD truck with no load in the bed.
you changed all your bushings and everything, i assume you've checked your caster, camber and toe? you should also string the car to make sure that the rear end is still properly lined up.
Eric has it right. You have a mismatch in spring rates and ride height front to rear. The spring rate in the front should be double that in the rear (very rough approximation but ball park) and you should have no more than 1 inch pitch front to rear. Best bet is to get a matched set of spings that are the correct length. Next best is to cut your rear spings to get the proper ride height. With your shocks there is no need to run a stiff spring set in the back (unless you are running moonshine The best steering box for our cars are out of 90's jeep grand cherekees. Do not have to modify the stops. Cheaper than an f body box and has the same ratio. Will need to get the hight pressure valve out of a newer pump.
Reply Thats an interesting idea of cutting the springs. The back of the car does sit a bit high for my taste, but it has to. I have 15 x 10 in rims with 295x50's on them, and they come just to the edge of the quarter panel, so if the car sits too low, then when I have a few friends in the car, the quarter panel hits the tire when I hit a bump. What I cant understand is that I had the same setup in my 72 skylark convertable, and it was fine, but then again convertables weigh more I think, so maybe thats why. That car cad horrible rubber worn out bushings, and stock springs and shocks up front, and it drove great. I guess I could try clamping two of the coils together to see how it makes a difference before cutting them.
I run 275's with no problem. I do know that to run 295's usually requires a little work on the inner side of the wheel well opening to keep them from rubbing.
Im going to take a stab and say that although cutting the springs may help a bit, usually that just hurts an already bad situation. I think that your problem lies more in the spring rate than the height of the spring. Use stock GS springs and an airbag setup like from Summit to keep it from rubbing when you have people in the back.
It's all about combination. When one thing is changed the rest changes. The absolute best is to get the matched spings, custom sway bar and air bags. As they say "you pays your money and takes your choice."
Just be aware that cutting coils off the springs will effectively raise the spring rate (make them stiffer).
reply well I have solved part of my problem. The centerlink was shot...Lots of play. I replaced it and had the alignmnt done. Now the front of the car handles like it should. The back still bounces around a bit ( as a result of the rear springs being distended as many of you have pointed out). I may try the shorter springs I have and some air shoks I have, but I canned that setup in the first place because it was sitting too low to clear the rear tires. Keep the thoughts coming. Rob
Pitch the JC whitney springs. Get the stock springs and stuff them with air lift bags. Since the bags are large volume/low pressure you can adjust height and reduce sway without giving up too much in ride quality.
reply Ok...I checked in the parts shed, and I have the brand new set of springs for the rear that match the fronts. The problem is that with no one in the car, the body is sitting ON the tires. I have a set of airbags from summit, they dont lift the car up enough. I have a set of airshocks that were in my convertable, I am going to try replacing the KYB's with them. The sping cant be cut. They are smaller on the top than in the middle. JC whitney does sell these things that clamp two of the coils together, as a way of compressing the shock without cutting, its also a poor mans lowering kit if you use more than one together. I am wondering if that would work. The thing that frustrates me is that I had the exact same setup on my convertable. Same shocks, same springs, same tires. It worked wonderfully on that car. It was a 72 though, were they different? I thought 70-72 were the same. Maybe it was because it was a convertable, and they are heavier. I have two 250lb friends, I am tempted to put them in the back seat, and see if their weight compressing the coils makes a difference. Rob
I think the 250 pounders in the back seat will work fine, unless you have to feed them :spank: At that weight it may get to be expensive. ? are you trying to use the springs off of the convertable? If so it seems that they should be close as a convertable is not that much heavier. Wagon springs are a different story. Also the 70-72 springs should be the same. You will be ahead of the game if you start working with a company that knows suspensions and is willing to work with you. It just seems like there is something simple (wrong springs) causing this problem. Can you post some pics so we can see what parts you have and how the car is setting.
