Del-A-Lum BushingsYou don't...
Del-A-Lum BushingsYou don't have to run solid metal bushings in your control arms and shackles to have zero-deflection control for race car performance. Global West has designed a two-piece bushing with an aluminum outer housing and hard plastic inner sleeve. These two parts are separated by a thin layer of grease that allows the plastic portion to rotate inside the housing quietly, without binding. You can install these bushings yourself in stock control arms with a hydraulic press.
The rigidity of the leaf springs and the articulation of the rear suspension do not require a rear sway bar; in fact, it can make handling worse. Excessive oversteer occurs, making the car nearly impossible to drive on the street without getting unwanted attention from local law enforcement officers. (In slalom testing, we encountered this exact oversteer scenario with our '76 Camaro project car when we added a rear sway bar a few years ago.) This is not to say that no first-generation F-bodies will benefit from a rear sway bar, but in Global West's experience and in our experience, the majority won't.
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3Once all the parts were installed, bolts checked, and double-checked, it was time to hit the pavement for some testing. Before this project even began, we took the Camaro out to perform baseline tests. This included a 200-foot skidpad, eight-cone slalom, and just as important, the drive to the testing area. This is, above all, a street car. The ride to the initial testing date was rough over the beat-up freeways of Southern California. Tracks and grooves in the lanes pull the car around, sometimes violently. Upon arrival, we set up a slalom and skidpad to get some baseline numbers to work from. The car had uncontrollable understeer when transitioning from left to right. Evidence of this was shown in the tire temperatures taken after a couple runs. They showed over a 90-degree-Fahrenheit differential from the inside to the outside of the tire, when 10 degrees or less is ideal. Only a small portion of the tire was responsible for all the work. The skidpad showed the same problems with the car pushing to the outside of the circle.
After all the new parts were on, we went back to the testing area to see what kinds of improvements were present. First thing, the drive to the testing grounds was far different than the previous one. With the added positive caster (rearward tilt of the spindle), the car tracked straight and never fought me over the bumps and tracks. After a couple of runs through the slalom, I found myself really working hard to get the car to understeer, rather than working really hard to keep the car between the cones. The time it took to run the course was greatly reduced, and the speed was raised. When we took it to the skidpad, I immediately knew there was a vast improvement when I shifted from First to Second gear, something that only made things worse the time before.
 Like a house, your car needs...  Like a house, your car needs a good foundation. Global West's solid aluminum bushings won't wear or deflect like the factory rubber units. It is important to do this step before attacking the suspension. Bad bushings can make your car feel mushy, and you can lose up to 1/2 inch of ride height. |  Global West's subframe connectors...  Global West's subframe connectors are constructed of 1 5/8 x 0.125-inch rollcage tubing, and are designed to be low profile. They do not require any floorpan modification, which makes installation very simple. They come with their own body mount set to compensate for the thickness of the connector. You can order body mounts intended to be used with or without these subframe connectors. |  Installing the Global West...  Installing the Global West body bushings is easily a one-man (or one-woman) job. It requires a jack, prybar, and appropriate sockets to replace. This is PN 809 ($85.94) that retains the stock height. To lower the body, you can order PN 819 ($118.23) if you're using subframe connectors. |