DRM Coilovers,PICS ! Wow why the hell did I wait ?

[GOLDCYLON]

Before I start this thread a few thank yous.

Demps (Ted) for convincing me this was a job best left for a professional or a hack like me with a boat load of spare time. (Which I dont have anymore lol)

Aurora40 (Bob) for selling me his kit and getting critical install details to the installer (Thanks again Bob)


ZFDOC (Bill) For putting this all together while Installing a complete poly body kit, Heim joint trail links, new upper and lower ball joints and solving my under plenum code 61 nightmare.

After I get the fronts adjusted for the correct ride height I will post up some pics of install.

Feel of the car is outstanding. I retained the FX-3 system and I can tell you the way this car bites a turn is like riding a rail. Trust me folks this is the mod the factory should have put on the car as original equipment. Wow

[Dynomite]

Did you use Carter200 adapters?

http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6104

[GOLDCYLON]

No I had already purchased the front brackets from Guldstrand several months before Carters bracket. I was waiting for the rear bracket Demps and carter were working with. I had to get this job done before the spousal support unit is on summer break (teacher). So my rears were done the old school way by notching the frame forward to allow room for the hats.

[rhipsher]

I totally agree D. I can't wait to have this done to mine. If u guys have never driven a z with coil overs there is just no comparison to the stock suspension. It corners like a high end BMW. This is one of the best upgrades u can make to your z.

[carter200]

Everything is done and awaiting the instruction sheet. I believe that delivery on orders will start in mid June. Thanks for all for waiting :cheers:

[Dynomite]

Everything is done and awaiting the instruction sheet. I believe that delivery on orders will start in mid June. Thanks for all for waiting :cheers:

What will an "order" include?
About how much will it cost?
Will you post an instruction sheet listing all components (or suggested components) required?
Are you posting information in this thread or http://www.zr1.net/forum/showpost.php?p=89501&postcount=76

[Aurora40]

Glad you got them on! What spring rate did you settle on for the rear?

[GOLDCYLON]

Glad you got them on! What spring rate did you settle on for the rear?

The rears are 275s Bob. Good ride Drove her all day

[wdo-mkr]

Welcome to the club! Its great when you drive over something like rail road tracks and the car just steps over it without so much as a ripple in the suspension. Be sure to add a hard bar to the front and at least a cross brace or rear brace on the halo. Once the rear is tightened up you will never fear any corner. The car will go exactly where you point it at all times.

[GOLDCYLON]

Already running a Brey-Krause Harness bar/ anti sub bar and love that mod as well. I agree nothing phases the front any more

[GOLDCYLON]

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil1.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil2.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil3.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil4.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil5.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil6.jpg

[GOLDCYLON]

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil8.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil9.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil10.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil11.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil12.jpg

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil14.jpg

[GOLDCYLON]

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l498/goldcylon/coil13.jpg

[GOLDCYLON]

Ok Heres what was done supension wise.

Total Poly Body bushing kit (Prophane kit)
Poly Sway bar links and end links etc etc
Guldstrand Front Sway bar relocation kit (Carter200 makes these as well)
Upper and Lower Ball joints (moog)
DRM Front coilovers with Hyper Coils 425 Spring rate fronts
DRM Rear coilovers with Hyper coils 275 Spring rate rears
Rear dog bones replaced with Heim joint links.

Car handles well with stability, Does not wander. Very satisfied with the result. And no FX-3 lights. This build is solid.

[scholtmj]

Wow, looks great!

Did you have the rod end trailing arms on before or are these new? What's the ride quality like with rod ends instead of poly bushings?

[Aurora40]

They look a lot better on your car than they did in my basement! That front block is interesting for relocating the swaybar. I don't get how you use the stock end link though? Does moving the bar pull the end link back? It still looks vertical. Though obviously it all fit!

I always wonder why the ride seems transformed when people go to coilovers. Is it the OEM spring is fatigued? Is it the spring rates that are more equal front to rear? (usually people go to a softer front and similar or slightly firmer rear) Is it the reduced anti-roll rate?

It seems odd that steel providing the force vs fiberglass can make such a difference, but it seems everyone who installs them is more than pleased at the ride. There's no arguing the result. :cheers:

[GOLDCYLON]

Wow, looks great!

Did you have the rod end trailing arms on before or are these new? What's the ride quality like with rod ends instead of poly bushings?


These are new. After pressing the poly bushings into the dogbones there was a clearance issue. I did not want to shave the poly bushing down, So.... the solution was to upgrade to the stronger Heim joints. Im sure it helps the car as it has never rode this well before. Guldstand has these listed on his website as well as a suspension upgrade. Must be something to it.

