larryfs

I noticed my car is riding on the bump stops way too often. Does any one offer some aftermarket bumpstops with that new fancy squisy material. If you check the impala forum, there is a ton of information on ZQ8 bumpstops. I would like to get some so my car is more controllable when the suspension is fully compressed.

John Shiels

may be you need stiffer springs?

larryfs

The 96's were the softest sprung, even with the Z51 suspension; but if you read up on this ZQ8 bumpstop material, it's very interesting.
http://tinyurl.com/ljwd5

and changing bumpstops is much simpler than springs !

John Shiels

they are small so they may not be as affective as a spring but if cheap try it.

Slalom4me

I understand your reasoning but if you look at the installed pictures in
the link, the new part results in being on the bump stops a GREATER
percentage of the time.



Besides whatever influence the compression characteristics of the
material has on the net effective wheel rate of the suspension, a side
(principal?) benefit is that of the progressive rate increase throughout
the suspension travel. With this snubber, it is in contact almost from
the beginning of the travel.

The original layout permitted the suspension to move through most of
its travel regulated mainly by the spring rate and then near the end,
the old school snubber joins in to create a sudden sharp increase in
rate. BANG!

I imagine you don't care so much about whether the snubber is
making contact as you do about the net effect on ride & handling.

I don't know whether if a replacement snubber made of the
material is available for mounting in the C4 rear OEM location. But
there have been articles in Grass Roots Motorsports and other
import magazines discussing snubbers with similar properties for
Macpherson Strut applications. They might also have covered
conventional shocks.

You might want to PM VtVette. I think he has some knowledge
about the Rallye Cross scene and could be able to comment about
products. I looked at Bilstein's site but couldn't find a page with
snubbers, but a call to Jack French at Bilstein in Poway, CA
(1-800-537-1085) may turn something up. Before proceeding
with any purchase, give some thought to how increased loads
on shock mounting points may affect durability.

BTW - I elected to upgrade the rear spring in my FE1 '89 to an
aftermarket unit.

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