briannutter1

I've been doing a mix of Optima invitational events (autox/drag) and running the Ohio Mile with my '02 C5z street car. Brief overview: Full interior/AC 3165lbs without driver, containment seat and 6 point to meet stringent Ohio Mile regs. HCI LS6 at 460whp, 18x10.5 stock wheels all around with 200 treadwear 315 RT615k squared. Baer 6 piston 14" brakes up front and front stockers in the back.

Danny Popp and Eric Johnson at BSP Racecraft (Medina, Ohio) have been helping me build the car over the last several years. We did Koni 3013's and Paul at VanSteel spec'd front bar and spherical links in 2010. The car has performed great with those additions, but an adjuster on the left rear Koni locked up last fall. I experimented with them on full "loose" for a while and I think that was a mistake. In addition, I was amazed at the sideload on the shaft caused by the stock rubber upper shock mounts. Little articulation is possible through a lot of suspension travel and shaft flex/wear is the result. While the Koni's were back for inspection, I ordered a 1050 front spring from VB.

Eric prepares T1 and World challenge cars and noted the need for spherical top mount bearings. We were going to fab some ourselves, but we found a simpler solution. Anze has them right on the shelf! Lowers are an issue too, so I ordered a Phadt spherical for the rear and will be ordering Strano sphericals for the lower t-bars up front.

I ordered the uppers from Angelo at Anze and the CNC'd anodized units showed up two days later. They bolt through the frame with 6 radially arranged 1/4" bolts. We built a simple jig to center the fronts and centerpunch and drill the holes. The rear was easier as the o.e. mounting plate unbolts from the frame and it can be done on a bench. In my case, the Koni's have a .503" Bayonet (wire wheel the paint off); so be sure to spec out the Steel insert i.d.'s with Anze for your particular dampers bayonet diameter.

We got everything put together last weekend and we're doing corner-weighting and alignment tomorrow. I expected the front spring to be a lot stiffer, but that's not really the case. Definitely more gocartish now. Really the biggest difference is in the rear...feels a lot stiffer because the rubber isn't soaking up impact. It's got a mild thunking over bumps in back now, but not bad. The upper sphericals in front don't make any noise, so I guess the noise is a combination of bearings at both ends on back that makes the difference.

I'm haven't posted pix before, so we'll see if this works out.

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froggy47

Will that front spring lower the front a lot? Are you concerned with the front shocks running out of travel?

Nice pics.

briannutter1

Thanks! I do engine stuff all day long, but really enjoy suspension geometry, brakes, aero, etc. and don't mind giving credit where credit is due.

Yes I was (am) very worried about shock travel; but the reality is my running height will be the same either way (due to stock spindle geometry). The front spring being stiffer can only give me more clearance to the bump rubber than what I had before. The top teams know bump rubber rates more than I do...running specialized Penske bumps etc. to fine tune and run a little lower with their tire/bearing package.

If I shorten the damper, the lifetime warranty is void on the dampers. This wouldn't play into a dedicated racers decision making; but does for me as I run on various surfaces and need the extra ride height regardless.

The Anze mounts do give me more travel than what I had prior. It's not much, but if shock body length is dictated by the sanctioning body....you will be better off than you were before.

froggy47

I agree, stiffer springs mean the shock travels less (on the average) so you may not get to the bump stop. One trick (if you need it) is to cut down the bump stop (a bit) & gain back some travel.

Not sure what you mean by running height?

It looks like the ANZE mounts are recessed into the upper mount bracket & give you a little space there? Very cool design if that's the case.

briannutter1

Good idea about the bumpstops. Yes you are right that the shock pivot rises. I'll run around with some zipties on the shafts this next week to see if im higher than i need to be. We aligned the car this morning on the Swedish Solution's new John Bean laser alignment rack. Very trick! 2 degrees of camber squared with zero toe front and .125 rear (need it to be stable at the standing mile, so I figure this is a compromise. I went to a large parkinglot and did some laps both directions with the smallest hint of understeer at the limit. I'm driving it to the Goodguys event in Columbus early Am tomorrow and we'll see how it goes!

froggy47

Good luck & have fun.