I have a complete set of dogbones loaded with the poly bushings now in my parts bin. LOL

[GOLDCYLON]

They look a lot better on your car than they did in my basement! That front block is interesting for relocating the swaybar. I don't get how you use the stock end link though? Does moving the bar pull the end link back? It still looks vertical. Though obviously it all fit!

I always wonder why the ride seems transformed when people go to coilovers. Is it the OEM spring is fatigued? Is it the spring rates that are more equal front to rear? (usually people go to a softer front and similar or slightly firmer rear) Is it the reduced anti-roll rate?

It seems odd that steel providing the force vs fiberglass can make such a difference, but it seems everyone who installs them is more than pleased at the ride. There's no arguing the result. :cheers:

Thanks Bob All I know is they move the set up backward a bit to allow for the fit. The ZF doc had to shave the bushings a little to allow for clearance of the Thermostat housing. The new poly bushings are a bit too fat. Its got to be the roll rate is reduced I am very impressed with the DRM setup I did not beleive it would improve the ride this much but it does. I beleive the front and rear fiberglass springs fatigue with time and age. Some members have seen cracking and spliting on some very low mileage cars my front and rear fiberglass springs look fine. I feel its possible for these to develop memory. They also conform to body weight of the driver and such. Dont know It just works:dontknow:

[FU]

Me likey :worship:

[GOLDCYLON]

Me likey :worship:

Thanks Frank :wave:

[GOLDCYLON]

Thanks to Pantera's suggestion I finally upgraded the rear trailing arms pictured above to Banskis racing trailing arms. They feel better and are quieter than the trailing arms that were removed. They use the Omega Heim link ends. I highly reccomend using the boot covers that Banski sells as an add to this kit as it keeps the dirt dust and grit out of the links. :cheers:

[secondchance]

It seems odd that steel providing the force vs fiberglass can make such a difference, but it seems everyone who installs them is more than pleased at the ride. There's no arguing the result. :cheers:

Hey, Bob,

I use to wonder about this also. After spending some time dismantling the rear suspension during the bushing replacement, I theorized, perhaps, the main difference between the transverse leaf vs. coilovers is that the transverse leaf set up anchors the mid point of the leaf to the body structure. When one side of the axle goes into compression this upward motion, due to leaf mid anchor point, will have tendency to twist the car along the centerline. The reverse twisting would occur when in rebound.
With coil over there will be similar twisting also. However, since the car's axle pivots relative to the centerline (IRS), most of the twisting motion will be absorbed - differnce between IRS and solid axle.
I have a suspicion that the "Corvette jiggle" comes from the transverse leaf set up.
Another interesting thing I observed during the bushing replacement is that all the pivot joints, dog bones and rear struts, are not exactly perpendicular to rotation when wheels are moved up and down. Heim joint Goldcyclone is using allows for twisting motion as opposed to rotation only. These joints will reduce binding found in poly bushing.
Actually, factory rubber bushing allows for some rotation due to flexing of rubber and this is evident when these pieces are removed after, say, 100,000+ miles. By then, rubber degradation also translates to clanking noise - I know this quite well.
Well, this is my theory. I am considering coilovers after headers and P&P.

Goldcyclone,

One question I have regarding the heim joints - any idea how they survive with these joints being exposed to dirt and moisture for extended period of time? Do they need to be greased periodically?

[GOLDCYLON]

Goldcyclone,

One question I have regarding the heim joints - any idea how they survive with these joints being exposed to dirt and moisture for extended period of time? Do they need to be greased periodically?


Mine are not exposed. I went with the boot cover option that Banski racing offered. The earlier set loaned to me were indeed exposed. With these covers intact they should not need to be serviced. As stated bove my recommendation is only to install these with the covers.

[secondchance]

Mine are not exposed. I went with the boot cover option that Banski racing offered. The earlier set loaned to me were indeed exposed. With these covers intact they should not need to be serviced. As stated bove my recommendation is only to install these with the covers.

SorryImissed that part. I did not know that you can get boot for the joint.

Thanks.

[GOLDCYLON]

SorryImissed that part. I did not know that you can get boot for the joint.

Thanks.


Neither did I, I beleive this is fairly new, They fit tight like heat shrink almost

[carter200]

I beleive this is fairly new, They fit tight like heat shrink almost

GC,
How about a pic of the boots?

[tomtom72]

Here is the web page from Banski.

http://www.banskimotorsports.com/C4_Rear_Suspensioin.html#boots



I wrote to VB&P about the spherically jointed ( heim jointed? ) rear kit and they did not recommend it for street use....however they do not offer a boot kit for their parts.



