Hi folks,

is it worth upgrading the suspension components to the Race Hard brand (control arms, camber, toe, etc) on a street car with time to time spirited driving or should I just replace all bushings on the stock parts with their bushing kit they offer? The car will be lowered to a decent ride height with some coilovers and it will have a rear brace with a sway bar installed.

Thanks

 

This is what I recommend for a good ride:

Stock arms with new rubber bushings.
No poly bushings. Just get new arms with rubber bushings.
New ball joints. Upper, lower tie rods inner and outer.
Too bad OEM is discontinued.
No Detroit Auto or eBay kits, they're crap.

Rack END bushing (it's plastic), and rebuild the steering rack yourself for $11.

You don't need hardrace, even for "spirited" driving. Or even for the track. And definitely not sphericals.


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Since I'm only seeing eBay replacement parts and OEM is discontinued, what brand or website do you recommend purchasing the parts from?

 

I'm still having good success through rockauto for many parts.

 

Anecdotally, if you have the budget for it, Hardrace is a good choice. They are not much firmer than OEM, and are of good quality. Hardrace bits are on the front and rear of my car, and they have held up great with mostly spirited driving.

The downsides I can think of are price, and the fact that they only sell adjustable upper arms - so you would need to have an alignment done to adjust them properly. There is a full bushing kit, but I can't comment on how complete it is.

As mentioned, rock-auto is good, but as to what brand is best there - like MEVOTECH, DELPHI, etc, I couldn't say. You'd have to search and see what the experiences with those brands are like and choose one.