Ottawa Fiero Club Forum

Now that wheels are all polished up and new Goodyears are installed time to work on the suspension and seeing as this is a 19year old car probably needs alot of TLC!

Looking for any input as to what you guys are doing in regards to favorite shocks, poly or new stock rubber bushings, balljoints, and of course sway bars. How many are adding rear and what size are you using? (if anyone could post a pic of stock rear sway bar that would be great)            Thanks Guys

well, from what I have been told / experienced

Bushings are definately an issue, and if you are upgrading components anyways this will be a good time to swap the rubber ones

 I prefer the poly although it will give you a harder ride
 The fiero store sells a full line of poly / oem replacement bushings
 Rubber will last longer, but it can cost more depending where you go...


...Remember the cradle bushings too...


As for shocks, every1 has thier preference, but you can't beat KONI ( if you can afford them )

If you are going to be off the track, koni's probably will be too extreme...kyb is a good name too but they also can be pricey

For my setup, I am going with oem replacement Munroes for my shocks and Eibach for my springs


Eibach has proven themseves to me time after time and are the best bang for the buck

They make the car handle much better but don't jeapordize ride quality that much

For ball joints, just get some lifetime jobbies, ( I don't think there are many hi-po ball joints on the market  ??? )


As for swaybars, I can only pass on some info that was given to me ,( never actually checked it out )

but if you swap your front one to a 1"
and your rear to 7 / 8 " that should tighten up the bottom end big time

Especially in the skid-pad

If you want to grab some prices, hit me up with a pm or an email...I can probably do 40 bucks a shock and 350-450 for the drop springs and can snag some lifetime ball joints too

The bushings, as mentioned before, can be found @ the fiero store
( http://www.fierostore.com )


hth

a.k.a

aka_fiero@hotmail.com

I think that's 1.25" for the front sway bar, but that on my 88.  So yours may be different.

Aaron

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I have an extra sway bar (84-87) and parts for you cheap, JTFiero, if you are interested.

Now this COULD be the thread of the year! As long as everyone could though in there .02 there are so many differnt ways to go and most susp. threads just touch on the few things to do or have been done.

1. The front shocks are very important, they take most of the shock or ruffness of the road. "get it shock, sorry bad joke"

2. Every rubber mount in the front should be replaced and it should all be done at one time, like it was said before, poly is a great way to go but it will make the ride a little stiffer, but your steering will feel more alive!

3. Coilovers are the only way to go as far as the back struts go.
QA1 has alot of nice items that may not be sold just for the Fiero but will work and are very nice!

4. Just as it is anytime you pull the motor always replace the rear main seal even if its not needed, a Fiero owner should add cradle bushings to that list.

5. I would like to say what size sway bar to add but everyones driving is different, I like the car to be somewhat loose, other like it alot more loose than I do. And there are a few that would rather have to car tighter through a corner than loose. So, it up to you, a middle ground to start with is a 3/4" in the front and a 1" in the back. "Trail and error, not to hard to change"

6. Having to right tire is very important, the softer the compound of the tire the better it holds in a corner, but the fast it will ware down. Again how do you drive?

7. Control arms are very important!, The less weight there the better, and this is a good place to change the feel of the steering.

8. And of course "Brakes", everyone is talking about the vented cross drilled rotors on Ebay, they help but if your really concerned you need larger rotors and bigger pistons, or if you really want go with mult. pistons. My motor cycle has 4 for the front alone and the bike weight is only 383lbs without me on it, how much does a Fiero weigh in at 2700 -2800lbs.

9. If you concerned about driving at higher speeds, YOU NEED down force. Air under the car pushing the car up takes away from the grib of the road! There are so many ways to do that, we don't need to cover all of them.

10. And the last biggy, Horsepower VS weight, how much horsepower are you pushing and if you have up graded how much weight did you add doing it. If you have a stock motor a V-6 than alot of this is going to be to much or to hard core for you to have to worry about and if your reading this and still have the 4 cyl. in your car you just wasted a few good mins. of your life. A 4 cyl. is for a company or family car, not a sports car!!!!!!!!!

Also koni's and KYB are also good! Just how much do you really want to spend?

On a Fiero you had best put a bigger bar on the front than on the back.  You'd be surprised how fast the ass end will come around, even stock.  A larger rear bar just makes it worse.

Normal practice is to move the front (7/8 I think) to the rear, and put a 1" in its place.

Aaron your GT has both stock, but Brian's 88 coupe should only have the front bar.

Your right about the size for the front and back I mixed them up when I typed them, sorry guys!  :P

Brians brand new rear sway bar cost $671CDN delivered. I maybe should have checked to see how much the Ferrari bar are  :o

Are you EFING kidding me??  Brian I could have made you a swaybar for a lot less than that.  I didn't know you were looking at spending that much.  I hope the one you got is heat treated.

Aaron

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Haven't got the bill yet, just paid the Chargex card. Wouldn't you know it a used one came on the market 2 days later and was sold for 150.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=33592&item=2454814750&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBDW%3AIT

That's life.

Thanks for all great info guys! but still would like to see a pic of stock rear sway bar esp mounting.
Am thinking leave front 7/8 bar and weld up a 3/4 sway bar for rear but would like to see pic of original stock mounting  
                                                                                   Thanks

The only Fiero models available with a stock rear bar are the 1988 v-6 cars (GT and Formula).  The suspension and cradle are different than the earlier models as well.

Here are a couple of links for adding bars
Stock front Fiero bar in rear:
http://www.mindspring.com/~martinwhite/fiero/swaybar.html (http://www.mindspring.com/~martinwhite/fiero/swaybar.html)
GM H-body bar added to rear:
http://dtcc.cz28.com/87fiero/swaybar.htm (http://dtcc.cz28.com/87fiero/swaybar.htm)
I have also heard that a GM Astro/Safari bar will fit.

Brian, what do you want for your extra Fiero bar?

fyi, if that is true ( and I am sure it is ;) ) then a 4x2 S-10 bar will work too ( same platform / frame as the safari / astro )

Got a call from the supplier of my 88 rear swaybar. It's the wrong colour and will have to wait another week for the black one to be shipped.
BTW: I have a 84-87 sway bar + mounts for sale if anyone needs one.

for the rear?

how much?