:cheers:
Tom

[GOLDCYLON]

Thanks for the post up of the site. I tried to snap a pic on my car this morning but without pulling the rear wheel it did not come out well. I would not put these on your car without boots as Tom also suggests.

[VetteMed]

I'm going to be running my Banskis without the boots, street-driven. I read some mixed reviews of the seals-it boots, and so I am going to be the guinea pig for determining longevity of street-driven rod-ends without boots. Replacement rod ends are not very expensive, so if I burn up a couple in the process, I'm not worried. If I find that they have poor longevity, I'll probably have no choice but to at least try the boots.

[todesengel]

Modern suspension upgrade for a 20 year old car, how could it not be good?

I know that many consider the zr1 to be a masterpiece but everything can be improved upon.

[GOLDCYLON]

I'm going to be running my Banskis without the boots, street-driven. I read some mixed reviews of the seals-it boots, and so I am going to be the guinea pig for determining longevity of street-driven rod-ends without boots. Replacement rod ends are not very expensive, so if I burn up a couple in the process, I'm not worried. If I find that they have poor longevity, I'll probably have no choice but to at least try the boots.


Lol I was the Guinea pig and ran these around on my DD since May of last year. The rear end was a sqeeky little bugger before the change over. Get the boots. Even the ZF.DOC was like. Cool Boot covers these are great. Trust me ;)

[EvanZR1]

Different car, but I ran spherical rod end lower control arms and panhard rod on my 97 Firehawk for over 4 years without any issues (no noise, etc). I will say though, that it all boils down to the quality of the rod ends, the f-body community has a lot of these parts available, and they are a common mod, and depending on the supplier there is a wide range of feedback. Vendors using cheap rod ends (thus lower price to customer) have lots of complaints with noise, vendors that use high quality ends (thus a little higher priced part to customer) have almost zero complaints. It's definitely one of those "you get what you pay for" deals with rod ends.

[GOLDCYLON]

It's definitely one of those "you get what you pay for" deals with rod ends.


Concur ;)

[Paul Workman]

I always wonder why the ride seems transformed when people go to coilovers.

____

There's no arguing the result. :cheers:

Well, that's not always true. I think it was Bob G I was talking to, while his car was on the lift over at Pete's skunkworks, that said he had coil overs - didn't like them - and went back to the fiberglass transverse spring setup. Maybe he will read this and chime in. Pete has coil-overs and really likes them too. So, I'm curious as hell now... Is it just the ride difference, and what difference would it make in a slalom course, far as handling goes??:icon_scra

(Bob's rumored to be in AZ too, at the moment...missing out on all this nice -15 degree weather we're having this morning...Poor bastard.;))

P.

[Pete]

.
Feel of the car is outstanding. I retained the FX-3 system and I can tell you the way this car bites a turn is like riding a rail. Trust me folks this is the mod the factory should have put on the car as original equipment. Wow


Yeap,i second that.
I will also add they all should've had ported top ends from the factory and a set of Jeal Headers in the trunk.:)

Pete

[GOLDCYLON]

Yeap,i second that.
I will also add they all should've had ported top ends from the factory and a set of Jeal Headers in the trunk.:)

Pete


100% agree Pete! Now that would have been a great Pizza box addition.

[GOLDCYLON]

Reliving a thread

[Roadster]

Reliving a thread

Interesting thread.....interesting.......:thumbsup:

[GOLDCYLON]

This is not a necro post. It took me a while but I now have two coil over ZR-1s. This time I picked up a used set out of CA about three years ago. This go around I went with Exotic Muscle coil overs which are identical to the DRM set up with one difference. The top hats are GOLD vs. the Hypercoil color blue.

At the top of the thread I gave you all the details on the spring rates and what is needed etc to do this mod however, I am going to mention this for the benefit of the club. Coil overs are considered "OLD SCHOOL" and if you are even considering this mod now is the time because the skillset on the installation is becoming a lost art.

I had a bear of a time finding someone to groove the new FX-3 shocks that I bought for the lock rings for the project and then had to work with my mechanic so we could agree what needed to be done. I had forgotten a lot since the last time I went through this was 11 years ago. However its finally done. :cheers:

[AndrewL]

Interesting that you had trouble finding somebody to groove your shocks for the lock rings needed to retain the lower spring retainers.

I recently replaced my rear FX3 Bilsteins and the local suspension place turned me away because their lathe wasn't big enough to fit the shocks for machining They recommended a local engineering shop and that I make sure he didn't machine too deep of a groove because of the pressure inside the shock, but I instead went to the Sydney Bilstein agent who did them on the spot for me as well as supplying new lock rings.

[XfireZ51]

Haibeck did mine when I picked up a newer set of Bilsteins.