I have done a bunch of reading old posts on CF regarding swaping to larger 30mm or 32mm sway bars. Aftter reading about 50 to 60 posts at least I'm still not better off understanding if it will be helpful or not. I also understand that some people had a hard time installing the Addco swaybar sold by VB&P. I wonder if this is the same bar that VanSteel sells.

I'm asking this because while talking to an autocross mentor for SCCA he mentioned that some simple mods to get the car ready for AX this season would be new shocks, biggest front sway bar I can get and flush the brakes. He also gave me some basic allignment information but I have more of that stuff somewhere as well.

If Brian Cunningham or some of you other AutoX guys can chime in here to let me know if I should spring (no pun intended) for the bigger bar let me know. Also any tips or guidance appreciated.

ttt

i dont know what suspension is in your car but i put larger sway bars in other cars and it is big difference in how it handles. but you also want it to be balanced too and i don't know if going all out on the front and not touching the rear will be ideal. i have a z51 car and i don't foresee myself doing any kind of racing anytime soon so i haven't any worries about this cause i have no idea how bad my car actually handles now nor do i think i need to upgrade it cause i probably cant meet the limit of its suspension at the moment. lol.

My car has the base soft ride suspension. According to the CAC its got a 26mm front/24mm rear.

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Do it. The base bars suck on the track. And bigger bars won't affect the street ride as much as springs or shocks.

Shocks in combo with the bars are important too, also bushings (what U got now?). And springs.

The big thing is how much you want to spend on shocks. The least way I'd go is with Doug Rippie revalved Bilsteins. AND both bars.

Then Koni single adjustables.
Then OMP coilovers, the only OMPs that are matched by a pro (hardbar). $$$

But you need to decige how much $$$ and what compromise you can live with on the street.

DRM website shows little to nothing anymore for the C4, no shocks and only a few bushings.

It looks like Koni offers sport shocks for the C4 and I can't seem to find single adjustables made for the 1994. I'll have to keep digging.

I'm really not able to spend any money on suspension at this time. My dime is tapped out with the motor and trans and I thought if I could add a $150 bar to the front end to help it from rolling I would. However when you start looking at prices of fancy shocks, springs, bars and bushing kits, we are getting into another huge rebuilding job again. Maybe better left for next winter.

Maybe this summer I get a new set of Koni Sport Shocks or Bilsteins Sports for $300 and a front sway bar? Or what many do.... just "run what ya brung"

LOL

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If you have the 150 now, get the bar.

i think that being a novice that just running the car would be the best idea.. i don't know if you are just going to do it for fun or try to run a class but i would imagine with your engine its going to throw you into a higher class that opens up suspension mods and even then you are going to need to probably take some time honing your skills cause the rest of the pack will be pushing the limits of the rules and already hauling ass. i'd say get it together. find out what you can do with the car and do a suspension upgrade next winter.

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Josh, you are right on the money there. Of course the best thing would have been to own a bone stock 1989 or 1990 C4 and use it in SCCA stock or NCCC Stock. Whether good nor bad I'm starting out with a highly modified car and your right I will be looking like "driving miss daisy" out there with most of those guys in my SSM class. I'm not after anything but learning how to autocross better this year. I have done four autocross events in the past two years and I had a ball each time, but didn't really know what I was doing except just trying to make the gates as fast as I could. Very little thought went into how I approached most of the gates other than when I did my walk throughs and tried to visualize the best lines. But you know as well as I do for a novice that crap goes right out the side window when the car starts moving fast.

Anyhow, I would like the suspension to at least do what its supposed to do. My current shocks are old (not originals but old) My bushings are all stock bushings. So the suspension is definitely ready for an upgrade too. I did have an experienced mechanic/racer inspect the bushings and stuff and although he said they are hard, they are not all dry rotted and falling apart like I have seen some.

well i think that a quality set of shocks would be where i started..

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http://dougrippie.com/?p=909

Or send you stock bilsteins off to be revalved at Bilstein.

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According to consensus the DRM re-valved shocks are too harsh for dual duty. Since yesterday I have isolated the single adjustable Koni shock that runs about $700 for a whole set and you have the ability to adjust them too.

Part No. 8241- 1097 Koni single adjustable front shock 1989-1996 Corvette

Part No. 8241- 1098 Koni single adjustable rear shock 1989-1996 Corvette

They are available from Jegs or Summit, even found a set of four on ebay for a pinch over $600. So, if I ever get another thousand dollars saved up after my engine, transmission and installation; I'll be getting a set of them and adding a bigger front sway bar. That will be all the suspension mods for this year.

Nice shocks and they are rebuildable (but the rebuilds are expensive @ $100e).

But that's not bad considering that the double adj. Konis on my racecar are $175 to rebuild. And I was only rebuilding them once-----each year.

I finally got off my ass and ordered shocks for the '94. After I get the engine back in the car, the first thing I'll be doing is some autocross events starting in April. So I have done a bit of research and called some people and finally made a decision on the Koni single adjustable Yellow Sport shocks. I got a good deal on them from Tire Rack, or at least I thought it was a good deal. I got four shipped to my house for $556 and some loose change.

I really debated this purchase, going back and forth with my decision (Because I'm a Cheap Guy! ) from the Bilstein Sport Shocks to these Konis. I spoke to Randy at DRM and he did say I would be just fine with non-adjustable Bilsteins, but the Konis were indeed a great shock with the added ability to adjust. Although he felt that most of us will never really use that adjust-ability for what its worth. He said that in the past, they would change out differently valved shocks on drivers all the time to see if the professional drivers could tell the difference and in most cases they didn't, unless they had knowledge of the change. Kind of like a placebo effect but for shocks... I don't know, I'm just relaying what he said. After all that, I still was swayed by the many folks that recommended the Konis. Additionally, almost every SCCA guy I emailed or chatted with recommended the Konis as well.

From my reading (not experience), and my plan is to set the rear shocks at their softest setting and the fronts on a middle setting and leave them alone for a while. Then when I improve or have some test time I can soften or stiffen he fronts to see if I can feel any difference in handling. Regretfully, the rear shocks are not adjustable on the car. They must be removed to adjust, but from what I understand, with the rears it is best to find a setting and leave them alone. For our cars it seems the consensus is the softest setting. I'd be interested to see what Bogus has his set at.

The sway bar issue is not resolved yet and if I can find a 30mm front bar, this is what Randy suggested. Things could still be a little wishy-washy because I still have the FE1 springs front & back. Well that can be a project for next year sometime. At least now I have a new set of shocks coming!!

I just picked up a 30mm front sway bar off of CF member ZBRA for $135 shipped including bushings and end links. I posted a WTB there a week ago or so. Too good a deal to let it pass.

Should stiffen things up a bit? Let us know once it's back together.