pascal

You kids need to stop jacking off and listen to SAM, period!
The guy races and wins, what else do you want?
Or, who else taking advices from?

You guys are lucky to have caliber dudes like him hanging on these boards and spread their knowledge...
He's been beating that PHB/LCA horse to you guys for a while now, does he need a shotgun to help it sink in?

My hat goes to you Sam, you sure are more patient than I...

Sam Strano

Thank you for the support. I certainly don't mind telling folks why I think the way I do, and I know that the feeling that many of things are "needed" stems from the blurbs that are written to sell parts. I know this because I have them on my site too. It's the way the world works, and in this day and age of the internet folks often don't want to seek advice and just hop online and buy what looks good. If I didn't have those things up with the same kinds of desciptions, it'd be bad for me.

Having said that, I'm just a car guy who is lucky enough to play with cars... Because of that I feel it's important or real-world information to actually be put out there. Yes, what I say sometimes bucks conventional wisdom, but I'll back it up. I don't often say anything that amounts to "do it because I said so". We all have opinions, I'll explain mine (if given a chance) as I have here and let you all decide if I'm off my rocker.

charliebrown266

+1 on what sam is saying,the man races these cars and wins! he knows what he is talking about!

RobbieCopp

I've been getting my advice from Sam vis PMs the last few days and have decided on the setup I will be using. I will be buying all my parts from his site as he has been such a big help and its the least I can do. Here's what I will be using:
Sportlines
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=5&PartID=447
Konis
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=5&PartID=197
Steeda HD Strut Mounts
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=5&PartID=446
UMI on car adjustable PHB
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=5&PartID=245

loaded6shooter

what i NEEDED was new shocks, i went with tokico d-specs, and an adjustable panhard brace, i went with BMR, thats it. i also picked up BMR panhard brace, BMR billet LCAs, and BMR LCA relocation brackets, but they weren't "needed."

drfister

I went with Pro-kit and dspecs. It was perfect. I did not land up needing my camber bolts. I do not see a need for a panhard bar, everything looks, feels fine (255/45/18 tires) An allignment is most definatly needed. I recently had my lower ball joints give out, and had those replaced. It might be benificial to have those replaced when your front is all disassembled. Some have them, others are still on the OEMs but just throwing it out there. Had I known they are prone to failing I would have had them since the get go.

Sounds like you got a solid list. Listen to the others on here, got some good resources. Your gonna love your car all over again...

tx_zstang

When you lower the front, the camber will change and you'll need the camber bolts to correct it. (I ended up just needing a bolt on the passenger side and was able to use the driver side stock bolts.)

For panhard bar, check your rear end alignment by hanging 2 strings from your rear fenders with a weight (like a nut) tied to each end; measure the distancce to the string to the wheel rim, both places on both sides, and see how much difference there is.
After lowering my rear by 1.25", it threw the rear off by 1/8". I already had an adjustable panhard bar so I got it back centered evenly. If you're that close, you'll probbaly be ok.

As far as pinion angle, you might or might not have an issue. I did put on lca relocation brackets and an adjustable UCA, but the UCA is set to the same length as the stock UCA so no adjustment was needed there. Just check the pinion angle after lowering to see how much off you are. Mine was at just above -3 degrees. (you can use a cheap $9 angle finder from home depot for checking pinion angle; there's other threads that show how.)

When you put in the D-specs, check the settings on them; don't assume they are set properly!!! My front struts were set to the full-hard position.