Suspension Upgrades

In search of better handling and 60 foot times, I recently went thru a series of upgrades to my 15 year old chassis. The rearend was freshened with new LCA's and panhard from Spohn performance. A Spohn Adjustable Torque Arm was also added to tune the traction. Finally. an Eibach Drag Launch Spring and airlift kit (P/N 9306.140) was added on all four wheels.

The installation instructions for the Spohn parts are very clear and easy to follow. The Eibach kit came with very little/poor instructions, but luckily the folks at GM High-Tech Performance (GMHP) magazine came through. In their Sept. 2000 issue (pg 18-19) they put springs on a third-gen and it helped my install greatly. I still needed a spring compressor that they don't mention needing, but I was able to get a free loaner from Autozone and the the compressed springs went in just as the article describes. I regreased all the fittings after assembly and used the disassembly opportunity to repack the front wheel bearings..

Prior to the springs, the car sat (ground to inside center of wheelwell) at 27-5/8 inches rear, 27-1/2 inches front. The new springs raised the car to 27-7/8 inches all around except the RR (w/ airbag empty) which still sits at the stock 27-5/8 inches. With 25psi in the airbag, the RR sits slightly higher at 28 inches.

Click on any image below for an enlargement (~500K) image.