When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I’m ready to call Vansteel about a suspension upgrade for my 74 sb 4 speed. Would like some opinions as this is my first corvette. The car will be a cruiser but I’d like it to handle on twisting roads but not beat me up. Opinions. The Vansteel ez ride kit or just the composite rear spring and bilstein heavy duty shocks. It will not be a track or auto X car.
I’m retired from formula car racing and would like a FUN old vette to cruise and play with. Thanks. Tom
VBP went out of business not long ago.. I understand they bought the tooling for the composite spring so I'm thinking the kit you are talking about is probably like thier kit. I'm only guessing but those kits were very good I'm sure it will help alot. Modern tires are your next step.
Talked to the guys at Vansteel today. Very helpful. Decided with a in between EZ ride and a street / slalom kit
460 lb front springs and 330lb fiberglass rear spring. Rest is street / slalom hardware.
The suspension you have is just as good if not better than what you are planning to do. You don't need stiff springs for your car to handle. Your suspension is just worn out. It has not been proven that after market suspension products are better in any way.But the companies that sell them well gladly take your money. The people complaining about ill handling stock suspensions are the ones that never rebuilt there's.
460lb front and 330lb rear sounds like a good combo for a sporty roadcar. My C3 used to have the stock springs with Bilstein HD shocks and it honestly felt more like a Buick than a sports car.
Last edited by C3DeedlyDee; 01-22-2020 at 11:41 PM.
Another vote for Van Steel...those guys have been great. I wanted to revive my rear suspension on my 78 as it was all original and never touched. Once getting in there and looking around, I was surprised at how shot the OE stuff was. Through all the recommendations of forum members, it led me to Van Steel. I bought the Advanced Slalom Kit and just got my rebuilt factory trailing arms back yesterday. I sent them a box of $@&# and what I received back looked like brand new stuff. I was gonna rebuild the arms myself but after hearing about the process, I decided to leave it to the professionals. Ive spent prob an hour on the phone w/ Paul at Van Steel. Very knowledgable, honest and took his time to explain things.
Like everyone else said, theres a reason why theyve been in business so long. Theyre meticulous and do great work w/o breaking the bank!
The 69 that I have [SBC/auto cruiser] has the Van Steel 330# spring in the rear they recommended and personally think it is still to stiff. And as others have mentioned the trailing arm condition is very important to quality handling. So my suspension mods are ; larger front sway bar, offset T/As 330# shortened spring and added a rear sway bar. Reason for the shortened spring is that I went with 10" wide rear wheels and wanted them to fit inside the fender. T
I saw a video of a camera mounted to look at the front sway bar link with new rubber installed like a factory car happened to be an impala, I was a bit shocked how much the rubber flexed then they changed the sway bar links to poly all that movement gone, no telling how much ridiculous flex there is in the upper and lower arms, so to make a comment the stock stuff as good as aftermarket no chance, time has moved on from the past. Getting rid of the steel rear leaf spring another big plus you don't see that crap on the later vettes now do we. There is no comparison to the bilstein shocks to the cheap crap the factory put on cars back then cheapest junk they could put on them to get the car sold to make a profit. Another thing the factory did not put enough caster into the car do yourself a favor and inlongate the top arm cost nothing but your labour to do it make big difference in how your car tracks going down the road. As you said your not going to autocross the car get rid of the Mickey Mouse club amount of caster the factory used as a compromis to everything. Anybody like to go back to the tires they had back when these cars were new, not me and I owned brand new ones back then. When I had brand new C3s I could go over a bad railroad track and the T-tops would sqeek from the frame flexing because the frame is pitifull, imagine a C3 today that's had a lot of miles on it and torsional twisting on the frame now that frame is weaker then original. When the C5 came out its frame is 5 times stiffer in torsion to a C3 frame. Could chevy have built a stiffer frame back then absolutely, but they did not just get it off the showroom floor for a better profit mentality that over time put GM out of business with there stock at 85 cents.
Last edited by Little Mouse; 01-23-2020 at 12:12 PM.
Dan and Paul at Van Steel are the greatest.
I am replacing every piece and component in my 73 and going with all Van Steels parts.
I am going to the extreme, but I think you will be very happy with the upgrades you are looking to do.
Keep in mind that this will be the starting point of fine tuning your suspension, so keep Van Steel's number handy.
Also, as stated above, upgrading to a good set of 17" or 18" performance tires and wheels, will make a huge difference in the handling of your corvette.
