|
|
1968 Chevy Camaro Bushings - Escalation
|
|
Chasing Tenths
It's called the "point of diminishing returns," and it's a phrase that perfectly describes most aspects of hot rodding. If it costs "X" amount of dollars to run fast, then it costs exponentially more to run a bit faster. It's pretty easy to get to 90 percent, but it can be challenging and expensive to squeeze out the last 10 percent of potential performance. Our suspension was pretty high-end already, but we wanted just a bit more. We found the main culprit to be our stock rubber control arm bushings. Sure, they help lessen the harshness on the road, but they tend to deform under hard cornering, throwing off our alignment specs when we need them most. By going with spherical bushings, we gave up a little ride "cush" for killer steering response and rock-solid geometry. Other upgrades were done to increase reliability and fix items like control arm angles and brake pad knockback. Besides, a car that is "just done" isn't as much fun.  Here are the main players...  Here are the main players in our suspension upgrade: the spherical bushings from Pfadt Race Engineering. They replace the factory rubber bushings found in the C6 control arms. The result is zero bushing deflection for more precise handling. If you're on more of a budget, they also offer poly/aluminum bushings that are still far better than the factory rubber stuff.  The first step was to remove...  The first step was to remove the old bushings. Some can be pressed out, some can be cut out, but in regards to the lower arms, we found the best solution was to burn them out. Once all the bushings were removed, we de-burred the arms and sent them to Embee in Santa Ana, California, for powdercoating.  After scuffing up the bushing...  After scuffing up the bushing bores on the control arms, and applying a liberal amount of Loctite 638 high-strength retaining compound, we slid the new spherical bushings in place. We then used the supplied spiral locks to further secure the new bushings.  The upper control arms were...  The upper control arms were then bolted to the Camaro's frame. One nice trait is that the upper bushings feature offset dog bones. Because of this, we can simply rotate the shafts 180 degrees and pick an additional full degree of negative camber for track days, then flip them back for the street.  We then installed the lower...  We then installed the lower C6 control arms. We decided to lose the GM eccentric bolts in favor of these Pfadt offset camber shims. Unlike the factory units, these won't "walk" under high load and change our camber settings.  Raceseng Design builds these...  Raceseng Design builds these billet uprights for serious C5/C6 Vette track cars. We talked with them about how many muscle cars are using Vette uprights, and they decided to modify their design a bit. The result is their 6061 T6 aluminum muscle car uprights. One key feature is that it incorporates a high-definition spherical upper ball joint with stainless pin.  As a direct replacement for...  As a direct replacement for the GM upright, they would bolt right in, but they have several performance benefits. First, they are a lot stronger and will better resist flexing under heavy load. Secondly, they drop the ride height by 1.25 inches, and most importantly, they increase negative camber by a full degree.  The dropped upright meant...  The dropped upright meant that we needed new steering arms made so that our steering geometry would stay in the "sweet spot." The company, 21st Century, is out of business, but the brains that designed our subframe is still around. Jim Pettigrew, of Pettigrew Enterprises, was nice enough to whittle out a new pair that incorporated the 1.25-inch drop.  And here's everything back...  And here's everything back together. It's almost a shame to cover it up with a wheel. In addition to the previous parts, we also dumped the C5/C6 hub assembly for stronger SKF hubs from Pfadt. These are the same hubs used in the new ZR1 super Vette, and won't fail prematurely when subjected to constant high-g side loading. Their stiffer design will also help lessen pad knock back. The stock lower ball joints were replaced with Howe unit, also from Pfadt, that won't be ruined from excessive brake heat like the stockers.
|
|
|