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F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums _ General Discussion _ Back to hooning around in the Trans Am
Posted by: ws6transam Jul 2 2015, 01:26 PM
Hi everyone,
It's been a few years but I thought I'd check in to see what everyone's been doing these days.
Myself, not a lot int he car department. However I did get the Trans Am out this year, and we're putting a few miles on it.
The car is feeling loose - like the suspension needs a major re-do. The Koni struts are now 25 years old, the Herb Adams rear shocks don't seem to work that well anymore,
The front rotors are crazed and spiderwebbed with cracks, the brakes squeal like a banshee when stopping; I've lost about 3/4 inch of ground clearance over the last ten years
and the headers are scraping on everything. TO top it all off, the UBE Decoupled torque arm is banging around under the car as the snubber seems to have collapsed.
The tires are six years old, and man, they must be hard because I can't get them to hook up anymore: First & second gear just spin when I get into the powerband,
so I need to be easy on the throttle. The worst part is that the tires only have about 1000 miles on them and they are six years old. The best part is that I don't feel too
particular about preserving them, so tire smoke is becoming a pretty fun way to spend some time.
Anyway - I'm just not sure where to go from here, or how to fix that suspension. A full re-do? Rebuild the decoupled torque arm, or jettison it and get something more conventional?
Posted by: KCG Jul 2 2015, 07:59 PM
Yeah, I'd trash it for something new. I'll even help you out & ship you any empty box with return shipping on it. DEAL?
Posted by: BumpaD_Z28 Jul 2 2015, 08:21 PM
Welcome BACK ! Always loved your ride !
~DaVe
Posted by: Blainefab Jul 3 2015, 01:19 AM
The snubber is Lakewood Suspension 20530 about $16 for a pair from Summit. Re-use the old nut, a fresh nylock will have too much friction and rip the bolt free of the rubber.
If yours is old enough to use the rubber washers, I recommend the belleville washer upgrade, I have those in stock.
Posted by: ws6transam Jul 3 2015, 12:28 PM
Thanks Alan, I needed that info. I'll order some snubbers asap. Tell me more about the belleville washer upgrade! My DCTA came with a stack of aluminum spacers and 1-inch thick rubber spacers. I hope that this isn't the same thing? They seemed to crush a little too much. Right now, I have a 1/8 inch space on the top sliding link, and a moeller die spring, but I'm thinking that it isn't doing the job. I might swap out the spring for a thin rubber spacer - Is that essentially what the belleville washer upgrade is?
p.s. The 20530's are also available for $17.50 via Amazon Prime, and two day shipping was free! - Ordering was simple, with literally "1-click" and they are on their way. Total shopping time, less than sixty seconds.
Posted by: ws6transam Jul 3 2015, 12:32 PM
~DaVe
Thanks, Dave. Now that my kids are older, they are all Jonesing for a ride in the passenger seat, and my daughter wants a shot at the driver's seat someday.
Posted by: Blainefab Jul 4 2015, 01:48 AM
p.s. The 20530's are also available for $17.50 via Amazon Prime, and two day shipping was free! - Ordering was simple, with literally "1-click" and they are on their way. Total shopping time, less than sixty seconds.
None of the rubber spring solutions were stiff enough or durable enough. The moeller spring thing was an attempt to solve the durability issue, but with as tight some folks were running it, would cause jacking, and possibly prevent decoupling. The belleville disc spring setup was put into production on all TA/RTA in 2010. The upgrade replaces all the rubber stuff with the disc springs, and more spacers to take up the gap.
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