Shock recomendations, 68 Camaro

[BTR69]

Good afternoon all. New guy to the forum here. Looking for input regarding options for shocks on a 68 Camaro. Nothing special with this car, currently runs 8.0's in 1/8th mile. Mildly modified small block, powerglide, 4:10 12 bolt rear w multileaf springs. We think it's around 3000#. We may work toward going quicker later in the year, maybe start of next season. Lots of noise in back of car, likely shocks or spring bushings, or both. Sounds kinda like the shocks are trying to beat their way through the floor. Looking to replace front- rear shocks & spring bushings. Any reccomendations are appreciated.

Also, what are the differences/advantages to twin tube vs mono tube shocks and would they make much difference on a slower bracket car like this?

Would there be much advantage or difference in going with Polyurethane bushings over rubber? I've heard from some folks that the Poly can tend to make a bit of noise and make the ride stiffer than some folks like as well.

We do have a 9in ford rear with mono spring setup & cal-tracks & same gear in another Camaro currently just sitting, waiting to be finished, that we're considering swapping, but we haven't made a final decision on that yet.

thanks in advance for your input.

[Geerhead55]

Billy,, I think you kind of answered your own question, here. I would contact Calvert racing, as a lot of racers use their stuff and we all know it works very well. They can steer you the right direction. I have a '68 Chevy II and one thing to be aware of is the bigger bodied front shocks might not go through the factory bottom A-arm. My son gave me a pair of Calverts front shocks to try, off his '69 Nova, and they won't clear to install. I called him up about it,, and hes thinking these shocks were used on his Global-West A-arms,, so I'm going a different route. As far as bushings go,, the Polys are definitely stiffer than rubber, and I don't know if racers are using aluminum ones or not. I was hoping someone would chime in by now,, since you posted a while back.
Good luck whichever way you go.
Danny Durham

[BTR69]

Thanks Danny. I've been looking at some of the different shock options & hoping to keep costs down a bit. Regarding the spring bushings, I have no experience & not enough feedback from what i'd consider qualified individuals to say which would be best for our application. It's my brothers car I'm driving, so really not looking to dump a lot of my own money into it. Whatever I manage to win, I'll be putting back into it for him though. I haven't really gotten much from folks as far as their experience with the diffferent manufacturers out there. I'm hoping to get others real world input/experience with different products, instead of relying soley on the manufacturer claims. I expect every manufacturer is going to try to make theirs out to be the best. Some of the threads I've trolled seem to speak pretty well of Calverts, so I'm leaning toward them. Haven't been able to get to the dragstrip over past couple weeks to look at what others there have & question them about it either. Hopefully I'll get out next weekend to check them out. Kind of nice to have the other car here I can borrow from, but then i'll have to return everything at some point, so trying to keep that off the table. Thanks again.

[Geerhead55]

Billy,, we put the grinder to my A-arms earlier this week and got the Calvert front shocks to slide up in and got them installed. The front end is definitely looser when lifting the bumper. I'll try them out this Saturday and Sunday at our track's annual National Open event. That plus a new pair of 10.5 x 29.5 Phoenix slicks should drop my 60 fts. a bit. Might have to turn up the launch on my 2-step and see if I can really have some fun! I've been real conservative at 3200 rpms. Take care.
Danny Durham

[BTR69]

Thanks Danny. I'm going to CPD Saturday, as long as the rain holds off. Hope to check out a few other guys cars that are similar to us. Hope yours works out well.

[rick lester]

Back in '88, I had a '79 Buick Regal, 350/350 combo, 3.89 rear, #3400, Ran 12.50s in the 1/4 on McCreary dirt tires. I ran just stock shocks. Your combo with the glide, I'm assuming, doesn't hit the tires hard; even with a t350/10 inch 3500 stall converter (my trans combo) still won't hit the tires hard enought to need expensive shocks. If you drive it on the street at all, you won't be happy with race only shocks, just go with new h.d. shocks from the parts store, and if you want to impress the ladies, paint them red to look like Konis, ladies love Konis. Lol. Seriously, make sure the suspension is good, throw on h.d. shocks, and hit the track.

[BTR69]

Thanks Rick. I have considered using a stock repacement from the local parts store. We will likely be making a few improvements as the year goes on & next year to go a bit quicker which has me thinking of using something more race specific. You're correct, it doesn't hit the tires hard at all right now. It still works ok with whats on it now, just makes a lot of noise going into gear & whenever I go over any uneven surface. I only stage it up to 2500 right now. Brother does have a spare engine that needs freshening up that would definitely wake the car up. As long as I don't hurt what's in it now, that one will likely go in next year & would likely drop our 1/8 mile ET by at least 1 second.

I like the red paint, Koni impersonator, idea, I think it would look good under this car. Maybe add a little intimidation factor too?

[rick lester]

Anything to report?
I was thinking about shocks and suspension the other day......way way back in the early 80s, I met the late Lee Sherman, which by the way is one of my racing heroes, we talked about his car, if I'm not mistaken a H/SA 1969 Camaro, maybe I/SA. Anyway, his car ran 11s, no frame connectors, 8 point rollbar, 6 cyl. front springs, mono rear springs with 90/10 shocks, drum brakes on all four corners. Lee Sherman was one of the greatest in Stock, he took the time to talk to me, answer any questions I had no matter how stupid they were, never looked down at me just because I was 13.
Why am I telling you this? You don't need expensive shocks and suspension peices under your car to be a racecar, simple parts, lots of research, a few bucks, and you too can have a very well put together racercar for alot less money than you think.

[BTR69]

A couple weeks ago I pulled the existing shocks off. Even though they look like hell, they seem to extend & compress nicely on the bench withough any issues. I'm beginning to think it's something in the pinion area. The thumping is the same as when I had a bad shock bushing in one many years ago. With shocks on or off, I can bounce the rear up & down without the thumping. The U joint appears good by just looking at it & it doesn't appear to have any play in it, but I hear a similar thump, just not as loud, at the pinion when I rotate it by hand. I haven't had time to spend on it so it's been sitting waiting for me to get back on it. The only time I hear the thumping is when driving over any size bumps in the road. The return road can just about give you a headache with all the high - low spots & noise it creates. It's going to stay parked until I can be sure it's not going to come apart. Going to cross my fingers it's the U joint at this point. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll be able to spend some quality time with it again. Thanks for the tip with the 90/10's. I priced some, just haven't bought them yet.