Suspension Overhaul!! Strano, Bilstein, Moog etc.......Lots of Pictures inside!!!

[Badazz 97 TA]

Recently bought a lot of stuff to say the least. LE1 Heads/Cam and new exhaust are awaiting install in my house. That will be stage 2. But for now, the handling stage! Enjoy the pictures. Im still finishing up the front passenger side. The thread will be updated through out the week. I have the basic UMI stuff already.(Rear LCA's, Panhard bar, 3 point SFC's, relocation brackets, Long torque arm re located on the transmission mount

1997 Pontiac Trans Am

The mod list:
-Sam Strano Springs
-Sam Strano Hollow Sway bars
-Bilstein HD Shocks
-Mickey Thompson Street comp front tires
-Re finishing the Torque thrust II's
-Brake Pads/Zinc plated slotted Rotors
-New 2002 Steering Rack with LS1 intermediate shaft
-Alignment
-KYB Upper shock mounts
-Used Shock dust boots

Moog:
Upper Bushings K6689
Lower Bushings K6490
Upper Ball Joint K6462
Lower Ball joint K6145T
Left/Right Tie Rods ES3238RL
Moog dog bone K6573
-Summit brand Rear Bumpstops

Lots of rust removal and painting! Keep in mind it was a Midwest car that was driven in a few winters but still taken care of. in the end rust is going to happen which made some things harder. Its never going to be a show car and I wasn't going for absolute perfection but I figured I would take a little extra time to paint some things in there to make it somewhat better looking.

Now the pictures. You can view all of them in my album but I will post some of them in here. Over all this is a pretty in depth install. It took a lot of time and work to get to this point but it was all done with basic tools and a few loan a tools from autozone. Just the spring compressor and Ball joint kit. So it is possible without anything special really.
It took me about 6 months worth of planning (reading hours and hours of threads and lots of buying to get me to this point) so it did take some time. Also some ingenuity to figure how to get things to move that havnt moved in 18 years also was needed. Ive been at it for about 12 days now. Slowly knocking it out. Enjoy

http://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05312_93685dd3a0c786f7051b08586b378bfd7380ba 9d_978f4d279e951308a55467496261c3f24d4d3711.jpg
Oops, wrong way. I had a 50/50 shot. haha Its fixed now and not hitting the pumpkin
http://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05313_0b5c5438bd74052ccc0f2f93cf5d06dfc90782 2a_fb55e0e2aaaa8715d059893a8e50bb817776ae92.jpg

http://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05320_5831441b86b73b4209218caee4cc0ceac4f321 b8_bb3717392746d828a0b34cab1a97aed35f971647.jpg
http://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05329_4dfb8cd4a56b0c49be63a890cd02166996e974 3f_b2f3f9c5f9001aa9b8d9de02b28152a93bf07c4c.jpg
http://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05332_5965caa38ea4660c0801950c04a9d4cf0c3d0b 19_f2133ab3c9314ee2294ad8118c043db42fd2acce.jpg

http://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05342_9ea04b6c01c1edd1c1afbaba2e4e43cb1f34f3 85_ad88835995fd301ba8fc3eb66548e23466acf8ed.jpg

http://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05349_7fdcb0197358826dfc911039547cea900f5446 e0_b4783acb435ebed27d8d1218d4146159722b69e2.jpg
Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05357_4ef63be8997cbc6c0fbe8879f3befbb524fdcf 7d_d973620ebd1d541c73ca196f6c3f8f79e0baaa1d.jpg

http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05369_baa46e17debffed296188e4617a6c2f3550227 ed_d00ff5dd09a9ef517485cf3684024c38af83e629.jpg
Assembly of the new shock/spring. All new parts
http://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05371_d69e02f7dbeb897d31e5b19b594932fa5d34ae 39_40b649077eceed9ad3f092af447b50871725a13a.jpg
How I got the old bushing out. The nut helped prevent the control arm from bending as I pressed it out.
http://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05439_20e2613da25256808ceeef62d0b4f3a4dab9ff 2c_f6915f23c608f26a7867424f3b01a3b0a60407fa.jpg

Painted upper control arm with new ball joint and bushings. Gloss black and wrinkle paint for some different texture and look underneath
http://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05402_9f651f783b7b9ed3db72cd6904c26a409fcf46 ed_a154dc6955c32401de13a4b2b249cb6588e04ab8.jpg

