Chassis & Susp mods. Requesting input from BMR and members with susp mods done.

[DivineStrike]

Ok so I have the cradle lockout and diff lockout still sitting in my garage waiting to be put on from like a year ago:eyebulge:. I want to buy more stuff so I can be one and done lol I'm not too interested in extra chassis bracing that's just going to add weight.

I'm not a drag racer, I will take to the strip eventually but I care more about corners. I would like to keep NVH under control to a degree. My main concerns with NVH is long road trip comfortability, and keeping vibrations under control enough not to cause premature rattling from the dash and other plastic bits.

So far I'm thinking:

Toe links
Toe knuckle bearings
Vertical links... Not sure whether to go with delrin or just the spherical?

Looking for more recommendations if ya got them. I would really like to know what products there are for the front that replace Oem bits, again I'm not really looking to add weight by installing parts that weren't already on the car. I made an exception for the cradle brace as I'm not ready to face the potential NVH issues from replacing bushings lol I would like to have more feel and responsiveness from the front.

Coilovers are in my future but I'll discuss that at a later date. Non spring, strut and shock related discussion for now.

My ultimate goal is to make this big car as close to driving like a small car as I can. Or at least feel like it.

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[EricSMG]

The problem with "one and done" is that you've no idea what did what, good or bad. The car will feel much different, yes, but there may be things you like and don't like and you'll not be able to speak to the what caused what. Further, you won't know if a particular mod was simply not worth the money. No thanks.

/soapbox rant

All that said, I do like your thought process in that you're separating dampers/springs from this discussion. You're focused on the connecting hardware.

I have a bone stock GTPP other than the BMR lockout kit. Excellent value - it really tightens things up from a handling perspective. NVH is up, if I had to quantify, 15% but overall, minimal.

Toe links - not sure I see that value here.

Toe bearing - for sure.

Vertical links - it's been hard for me to comb through the white noise around here and get candid feedback on what these improve, exactly, by themselves. Some say inside wheel hop out of slow corners - if that's the case then these would be an enormous value as that's one of the biggest issues with the GTPP, in my opinion.

As of today, my gut is telling me that the true silver bullet for the IRS are LCA bearings. My hunch is that they alone will make a bigger difference than most other IRS mods combined - just a hunch, though. However, very concerned about NVH with these.

Good post - I'd like to here more from people who have 'stepped' through each IRS mod and aren't afraid of telling it like it is.

 

[DivineStrike]

Yea I understand the thought behind the step by step approach, isolating the pros and cons of each. However, My one and done mindset is more due to the financial efficiency of it. For instance I'll need to get an alignment after the lockouts are installed. If any other components require an alignment, I want to do them at the same time. Overall I'm not too concerned about the negatives, it doesn't seem there are too many with the mods mentioned so far. As you can tell I just want to get the car as connected to the ground as possible while maintaining livability

Thanks for the mention of the LCA bearings, I'm definitely curious about them.

 

[Rebellion]

If you have a way to get bearings out..I'd suggest the LCA and toe bearing. Diff bushings and inserts, I wouldn't do because of the NVH. The cradle lockout is a given.

The vertical links give a small benefit, for my case. I did the Boomba ones, which are lighter than stock anyways. Up front there's not much to do if you already have the PP. I did the BMR CB006, I would say the effects are less significant than the strut tower and cowl brace.

I'm still over the fence for the toe links, I'm not sure how useful they are if you don't need toe adjustment. The stock ones seem pretty damn sturdy to me, unlike the vertical links.

If you don't plan for damper/spring change...I'd do sways, but I'd save it for last after all the other stuff. Honestly, I don't think you can make it feel like a small car, such as a Miata or FRS.

 

[DivineStrike]

If you have a way to get bearings out..I'd suggest the LCA and toe bearing. Diff bushings and inserts, I wouldn't do because of the NVH. The cradle lockout is a given.

The vertical links give a small benefit, for my case. I did the Boomba ones, which are lighter than stock anyways. Up front there's not much to do if you already have the PP. I did the BMR CB006, I would say the effects are less significant than the strut tower and cowl brace.

I'm still over the fence for the toe links, I'm not sure how useful they are if you don't need toe adjustment. The stock ones seem pretty damn sturdy to me, unlike the vertical links.

If you don't plan for damper/spring change...I'd do sways, but I'd save it for last after all the other stuff. Honestly, I don't think you can make it feel like a small car, such as a Miata or FRS.

Yea I'm not being unrealistic in thinking it will feel like a Miata, I just want it to feel smaller than it is.

For the toe links I haven't researched too much about them. If the stock ones are plenty stiff then I don't care to add more moving parts than necessary.

Coilovers are definitely happening, just after these bits. I may even be getting them at the same time as these mods, but I just want to leave them out of this conversation as I want to focus on more of these supporting mods. A dampener & spring conversation would cloud out the discussion I want and can get a little crazy.

