Whats your favorite upgrade you have done to your elky, and what kinda difference did it make?

These have made the biggest improvement.
http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/f0fde77724.jpg (http://www.uploadfile.info)
By changing the instant center, the rear end now moves down tward the pavement under acceleration. Before, it was being pulled up into the body. Kind of a no brainer as to which is better.

Adding all of the factory F41 parts was one of my favorite upgrades.

Of course anything you do will be an improvement. Changing any worn suspension pieces should be the first thing, installing a set of quality shocks all around and then all the other goodies as you can afford both the time and money to do them. Each and every piece you upgrade to will improve handling chacteristics and most are relatively inexpensive until you get into things like tubular control arms or larger brakes. But if you've got badly worn suspension parts, concentrate on those first for safety reasons. I've driven better handling boats in rough seas when in comparision to an Elky with badly worn suspension pieces.

If you are going to modify the suspension, then MODIFY it! :lol:


http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n114/kern-o/Susp2.jpg

Is that in a G-body? 8O If it is I wanna know more!

Hmmm, it is a toss up between replacing the worn (actually half gone) upper control arm bushings to get rid of the fore and aft slop in the spindle and replacing the worn out 25 year old factory original shocks :D.

I would have to say replacing the four shocks with Bilstiens, and going with airbags in the rear. There is a section of interstate a few miles from my house that I used to drive every day. It has a lot of undulations that cause the suspension to really work. Before I changed shocks it was a scary ride at 65 MPH. It was a challenge to stay in my lane. After changing to Bilstiens I hardly even notice the road.

The other change that made a big difference was replacing the old worn out leaky powersteering rack & pump. After 243,000 miles it was rather loose. It just sort of sneaks up on you. If it was not leaking I would not have thought of replacing it. Now the steering is much more precise. Before I could move the steering wheel a long way before my Elky would change directions. Now it takes just a very slight movement of the steering wheel. Changing the powersteering rack is not difficult as long as you have a stout impact wrench, pitman arm puller, a 1-5/16 socket and a pulley puller & installer.

Hard to pick 1 item for best suspension improvement, since over the last 5 years I completely re-did both my front & rear suspension on the 1987. For the rear end I used Edelbrock boxed upper & lower control arms with polygraphite bushings, as well as new Moog coilsprings and Bilstein shocks and a Monte SS 3.73 posi rear end and swaybar. I also added air bags inside the coil springs. On the front end I just completed a front end rebuild including S-10 Extreme spindles with 11" rotors and 2 piston calipers. I also used Moog springs and Bilstein shocks. I rebuilt the front end using suspension parts and tubular upper control arms from Speedway Racing. The bushings and ball joints were from PST. I used a Monte SS sway bar, Grand Prix braces connecting both ends of the F41 braces, and to finish it all off a power steering box from a 1987 Z-28 Camaro. Handling with the new front end parts is night & day better than it was before the rebuild and additions. If I have to pick only one item for the best improvement for the buck it would be to get a polygraphite front end rebuild kit from PST and change your coil springs & shocks at the same time. Cheapest bang for the buck comes from the adition of a Monte SS sway bar front & rear, the front especially is much beefier than the stock one.
Dave

The 1982 Corvette IRS is under a 1978 El Camino. The installation was very complex and was done with the frame off the vehicle. It works pretty well and the traction is excellent. The driving sensation with the Vette suspension's roll stiffness and the Camino front end's comparative looseness is really different.

Dave,

very interested in your suspension upgrade. Being stuck here in NZ its a bit tricky to work out all the possible suspension options. If you could post some of the URLs and part numbers for the stuff you got for your elky that would really help...

Cheers,

Dave