2001 Monte SS Suspension Upgrade

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

2001 Monte SS Suspension Upgrade

PitchBlackSS · Treasurer

never heard of the Stagg struts, let me know how you like them

The rear STB sill make a HUGE improvement over stock. Best bang for the buck on the W-Body suspension

-- Edited by PitchBlackSS on Sunday 18th of March 2012 03:06:37 PM

Donutboy97 · Moderator-Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Damn that s a clean oil filter, lmao

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Tim, It's an award winner, I need to be sure everything is clean, LMAO!! Funny you should mention that, I didn't realise how much it shows in that picture until I posted it here.

Scott, I never heard of them either. I saw them on Ebay and they were $149 for all 4 shipped, So $37.25 each which is a lot cheaper than Monroes at $65. each. I found their site http://staggshocks.biz/Homepage and they seem to match the quality. I figured I'd give them a try. It's not like it takes a whole lot to swap them over.

And I really only added that Strut tower brace to match the front, not sure how much it will help yet. And hey, for $23. it looks good even if it doesn't do anything.

Donutboy97 · Moderator-Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Dave, have you swaped out the sway bars and trailing arms yet?

it looks sweet, can;t wait to see how it sits!!!!!

intimadatorsquizz · Moderator

nice upgrades Dave.

Montess2k · Administrator- Comic Relief

+1 on not knowing about the struts, although as much as I would like to lower mine, I can't damn living in NYC!

Also +1 on the sway bars, I only did the rear sway bar and it was like night and day.

Joe

mattthias · Moderator- Monte Hunters Camera Crew

Nice job Dave.

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Thanks everyone, It looks really nice now that the springs have settled a bit.

I aligned the car today. I was suprised that the camber and caster were near perfect. The toe readings were about 1/2" to 3/4" off. Handles really nice, but I got a vibration when I acellerate from over 35 MPH. From a dead stop or even at 30 MPH it's fine. I need to play around with shimming the rear motor mounts a bit to get the drive axles a bit more aligned.

Tim, I didn't get to do the trailing arms, By the time I bought the new bearing and the rear stab links that I broke, I was broke! I'll get them over the summer, they don't change the alignment so it's not a big deal to do later on. Sway bars I'll replace when I break them and After replacing over 100 on W-bodies, It's only a mattter of time, LOL!

PitchBlackSS · Treasurer

shorter dog bones, believe they come out of a Venture. Think that's what most use for the vibration issues with lowering

Donutboy97 · Moderator-Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

PitchBlackSS wrote:

shorter dog bones, believe they come out of a Venture. Think that's what most use for the vibration issues with lowering

I believe Dave installed them...

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Yes, I have them, but they pulled the motor too much and sitting in gear at an idle was brutal. I swapped back to the original ones and it seemed better. My next step is to shim the rear mount upwards and reinstall the short mounts.

PitchBlackSS · Treasurer

yeah, everyone has their own combo that works, shimming, shorter dog bones, pogo washers, offset mount bushings or all of the above.

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

I'll start playing around with it this week, I'll get it fixed.

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Well, Finally got to campare it to Tim's car, Definately a difference in ride height

Like Tim said, looks like I have a silver Cowl hood, LOL!

firebird_1252 · Senior Member

i'd go a tad bit lower myself but it looks great.. so you throw it around yet?

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Rob, I was hoping it would have been about another inch lower, but I also have to make sure this car can be driven anywhere, anytime, Including winter. The springs are only in a week, they may still settle a bit more.

No I haven't done any agressive driving yet, Other than coming off the thruway at 65. I need to play around with the vibration issue before I start getting on it. I'm afraid of tearing up something that I can avoid.

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Well, Since I was already dirty from the Junkyard this morning, I figured I'd mess around with chasing down the vibration.

I pulled a radiator out of a Impala the other day at work and realised when I removed the dogbones, the motor didn't move much at all. So I loosened the motor mount nuts on the passenger side and the transmission mount nuts on the driver's side, Then I installed the shorter dog bones. In between the mount and subframe, I squeazed a 1/8" shim in both forward studs and a 1/4" in the rearward studs, then tightened the nuts. Took it for a ride, vibration is gone and it doesn't have that slam into gear or solid mount feeling when it's in reverse.

Then I decided to figure out what the rattle in the rear was. No clue how I managed this one, but I sheared the ball joint end off the right rear stabilizer link. It was brand new! And it broke at the weld. Got it warrantied and now it's quiet and smooth. Well, except for that damn center shaft that never seems to last more than 6 months. Maybe by the end of the month I'll pull the shaft and lube it.

And since I racked up about 250 miles since I installed everything, I can say the struts are pretty nice! Not bouncy, they feel tight and the car does handle and rides really nice.

-- Edited by twomanymontes on Sunday 1st of April 2012 04:05:36 PM

intimadatorsquizz · Moderator

cool Dave. We knew you would fix it....

now get to my garage and install all my parts on my car...lol

mattthias · Moderator- Monte Hunters Camera Crew

Glad you got it all set Dave!

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Matt, Your Intimadator is next! LOL!

Jim, I wish I had the time to head over and do the brakes, I'm curious to see how they work.

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Well, Matt wanted to try out his new Buffing wheel. I said have at it! After he spent 2 hours of polishing, I washed, waxed and glazed the entire car. It looked so good, I decided to swap over to the summer rims and tires and add the tail pipe tips. Then realizing the interior hadn't been done in a few weeks, I did that too. Finished just in time to make it to Mass for 7:30.

I really like the new stance and it corners smoothly.

Donutboy97 · Moderator-Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

That looks sic!!!!!!! Nice Job Matt and Dave!!! going to have to give me some pointers on the buffing

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Tim, just pay him, it's easier and better in the long run, LOL!

Donutboy97 · Moderator-Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

Sounds like I need to come up and go play on the slot car track while Matt does some work lol

twomanymontes · Moderator - Monte Hunter Lead Investigator

That works! Well as soon as I get the wiring back together. I was under the track trying to get Matt's back seat out and kind of pulled a few wires. I'm dangerous down here, LOL!

mattthias · Moderator- Monte Hunters Camera Crew

Looks sweet!!!