Will i notice a big enough difference in handling if i install a rear sway bar and boxed arms? And what about upgrading to the 1 1/4" front sway bar?

I figure its time to start focusing on suspension because i pulled in to the driveway to day and when i looked under the back of the car my pass. shock was HANGING! It somehow came unbolted from the top mount. It was still conected at the bottom and was hanging by the air line. Im sick of the HiJackers ANYWAYS.... recomend some good shocks (smooth ride) and someway to raise the rearend an inch? (I only kept the hijackers because i liked the stance... now i want to do things correct)

Bubba

Nice Ride! I just installed some Tokico Shocks in my 68 Thursday night, and they made a nice difference in the ride, compared to the old Monroe Air Shocks I had. If you want to raise the rear an inch, I'm not too sure what to do except maybe run Heavy Duty F-41 Option rear springs for a Big Block car. Most guys are going for the slightly lowered stance, so I guess another option would be to drop the front an inch with some new springs there. A rear bar and a larger front bar will work wonders, if the front suspension (ball joints, tie rods, etc) is in good shape. The boxed arms are an improvement over stock stamped pieces, but if you do a search on this site under rear trailing arms or rear control arms, there are differing opinions on what type of rear arms to run. The less bind you create with the factory setup, the better the suspension will work.

KYB gas adjust shocks would probably work pretty good for you. Taller springs will raise it without having the air shocks. I bought bilsteins for my chevelle but thoes are a very hard ride but handle very well. As stated earlier you want to minimized the suspension bind so better componets will help. Front and rear sway bars too.

Tom

Is everything original and stock now? I have seen the springs sag so much over time that a set of new stock looks way to high. Measure the heights and compare it to stock height see if you do have sag first. I would really bite to drop coin on BB rear springs and find out stock replacement were all that was needed.

I was going to get a 1.25 front sway bar on my A-body also but I have read some problems when bolting them up. I ordered a 1 1/8 bar and it fits nice. (same size the SS had) A 1 1/4 sway bar is very stiff and I wouldn't put it under our frame. I would get a 1 1/8 and get some stiffer springs

I had a 1.25 (33mm) sway bar on my s-10 and it was very nice but what helped the handling out more was when I got low profile tire. from 205/75/15 to 255/45/17. (TTII)
the sway bar i put on my s-10 was a factory option so i knew it would fit and i knew it wouldn't hurt the frame.

Brian

I must be reading incorrectly or something....is there an inference that a big diameter sta-bar might cause damage to the frame rail???

Hello again, haven't been here in awhile.

I have always used 1 1/4 front bars on all my cars when I could get my hands on one, and the 7/8 rear factory boxed arms, I have recently gone with the Edelbrock rear lower arms on both my cars (one car has a GM 7/8 bar and the other is a 1 1/8 suspension tech). I only ever had one car pull out it''s sway bar bolt, so to me the smaller bar is a non issue, use the 1 1/4 in the front it is a major improvement

As for shocks it depends on what you want to spend on Shocks, you can go bargain or you can go for the pricey stuff, it depends on what you want to use the car for. For a cruiser I would use the Edelbrock because of the dual valving, but for a all out turn and burn I would use either the Bilsteins or the Edelbrocks.

All that have said to raise the car replace the rear springs give yourselves a gold star, the only proper way to raise a car is to replace springs. I personally mildly lower them with the Eibach springs, and they have a very nice good rake.

for the front, replace all bushings,B joints,and tie rods and springs and THEN think about getting a 1 1/4 inch bar...i bought one and it was a pain in the ass trying to bolt it up especially if they give you rubber bushings for the links. go with a 1 1/8 and get brackets from a reliable maker for good clearance...i raised my rearend on the 68 with cargo coils in the back hotchkis 1 inch drop springs in the front and kyb's all around after using a pst super poly kit for the front

About 15 yrs ago I solved the same problem on my '66 by installing Delco coil over gas shocks, Monroe has similar shocks, back then I think they called them Load Levelers.
Neither actually had a listing by application for the Chevelle, I went to the specification section in the back of the catalog, found what particular ends and lengths (extended/compressed) the stock shocks were, then found which coil overs had the closest specs (same ends/1" longer compressed), not sure, but mid '60 Impala sticks in my head. Using the spec info isn't that difficult, I was very happy with the results my choice and ran them for over 10 yrs.
Just thought I'd throw out a very easy, reasonably inexpensive, functional alternative.
Good luck

hey caru68 how was the install of the tokicos i bought a set front and back for my 69 and when i tried to install them in the front control arms they wouldnt fit and i just went with monroes so i wouldnt have to grind the arms between the shock bolt holes?