Making a box not handle like a box..

[Bobcat]

Well I'm completely dissatisfied with the ride on my box. It floats and bounces down the road as well has steady body roll that I can't stand. I'm aware it's got the stock balloon tires and that could be an obvious cause for the floatiness. The rims I was going to use that i bought, I probably won't use now. Since I'd need 1.5-2" spacers all around..

Complete current suspension specs.
Front:
925# Speedway coils.
Gas Adjusts
Stock swaybar, ES Bushings, ES Endlinks
94' control arms and spindles.

Rear:
Stock, worn out coils. (Yup these are the next purchase for suspension.)
Gas adjusts
PI swaybar.


Now I plan to buy 200lb rear coils from speedway, since I do not want a huge amount of rake. I was curious if there was any other, heavier alternatives that anyone has messed with; other than coil overs. I plan to box the rear control arms and use poly bushings as well. Figured I'd ask about coil alternatives before buying any.

What's the best shocks that I could upgrade to and in the future I'll probably buy 1100# front coils.
I want it to be stiff. Throw it into a corner and be comfortable with it. Ride comfort isn't a focus, because: Racecar.

Oh, 18 and still in highschool. Need cheap alternatives.

[sly]

Are you using the police spec front gas a justs? Those work very well on my box.

[knucklehead0202]

Hell I just put gas-adjusts on my '90 and it made it a totally different car, even with stock everything else. Going to a larger wheel/lower-profile tire should help you, as well as maybe doing all new suspension bushings. Seems strange that with all you have done already it still handles like a pig. Hopefully getting my new wheels/tires today so I can get a good feel for how my beast is going to handle. Gonna be hard going from the 98 p71.

[BigT]

Are you using the police spec front gas a justs? Those work very well on my box.

I use police shocks all the way around. It makes the world of difference.

[slack]

The PI front sway bar on my car killed almost all body roll. (Also have the rear PI sway bar like you do) I still had some roll when I had the stock sway bar up front and the PI in the rear.

I also have Moog HD coils, Gas-A-Justs all around and ES Poly bushings up front. My car's suspension is pretty hard. I think Sly worded it best as "feels like a truck".

[JeffBoudah]

I think the 15" wheels, and the small sway bar are your biggest hurdle. The shocks may just be a bit over sprung on rebound if you dont have the PI gas-a-justs. Also, the rear of the car is still loosey goosey with I assume worn shocks and sponge springs.

[Mr Bean]

Get Addcos to make it handle and Bilstein HDs to make it not bounce but be prepared for a harsh ride and get 17"s or 18"s with good rubber.

[sly]

I have the KYB monomax truck shocks on the rear of my box too... its' stiff for sure, but not harsh. I would need some good sway bars to keep the body roll down now, but it handles hella better now.

[turbo2256b]

fOR FRONT SPRINGS look up free height of your springs also measure installed ht how much it compresses gives an idea of how much the front of your car weighs.
351 adds weight but removal of say AC and or aluminum intake might put it in the 302 SEFI range sefi set ups weigh more than carbed. Check installed ht of shocks. The narrower the side walls of the tires the rougher it rides. A stock 87ish weighs close to 2500 lbs front and around 1500 lbs rear.

[87gtVIC]

Change your body mounts. To poly

[Bobcat]

Are you using the police spec front gas a justs? Those work very well on my box.

I believe so, I ordered them a long time ago. I also never experienced the car without new shocks, seeing as that was the first thing I did, even before pulling the 302 and whatnot. I hate the ride, quite a bit.

Get Addcos to make it handle and Bilstein HDs to make it not bounce but be prepared for a harsh ride and get 17"s or 18"s with good rubber.

I'm looking into getting Bilsteins.. Eh maybe I'll just save some time and put it on an 02 chassis.

Change your body mounts. To poly

Yeah... Yeah...... I just spent all winter working on it, I want some driver time. Shocks/Swaybars are easy to change. I mean, I've gotten pretty good at pulling the drivetrain too.

[Lincolnmania]

get rid of the 15" tires

[gadget73]

Tires that don't suck will do amazing things for you. I've driven cars with those 925# springs and decent tires and they are not what I'd call "floaty". You may need stiffer shocks too, possible the gas-a-justs are bit under-damped. I'd start with the tires tho. Even just changing those on cars with stock springs does a lot for how they drive.

[pantera77]

I've driven cars with those 925# springs and decent tires and they are not what I'd call "floaty".

Ya, 925/200 combo with good shocks is the exact opposite of floaty.

Body mounts also will make a huge difference.

But none of that matters if your riding on stock worn out rear components and 15's. That's a horribly mismatched combo.

[johnunit]

17-18's and good high-performance tires will help. The difference in sidewall stiffness between a comfort tire (Michelin Premier, BFG Advantage T/A, etc.) and something serious like BFG G-Force Sport Comp's, Dunlop Direzza, Michelin Pilot Super Sport, etc. is night and day. And while there's a lot of balancing and tuning involved in making stiffer shocks and springs result in better actual grip/max turning speeds, good tires will do that every damned time.


Related topic, what tire pressure are you running it at? With stock sized 'comfort' tires, I usually ran 40-42PSI cold inflation, with 2-4 PSI more in the front than rear to curb understeer and keep from burning up the shoulders/edges. If you're following the door card recommendation, that's likely too low for modern tires being driven in anger.