some ideas i've come up with

[mrselfdestruct]

as of right now, i'm rockin a 5" Belltech drop (spindles/springs, 3"springs/2"blocks w/nitro actives) with Zq8 sway bars & steering box.

what I'm thinking about upgrading to:

12" brake kit (http://www.gparts.freeyellow.com/12brakekit.html), which includes new upper a-arms, 12" 1LE brakes, and modified camaro spindles.

Shockwave lower A-arms from Air Ride Tech (http://www.airride.com/productinfo/controlarms_trucks.asp)

Carrera coilovers from Fatman Fab (http://www.fatmanfab.com) (or whomever I can get them from)

Hotchkis sway bars (but for some odd reason they're not listed anymore on their site. hhmmmmm.)

And some sort of 11-12" brakes for the rear, to be determined by what comes up on ebay.


So. Does anyone think this is overkill? I'm going for a tight front end. I think this should help. I understand that the camaro spindles will set the wheels out about 5/8", and I plan on getting rims that will correct for this anyway.

Opinions/suggestions/whatnot much appreciated

Thanks!

[stepside2k1s10]

Sounds good, but are you sure the camaro spindles will work with the shockwave air bags? I'd make sure the clearance between all of the components is good before you commit to it. Are you using the lower A-Arms with or without the air bags?

[mrselfdestruct]

i'm using the shockwave control arms so that the carrera coilovers can be used properly. Also, the control arms have a built in 3" drop, so i won't have to crank down on the coilovers to get a lowered stance

[stepside2k1s10]

If that's the case, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[importmaster1300]

You can use Camaro spindles on a s-10? How much is the drop?

[firehawkclone]

Use the blazer setup on the front brakes(and the rear too)Its real close to the same PBR caliper on the 1LE and it has a 12" rotor, and its a bolt on deal! Buy some GOOD pads! HAWKS, PADGIDS ect...

The lower a-arms are good for awhile just change the bushings.You can allways weld some plates on to make them stronger, but you don't need to.

I tried the QA1 setup and it wouldn't hold the truck up! I called QA1 and they said the BB chevelle steup wouldn't do it either.So i got some coleman racing(website is not working)5 1/2" coilspring adjusters and some HYPERCOILS(1320LBS)

The zq8 bars are ok but you need a way to level the bars after lowering.I have the Hellwig bar's and i like them.

Just remember your suspension and brake's are only good as your tire's, if your planing to do some autox or OT events buy some track only tires and rims. Kuhmos vitoracers, or V710's

[bvr775]

you cannot use camaro spindels on an s-truck because cameros don't have upper control arms. you would have to mod the frame to accept a strut. The older cameros had upper control arms but they are identical to elcameno spinels and the same thing they use and wouldn't give you any drop.

a common misconseption is camero sit lower than s-10s because of the supension well that's only a small part of it if you were to put same size tires and rims on a camero it measures the same from the ball joint to the ground. unless you have a post 94 camero and I'm not even sure that would be the case there. 1st gen are the same from ball to ground as 2nd gen regular s-10s. I've mesured because I've cut up cameros for the front subframe. I have 1 sitting in the back yard right now

what makes a camero sit lower is the fact that they don't sit on top of the frame like a truck. The body sits between 2 subframes and the sub frame rails have a higer arch that a truck frame. It's like a Zed frame rail. if you were to cut you trucccck frame in front of the cab then weld the bottom of the supension to the top of the cab clip it would give you a 3" drop without changeing the supension(a bodyless frame drop). this also puts the engine higher in the engine bay because your crosmeber is too shallow. This is why I use f-body clips to drop an s-10 are any small car or truck with a narrow frame.


now as for the Carrera coilovers conversion. they don't exsist anymore. Qa1 owns carrera and qa1 calls them the econmy pro coil ststem now. they'er 375bux strait from qa1 and they'er non ajustable shocks. It's a great kit. real easy install because it's a direct bolt up. I hope fatman is going to make you a deal on somthing that at least 1 year old. qa1 also affers a single adjable coil conversion 522bux(good kit for street and will hold up well for mild performance) and a double adjusable coil over 820bux (the best they offer in a bolt up conversion).
if you want to go with something a little differnt and not so exspensive U can put together a complete coilover with double ajustable front and rear shocks feom qa1
www.qa1.net (http://www.qa1.net)

[mrselfdestruct]

the whole reason i was looking into this setup, the way it was explained to me, was to improve camber during cornering. supposedly, the old style camaro spindles are taller than stock s-10 ones, with shorter upper control arms, therefore making turns better... i understand that no drop was to be gotten out of this, considering it would actually put it back at stock spindle height.

the blazer front disc conversion also had come to mind, but i hadn't heard that the rotors are 12". is this true? if so, then i may change my mind on some things. (pads/rotors/parts in general should be alot cheaper, no?)

as of right now im still kind of bent on having (adjustable) coilovers. the qa1's single adjustable should be ok, with the right spring ratio? or should i go with some sort of dual adjustable? i guess i don't fully understand how to go about guessing what i'll need. how about i lay out what i want my end result to be, and you gentlemen can help me out?

ok. 11 or 12" discs up front, dual piston calipers. (pref. 12"s)
between 3-5" drop (front) with suspension stiff enough for tight turns (autox maybe) but bearable on most roads.
what we all want when lowered-proper castor/camber. at all times.

this is with the 4.3l, hopefully with some help breathing if you know what i mean.

anyway. thanks again!

[bvr775]

if you go to qa1s' website you can request a catalog. They ust to be free I don't know if they still are, but I get one every 6 months because i've order alot of stuff from them. The 05 catalog has a good tech section on how to figure shock length and spring rate if you decide to do a custom coilover instead of going with a prebuilt setup.
the coil over conversion they have now is a direct bolt up for s-10s so your not going to have the issue of trying to find the right spring to hold up the truck now.

as for spindels if you get a 2" drop spindel from beltech. you could go even futher to reduseing bumpsteer by getting some bumpsteer eliminator for bear. you can adjust the camber/ castor with an ajustable lower control arm or by adding and removeing shims on the upper control arm.

[firehawkclone]

If you are going to do this autox or open track thing don't worry about alot of mods for the truck right now, the best mod you can make to your truck is YOU! You need seat time not alot of mods. I'd say get an alignment done at a roadracing shop and some good tire's(tire rack) and a LSD, than start adding the bars/shocks/springs in that order.

But first get the safety stuff first!

The more you go to the track, the more you'll understand what you need for your type of driving style and ablity.

[bvr775]

But first get the safety stuff first!



agreed.. Even the best wipe out. Dale ernhart desided to not to wear his helmet strap...
we all know the rest