Painted the wheel wells with some wrinkle paint. seems like durable stuff. still deciding on what to do with the splash guards. That will be another project some other time
http://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05404_eee10ca6eaaf87957783cedde45db9384303b8 7a_72cc9a7ffd0cb1bd4d3829d876ffd0d97bbb0abe.jpg

New ball joint and bushing on lower control arm. That back bolt was difficult. I needed to cut it off with a diamond sawzall blade. To install the ball joint and bushings, I used nothing but the c-clamp kit from autozone. The bushings are also correctly indexed as well.
http://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05408_c223400a8aba765d612488828edb0042200bfa 32_99f356d55f2ec56f2b502056380371f508c32557.jpg

New LS1 Steering Rack to help clear my LPP headers that will soon be installed with the Heads/Cam
http://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05409_9b276b0df9dbf82762a990b94d11ed58263bd1 4e_e269936afa993f16241361b02aace76429e92bef.jpg
Shock assembly and newly painted control arms bolted up and in place
http://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05416_54322eecdbf14d7b902093d472498783b2b65a a7_9f2b0e91022b1ea4e69e950479a6bf84ccf917ee.jpg

http://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05417_3c34e9ec43709b50e6d5f6ef33a93ed05a95bd 7a_cb7b51a4f53d192501d8a25adf62445b061b14ec.jpg

Some Caliper painting!
http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05429_744cd8dadbc396670336a8351a6dc7c8f6d475 5c_99f22a9e5a94e5d6a757af5b22ead30558ce982f.jpg
Finished Product. I really like how they turned out. I bought the vinyl over lays off of ebay. The little globs at the bottom is the aluminum, not the paint. I didn't think it would show that bad once they were painted. I should have smoothed them out more with the dremel.
http://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05433_0663be24fca06ffac39d2af85adbb26a5fcdd6 d0_4b1fa71817d4184df6ce66b9a5134f22498ef009.jpg

http://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech.com-vbulletin/2000x1500/80-80_dsc05434_a0af0a10d5cb0c34d025ccfb1ac26c100de3af ba_d7f07dec3cca18d1a6944bc574fd8ce110952c33.jpg

[INTrooper4255]

Looks nice. Definitely interested in the "after" pics.

[Badazz 97 TA]

thanks, the car should be back on the road this week. im almost done with the passenger side. I just need to get an alignment first and then pictures will follow after

[Badazz 97 TA]

Just finished the car. here are some final pictures.

http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33469&d=1436128713
http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33470&d=1436128713
http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33472&d=1436128713
http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33473&d=1436128713
http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33474&d=1436128713
http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33478&d=1436128713

[dawdaw]

Sharp looking ta

[gunters96lt1]

Wow car looks great!


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[Badazz 97 TA]

thanks. the car rides so nice and smooth compared to stock. I put about 80 miles on it so far. its not harsh like I thought it was gonna be. I definitaly recommend these modifications. well worth it. Plus I like the way it looks.

[harner]

Looks 100x better than the stock 4x4 look, well done!

[Heartbreaker]

Cheers! Great job. I don't see very many other green T/As like mine. Good choice on everything.

[Oaksy]

Nice looking ride man! Those new parts look killer!

[383z]

You did a great job and damn good looking car.

[Camaro96]

Looks great

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[Not Dave]

Thanks for posting. I have a 97 Z28 that I'm working on renewing the suspension on and am taking a very similar route you did.

Your green Trans Am looks awesome! Always preferred the clean looks of the LT1 models over the front LS1 goofy body styling.

[okst8engineer]

Car looks awesome! I do have a question on your bump stops. I have the Eibach springs in the rear and I'm on the bump stop fairly often. Do you have that trouble with the Strano springs? I had Eibach all around but was given some Strano front springs and I like the ride much better with Strano front and want to eventually get Strano on the rear as well.

[Badazz 97 TA]

Haven't hit the bump stops as far as I know. There is no visible marks on them yet. I've pushed the car pretty hard too. There still is plenty of rear clearance with the Strano springs.

[okst8engineer]

Glad to hear that you haven't had trouble with hitting the bump stops. Thanks for the info.

[SSlowBoat]

Glad to hear that you haven't had trouble with hitting the bump stops. Thanks for the info.
Just remove them lol I never ran them or hit frame with bmr springs (legit strano copies), just no fat chick's in back seat

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