Sorry for asking a somewhat newbie question, but I am not well versed when it comes to suspension.

I am finally at the point I want to race my FD, but I want to do some maintenance on the suspension first.

What would you guys recommend I replace?


Suspension bushings (which ones??)
Get a set of toe links??
Differential mount / bushing??


Thanks for the help

 

There's no sense to blindly replacing everything. You get under there and replace what's worn out. You don't need aftermarket toe links. You don't need diff bushings.

By race, do you mean tracking the car (as opposed to drag racing)?

 

The car will be tracked and drag raced.

More drag racing than tracking.

I know my pillow ball bushings are worn, and I've been told I might as well upgrade my toe links and differential bushings / mount while I'm under there.

Like I said, I'm not too knowledgeable on the subject. Definitely not my forte

 

You'll know if your pillowballs are worn out. Clunking, snap oversteer, etc. Those have to be replaced if you're going to track the car. On my original '93 suspension with 80k miles on it, the dustboots had totally disintegrated and the bumpstops were torn or missing from the tophats. Definately check those out and replace if necessary. Nothing worse than having to go half speed through a tight banked corner because your tire is hitting your upper fender liner Anyway those were the first two major stumbling blocks I found on my all-original car the first season of tracking it.

 

Here's what I would do:

1) Lift rear of the car. Shake pull/push the rear wheel and look for any play due to wheel bearing. Ditto for the front.

2) Remove rear shock assembly.
3) Now push/pull pry everything you can find that moves back there. Look for any play or wiggle room. This will identify whatever needs changed, particularly pillowballs. Look up above the diff and check if the diff bushings are solid. Perhaps setting the car on jackstands and lifting/lowering the differential using a jack will show if they are torn. Mine compress less than 1/4" when the weight of the car is rested on the rear suspension.
4) Remove the front wheel and check stuff out there. In this case you're again looking for looseness, particularly the control arm ball joints.

So after this inspection, replace only what has play. Replacing anything else is probably a waste of money. The toe links, trailing arms, and pillowballs are common parts to change in back, and the control arms (ball joints) are common in front. Inspect all shocks for worn rubber dust boots or mounts. Replace as required.

5) then go get the car in for a good quality alignment. I would take the time to find out what alignment shop is recommended by the local autoX club, since getting the numbers spot on the chosen specs does matter. Many shops don't keep their machine in calibration, or simply don't care enough to fiddle until the numbers come out really good - they just make it closer than it was and quit. I suggest the Pettit alignment specs for a long track car.

That's about it - just make sure your tires are in good shape, inflated properly, and have fun. The money you didn't spend needlessly on bushings and stuff can be put toward a comfortable racing helmet or a spare set of rims and track tires.

Dave