I thought about doing sways as an alternative to doing dampers and springs to be a cost saving measure, while I were to decide if I wanted to upgrade to a gt350. But as nice as a 350 would be, I feel more comfortable modding my GT than worrying and stressing whether my 20k dollar engine will need to be replacing outside of the warranty period lol. sways will probably happen after C/Os

I really do love that gt350 though. I still think about it

 

[Road Dog]

So far

I have installed the CB006 and the Vertical Links TCA045. They work well on the car and give me a more solid feel in corners. The Premium Vert comes with the full strut brace and cowl brace, but I could still feel the difference with the CB006.
One thing I have noticed about the vertical links is they don't stay straight. After driving around a while I notice the bars twist(or turn) on the bearings. They don't make any noise though. The final plus on both is they are really easy to install.

 

[DivineStrike]

Thanks annd to thee top

 

[09jsw]

I installed bmr toe rods with dust boots, LCA bearing, lock out kit, frpp toe bearing and bmr springs with frpp track shocks. I had zero nvh. Car is perfect.

 

[Agent_S550]

The amount of lash in the factory Toe Link bushing is what makes the change to spherical Toe Links worth it. Really for me I would say go about things in this order:

Cradle Lockouts with alignment kit
Vertical links
LCA bearings
Toe Links
Differential lockouts

The differential has major deflection by hand. I know some people are hyper sensitive to differential noise. But it's worth it. I'd say overall following this will remove 90% of the problem children out of the IRS. It will be able to hold a true alignment with proper suspension arcs rather than have bushing deflection that ultimately changes your curve mid arc.

 

[wildcatgoal]

See what I have in my signature. NVH, which really isn't much different than stock, is totally acceptable for road trips - done a few. If you're getting BMR vertical links, spherical is the way to go. You don't NEED to do a toe link bearing unless you plan to be a regular at a strip or track.

 

[keltymd]

Yea I understand the thought behind the step by step approach, isolating the pros and cons of each. However, My one and done mindset is more due to the financial efficiency of it. For instance I'll need to get an alignment after the lockouts are installed. If any other components require an alignment, I want to do them at the same time. Overall I'm not too concerned about the negatives, it doesn't seem there are too many with the mods mentioned so far. As you can tell I just want to get the car as connected to the ground as possible while maintaining livability

Thanks for the mention of the LCA bearings, I'm definitely curious about them.

I have always gone to firestone for alignments. I buy the lifetime alignment and then have to pay no more. Well I give the tech a few bucks for making sure it's exactly where I want it.

 

[BMR Tech]

Ok so I have the cradle lockout and diff lockout still sitting in my garage waiting to be put on from like a year ago:eyebulge:. I want to buy more stuff so I can be one and done lol I'm not too interested in extra chassis bracing that's just going to add weight.

I'm not a drag racer, I will take to the strip eventually but I care more about corners. I would like to keep NVH under control to a degree. My main concerns with NVH is long road trip comfortability, and keeping vibrations under control enough not to cause premature rattling from the dash and other plastic bits.

So far I'm thinking:

Toe links
Toe knuckle bearings
Vertical links... Not sure whether to go with delrin or just the spherical?

Looking for more recommendations if ya got them. I would really like to know what products there are for the front that replace Oem bits, again I'm not really looking to add weight by installing parts that weren't already on the car. I made an exception for the cradle brace as I'm not ready to face the potential NVH issues from replacing bushings lol I would like to have more feel and responsiveness from the front.

Coilovers are in my future but I'll discuss that at a later date. Non spring, strut and shock related discussion for now.

My ultimate goal is to make this big car as close to driving like a small car as I can. Or at least feel like it.

The key to your goal is, as we all can imagine, removing the most rubber and slop from the rear IRS assembly as possible...and not affect NVH much.

There is a post above, 09jsw, that has a list of parts that is VERY popular from us. Based on what he stated he had done, anyone who rides or drives in that car will likely instantly be impressed.

This is the list of parts I suggest...in order. Performance based, with minimal NVH gains.

CB005 Lockout Kit
BK055 LCA Bearing Kit
TCA045 Vertical Links
FRPP Toe Bearings
TR005 Toe Links
UTCA064 Delrin/Bearing Camber Links

This IRS system above, completely transforms the way the car handles, brakes, accelerates and feels.

I usually always recommend diff bushing solutions lastly when my customers have a fear of too much NVH gain.

 

[BMR Tech]

I installed bmr toe rods with dust boots, LCA bearing, lock out kit, frpp toe bearing and bmr springs with frpp track shocks. I had zero nvh. Car is perfect.

That is a homerun combo if I have ever seen one sir! :cheers:

 

[Gatorac]

I have always gone to firestone for alignments. I buy the lifetime alignment and then have to pay no more. Well I give the tech a few bucks for making sure it's exactly where I want it.

I have a few questions on this. Can you get as many alignments as you want? How about if it's not out of alignment but you want different settings? How about if you have swapped in some new components?

 

[keltymd]

I have a few questions on this. Can you get as many alignments as you want? How about if it's not out of alignment but you want different settings? How about if you have swapped in some new components?

As many as you want as often as you want. I would take my 02 and have it set for the weekend playing and then go back on Monday and have it set for the streets. They will let you give them your parameters to set it too or do factory settings. I am no fanboy of firestone (I worked there for a few years and they are con artists IMHO) but their lifetime alignment is a great deal if you keep the car for a bit. I think it is about $200 but you make it back in two or three alignments.

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