==!!!Suspension and Coilovers help!!!==

[flanker]

Hey

I'm setting up a VN to start drifting in. Its a HDT 5liter manual.

I'm stuck on what to do with the suspension, basically I just want adjustable shocks, lowered high rate springs, with adjustable camber/Castor tops, stiff sway bars adjustable maybe, and panhard rod to suit. Nothing to extreme, but something solid enough to get me started and keep me going for awhile.

Anyone here with experience in doing a setup like this? Or who has something similar like this on there VN? I've spent 2 weeks calling suspension shops in adelaide, and no one will bother to put together a quote for me (except 1 place for 7000 which seemed like a setup adequate for bathurst... way over budget), or bother ringing me back. I'm pulling my hair out as I want the car ready by the end of October.

Any help very appreciated.
I'm not a one time poster either.

[rob drag racer]

id suggest some stiff springs for a start as little body roll as possible some heavy duty springs should help

[immortality]

there are some suspension suppliers that do a complete coilover kit for the front. i think there about 2K. noltec do a kit i think.

adjustable suspension parts are available from most major retailers to suit the commodore but they aren't cheap.

check out noltec and Noltec Part Number:N44601

or

Redranger Nolathane for longer life suspension systems

for drifting you want a nice heavy rear sway bar, will make the car oversteer which is what you want isn't it

[flanker]

Im not exactly after coilovers. After reading a lot on them, it seems the most coilovers aren't the real deal anyway.

This might be a stupid question but I'll ask anyway.... You don't need coilovers to have adjustable strut plates for camber/castor do you??

I'm just after something I can adjust for later and build on as I get better, that will get the job done.

[Morton]

No, you can run adjustable strut plates with stock struts. There's only so much camber they can dial in though, before they have to take the struts out and physically bend them to get more negative dial.

[flanker]

Whats the max limit, I'm only after 2degrees negative, perhaps starting on 1.5 and 0.5 caster

I have a quote stating they have to modify the K-frame for max camber, I take it, this Is what your talking about when you want lots of camber?

[Morton]

That's another way of doing it, to move the control arms out a bit further. All that rubbish is a bit more expensive though, and if it's going to be a road car, will need engineering.

[flanker]

I'll investigate on how much camber I can dial in, before stuff needs fabricating then. I'm pretty sure I could get close to 2degrees.

[Morton]

That shouldn't be a problem. I think some people like to run 3.5, and that's where issues arise

[GTP 85]

Good stiff springs/ shocks/ sway bars will do the job for you. Coilovers can get pricey, as i have done it

[flanker]

Yup, from talking to a few people 'in the know' and doing lots of reading, it seems coilovers will just be a waste of time and money for what I'm after.

I have something in the works, and it turns out, Adjustable strut tops alone will only give about 1degree or slightly more of camber. Adj radius rods and a modified k-frame is whats needed for lots of camber, for anyone out there trying to do the same as me.

Keep ya'll posted.

[centy]

How about vs font end for the wider track. Mac adjustable tops as they have a knock out bush that would make the vs struts fit. Adjustable panard rod upper and lower control arms. Heavy lower springs or polyairbags for adjustment.

[FusionX]

noltec do a kit i think.

I would normally suggest Noltec... but you will find out they sold out at the start of the year. Their strut tops patent/design for VB-VP was sold off to Wilkinson Suspension (now have red alloy plates instead of blue). The adjustable radius rods went to Whiteline. Same with the bushes, coloured black now and called Whiteline Plus.

[gslrallysport]

no one will bother to put together a quote for me (except 1 place for 7000 which seemed like a setup adequate for bathurst... way over budget), or bother ringing me back.

Hi mate,

If you know exactly what you're after we'd be happy to put a package together for you. I'd probably recommend something like a Bilstein and Kings package. Coilovers are excellent (and can help fine tune the car by raising/lowering rear ride height to shift weight balance), but you need to spend $4k to get anything half decent, such as DMS.

Tein/K Sport/etc. etc. are all rubbish, and have $2 damper inserts in fancy strut bodies... Anything less than DMS and you're far better off going to something like a Bilstein shock.

Also with drifting, you want to run AS LITTLE caster as you can.

Feel free to give us a bell on 1300 884 836 if you'd like.

Regards,
Greg

[flanker]

I got a pedders quote for around 5k.

Its bilstein coilovers front, shocks rear, springs, adj swaybars, strut brace, strut top plates, panhard rod, and rear upper control arms, along with urethane bushes and modified K-frame etc etc Pretty much everything I need.

I don't think they have a clue on what spring rates I need for it to drift, not to mention camber settings.

Greg, GSLrallysport would you know what I need? I've been told by someone else, 17mm rear sway bar, 27mm front sway bar, I think it was 900lb rear springs, fronts im not sure. Front shocks to hard and the back to be softer, but I don't have exact specs, but does this sound on the right track??

[gslrallysport]

What sort of budget are you working to with regards to suspension? I'll be honest in saying we have VERY limited knowledge of drift setup, but I have personally talked to a couple of the leading guys when I was doing V8 Race School instructing at QR.

On the of main points they gave me, was unlike EVERY other form of motorsport, you want to run as little caster as possible, to avoid TOOT (toe out on turn). TOOT makes the car harder to control in a slide because you're not actually turning around a corner as such (ie. you're not drawing two different radius' with the front wheels).

The other thing they made clear to me is the idea isn't to just make the car as over steery as possible (ie. not just going for a super stiff rear setup), because you actually want very good grip so that you can bring it back when needed. You can always induce a slide with a hydraulic handbrake, or downshifting hard, but you can't always get more grip to bring it back when needed...

That's really the extend to our knowledge. Short of that the usual things apply ie. the better the shock, the easier to control, the stiffer the bars the more responsive etc.

The one thing you DON'T want to do is find some el cheapo chinese coilover with super stiff spring rates and use that. It will not work...

I'd suggest probably jumping onto a forum with more specific drift info, and so what they say with regards to spring rates. Again, let me know what your budget is and I can price up a package. If you've got the dollars, I'd probably take a DMS coilover setup over Bilstein purely for the adjustability.

But as I said, DON'T get el cheapo coilover just because they are adjustable... $2k worth of adjustable chinese crap will perform ALOT worse than $2k worth of non-adjustable Bilstein and Kings.