New to Forums, questions on suspension, tires & brakes

[nabilone]

Hi, i posted some questions in the general forum, and i'm posting now in the specific forums.

Any help is appreciated.

 

I have a 92 Buick Regal Custom 3.8

 

Has anyone gotten suspension parts from heldmotorsports for a Gen1 W-body? After emailing them few months ago i was told it was just under a 1k for a Stage 2 front & rear kits with KYB struts. I was wondering if anyone has this done this on a Gen1 body.

 

I have stock 15" alloy rims, and my tires are 205/r70/15. I cant seem to find any sticky tires or even mildly performance related summer tires for the size (guess bcause its so huge). The curb weight is around 3,300lb, anyone have any ideas on what if any summer tire options are available without having to up the rim size?

 

Are there any brake upgrades available for the car? Something that would still fit in a 15 inch clearance. I already have done upgrades to the stock size with replacing all disc brake rotors to BrakePerformance's Dimple Drilled & Slotted ones, along with EBC Yellowstuff Pads, and Goodridge Steel Brake Lines. However i'm only limited to the stock rotor size. I was wondering if there other bigger rotor sizes from a different model that would be bolt on on this car, and still be within the clearance level.

 

I've had those questions for awhile now. Thanks for any help.

[CSI_MuNkY]

I have the Held kits on my car....

 

Its a love hate relationship, I love how they work but I hate how the fronts are designed and I'm really not liking the prices anymore. You can build your own coil overs for less, and the front upper mounts in the held kits are less than ideal, but they do work.

 

If your looking for handling performance out of the car, upgrade your rims and tires. Most of us that upgrade our suspension are running 245/50/16 or at the very least 225/60/16. 205s just aren't wide enough, and will break loose quite easily in comparison to a wider tire. Personally I have 245/45/16.

 

As for brake upgrades, again you gotta go to at least a 16 inch rim just to fit the larger w-body stock brakes. If you get the strut knuckles, caliper mounts, calipers and rotors off a 96 w-body you will have the largest brakes available stock. If you don't mind shelling out the cash DOHCv6 makes a 13" upgrade, but then your looking at probably needing at the very least 17" rims

 

Jamie

[nabilone]

I have the Held kits on my car....

 

Its a love hate relationship, I love how they work but I hate how the fronts are designed and I'm really not liking the prices anymore. You can build your own coil overs for less, and the front upper mounts in the held kits are less than ideal, but they do work.

 

If your looking for handling performance out of the car, upgrade your rims and tires. Most of us that upgrade our suspension are running 245/50/16 or at the very least 225/60/16. 205s just aren't wide enough, and will break loose quite easily in comparison to a wider tire. Personally I have 245/45/16.

 

As for brake upgrades, again you gotta go to at least a 16 inch rim just to fit the larger w-body stock brakes. If you get the strut knuckles, caliper mounts, calipers and rotors off a 96 w-body you will have the largest brakes available stock. If you don't mind shelling out the cash DOHCv6 makes a 13" upgrade, but then your looking at probably needing at the very least 17" rims

 

Jamie

 

Jamie, sorry bout the very late reply, i was away.

So what exactly do you mean about the love/hate relationship? I'd love to know more. Would you be interested in doing a mini-review on the Held Suspension Parts? It says on ur Signature that you also have Trailing arms n Lateral arms. I'm sure this info will be beneficial for other people too, since there seems to be not much info bout the Held parts at all. I'd like to know how much you ended up spending, what it is like to live day to day with. You also mentioned that one could build own coilovers for less, how would i go about this? What are my options for a sway bar and chassis braces? Are there important tips that you have learned about w-body suspensions? Are there any lesser known dirty secrets, etc etc. Any help is appreciated.

 

Okay so i think im now legitimately considering upping the rim size. However i'd like to stay stock to the Buick brand, OEM rims released in between 87-09. And because i want to go stock, does anyone know if its a viable idea to inquire junkyards for 4 buick rims. I'm sure they would take mine off my hands for a little, but does anyone know if this would work, and any ideas at wht kind of figures i'm lookin at. I'd like to go for a wheel with some sort of spoke design if possible, to cool the brakes more (my stock 15" rims sometimes get pretty hot to the touch from braking).

 

So lets say i shop for brake pads, rotors, and calipers for the car (e.g. 96 Buick Regal), and tht i have 16" or bigger rim, everything would be just bolt on? I'm guessing getting the bigger rotors and calipers would require caliper mounts too, where would i get this? Also the strut knuckle for tht matter?

 

As for the tire size, how much of a performance difference am i looking at between the sizes you mentioned. Also would going with 225/60/16 be good enough for a 92 Buick Regal that usually just sees highway and average street driving? I'm not really gonna be taking this heavy car out on the track, but would like to be more than confident in average street and backroads driving.

 

Thanks for any help in advance, from Jamie or anyone else that would like to put in their 2 cents.

[xtremerevolution]

i've been there and done that and here's what I have to say.

 

if you can find them, suspension techniques front lowered springs are awesome. you'll find them listed under a early-mid 90's monte carlo. they're $80 for the pair, which make them the absolute best option if you're on a budget. for the rear, the cheapest way to go and keep the warranty on your kyb gr2's is a flex-a-form rear leaf, custom made for $350 shipped. mine has held up for over 65k mikes with no problems. it is a direct replacement of the stock spring, and unlike coilovers, also assists with reducing body roll.

 

the best handling upgrades past lowering and kyb gr2 shocks and struts is an ADDCO 22mm rear sway bar, if you can find one.

 

the BEST tire for a 15 inch rim is a firestone firehawk indy 500 tire. muscle car owners use them because they're the next best thing to racing slicks. they're $85 a pop and are rated best in their class under all categories and weather conditions on tirerack.com. they are, in a word, awesome. you cannot find a better tire for a 15" rim. I pulled a consistent .91g's of lateral force with these on my 95 regal with NO tire squeal, which is better than a stock gtp and close to the C6 corvette's .95 skidpad rating.

 

get polyurethane bushings all around on the sway bars, and if you're adventurous enough, see my poly control arm bushing thread. huge improvement, but its a lot of work. I was the first to get it done here and so far only aweb80 has done it. he'll report on his impressions when his transmission is put back together.

 

is your regal a 2 door or 4 door? talk to aweb80 and get his rear strut tower bar. it is an absolute MUST to strengthen the rear of these cars. you'll also want a front strut tower bar. these are pretty easy to find or pretty cheap to make.

 

as for brakes, R1 Concepts from ebay sells slotted and drilled and zinc coated rotors with a nice warranty for $73 + shipping for the front and iirc, $63 + shipping for the rear. i've installed 7 pairs of these.

 

 

[xtremerevolution]

stupid phone didn't let me finish my post.

 

...they're amazing on my bonneville and have lasted 16k miles of absolute abuse with no problem so far. as for pads, the best i've used for our cars are bendix ct-3's and akebono PRO-ACT ultra premium ceramic pads. both feel very firm, grip very well, and last a long time. they rub $75 retail or $60 on rockauto.com but are WELL worth it.

 

goodridge brake lines are great if you want better feel in your pedals.

 

my apologies for the punctuation, I typed all this up on my phone.