Have fun and keep us posted.
I know this isn't a C3 but the chassis is the same. This car has an original style suspension with some upgrades but no Van Steel. I have seen it in person nothing crazy. Hot rod magazine put it up against a c6 in all kings of different driving events. It was a wash. What dose that tell you
I know this isn't a C3 but the chassis is the same. This car has an original style suspension with some upgrades but no Van Steel. I have seen it in person nothing crazy. Hot rod magazine put it up against a c6 in all kings of different driving events. It was a wash. What dose that tell you
nothing. You can bet he is not running rubber junk in his suspension. Only thing not needed in any street car or even most race cars is tubular front arms, they can be a little stronger no lighter in weight to speak of and almost no one needs there extra strength. Most people cant use coil overs to there benefit on a street car don't need all the adjustment benefit. Don't see any original wheels and tires on that car either, you have to move on from the past with the aftermarket that we today are lucky to have making better parts. All companies whether its GM or the aftermarket are in business to make money. They know what combination of parts they have work together well.
Last edited by Little Mouse; 01-23-2020 at 02:22 PM.
nothing. You can bet he is not running rubber junk in his suspension. Only thing not needed in any street car or even most race cars is tubular front arms, they can be a little stronger no lighter in weight to speak of and almost no one needs there extra strength. Most people cant use coil overs to there benefit on a street car don't need all the adjustment benefit. Don't see any original wheels and tires on that car either, you have to move on from the past with the aftermarket that we today are lucky to have making better parts. All companies whether its GM or the aftermarket are in business to make money. They know what combination of parts they have work together well.
You are totally correct. He is not running rubber in his suspension. And you don't need tubular A arms. And you don't need coil overs especially on the street and in most cases not with this chassis. And yes the wheels and tire on this car make the chassis work like Duntov intended it to. And as far as the aftermarket. There is some good and some not so good. If you want your C2 C3 to handle like a modern day sports car down load the 69 chevy power book. Read and learn. Your wallet will thank you
I know this was posted the a few month back, but, it was the only Vansteel reference I could find on the Forum besides there ad link. Just a quick question. I contacted Vansteel about rebuilding my '67 upper and lower control arms. Filled out the online order form including providing a credit card. Talked to Paul. He said the credit card was just to start the process. Not quite. Shipped the arms on Tuesday, they got them on Friday. Just noticed they charged my credit card in full (job + shipping) on Tuesday. They hadn't even receive the arms at that point, not evaluated them, not done any work let alone completed the job or shipped them back to me. Was this your experience with Vansteel? Charge you in full before they had done or shipped you anything???
I know this was posted the a few month back, but, it was the only Vansteel reference I could find on the Forum besides there ad link. Just a quick question. I contacted Vansteel about rebuilding my '67 upper and lower control arms. Filled out the online order form including providing a credit card. Talked to Paul. He said the credit card was just to start the process. Not quite. Shipped the arms on Tuesday, they got them on Friday. Just noticed they charged my credit card in full (job + shipping) on Tuesday. They hadn't even receive the arms at that point, not evaluated them, not done any work let alone completed the job or shipped them back to me. Was this your experience with Vansteel? Charge you in full before they had done or shipped you anything???
Ummm- just about EVERYTHING I buy these days on line- I have to pay before it is shipped/built.
The few times I have had problems with on-line business- either Paypal or my credit card was able to step in.
Vansteel has been in business for 40 plus years- I think you're OK....
Ill second what the others said about Van Steel. I dont remember them going ahead and charging my card but turnaround time for my trailing arms was 3 days. Theyre in Florida and Im in NC. I had them back within 7 days from the date I sent them. I dealt with Paul as well...There was an issue with one t/a and they called me about it before proceeding. You’ll be pleased with what you get back. What I sent them was a box of $#€%. What I received back looked like new. Good luck!
I have bought several suspension kits from van steel,I like my a arms powder coated silver, looks awsome , and there chrome oly .they have been very good to me .
Thanks guys! Yea. I know Vansteel has a good reputation. I'm sure everything will be fine. It's just that I've never been pre-charged for any rebuild work. And most, if not all, online businesses don't charge until the item is shipped. Paul said the current turnaround time is 2 weeks.
01-20-2020, 11:13 AM
Opinions on Vansteel suspension kit
But the companies that sell them well gladly take your money. The people complaining about ill handling stock suspensions are the ones that never rebuilt there's.
