66 Belvedere II Suspension upgrades

pigsooey · Jan 7, 2012

I am looking for advice for my belvedere's suspension. She has a great powerplant 440 under the hood, likes to go straight, but taking turns is a different story. It was orginally a 383 car.

I have done some reseach on-line about the hotchkis products. Hotchkis makes a great claim saying my belvedere will handle like a new sports car. Are they really that good? Is there anything else out there that won't break the bank. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

66_B_Body4ever · Jan 7, 2012

I have seen their (Hotchkis) Road Runner doing autocross at Mopars at the strip this year, wow is all I have to say, the car out did a lot of sports cars... Pricey stuff though. Over 3K for a complete kit for a b-body.

Meep-Meep · Jan 8, 2012

For $1000.00 you can get your PS box (if equipped with one) rebuilt by Firm Feel, get their heavier T bars and tubular upper control arms that allow up to 4 deg of caster. From there just add some sway bars and get a performance alignment job. Of course low profile tires will go a long way towards better cornering.

Jim Bob The Dancing Bear · Jan 26, 2012

Money is the questions:
XV Level 2
XV LEvel 1
Hotchkis TVS
Firm Feel
Riley Motorsports
Cap Auto
ETC.

I am doing a combo of Firm Feel, Hotchkis, PST and others to be named as I make up my mind.

YY1 · Jan 26, 2012

I'd start with a sway bar. My 70 Super bee handled like a big go-kart, with just the factory bar. My other non-swaybar equipped Mopars handled pretty good too.
Ever driven a 66 Ford or GM? No contest, even into the mid 70's.
This includes those GMs that even had rear bars.

1badgtx · Jan 26, 2012

Just add a front sway bar and you will be surprised how much it will help the handling of your car....My car came with one but I installed a thicker one...Alot less body roll and i could really feel the difference..
Petty Blue 67 gtx

68sportsatelliteragtop · Jan 26, 2012

I used Addco front 1-1/8" sway bar, rear 7/8" sway bar, Firm Feel level 2 PS box, PST poly front end kit w/KYB gas shocks all around and 255/60r15 tires all around. Car handles 1000% better then stock. The Hotckis set up or XV motorsports would blow my combo away but is a whole lot more money. The aftermarket tubular upper control arms would be my next upgrade.

Cranky · Jan 26, 2012

You can do a lot with just alignment....don't be afraid to deviate from stock specs. More negative camber does wonders.....

Cranky · Jan 27, 2012

YY1 said:
I'd start with a sway bar. My 70 Super bee handled like a big go-kart, with just the factory bar. My other non-swaybar equipped Mopars handled pretty good too.
Ever driven a 66 Ford or GM? No contest, even into the mid 70's.
This includes those GMs that even had rear bars.

Took on a 70 Corvette with a 72 340 Challenger Rally Pack once. Gave him a pretty good fight but my tires sucked and my 71 340 Cuda did pretty good too. Both had the factory bars and bushings. Heck, I even got my 66 Belvedere to handle a lot better with way different alignment settings....mostly with a bunch of camber dialed in. Most of the shops around here don't like to deviate from factory settings so I learned to do it myself.

YY1 · Jan 27, 2012

C3 vettes didn't even have rack and pinion (but pinto's did).
They did have huge tires, independant rear suspension and an incredibly low c of g.

I used to out handle "brand new" 88-91 mustangs in my primered 20 year old Bee.
That was a blast watching the look of horror on the drivers face as I passed them going around a curve approacing 100 MPH (sometimes sideways).

66 Meteor · Apr 22, 2012

Pigsooey, I would like to hear more about what results you had. I have 66 Satellite and am looking to do very similar front end upgrades. Would appreciate any comments based on your experience.

ga66mopar · Apr 22, 2012

I added the mopar performance .96 torsion bars and I was surprised how well my 66 bel handled. Tires also make a huge difference.

Cranky · Apr 22, 2012

Lowering the car just one inch makes a difference too....I lowered my 66 Belvedere 2".....

pigsooey · May 12, 2012

I have not done anything to the suspension as of yet. The play in the steering was not the suspension. The steering column has a lot of play in it just above the power steering box. Any suggestions on the fix?

66 Belvedere II Suspension upgrades

pigsooey

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66_B_Body4ever

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Meep-Meep

дворянин

Jim Bob The Dancing Bear

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YY1

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1badgtx

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68sportsatelliteragtop

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Cranky

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Cranky

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YY1

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66 Meteor

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ga66mopar

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Cranky

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pigsooey

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