Hi newbie to the forum here.

I'm betting this has been answered already but i haven't come across it yet. Is there a way to get a sportier feeling suspension on a 99 Monte Carlo? I know it will take some creativity as most manufactures only offer OEM replacements...just trying to see what I can Frankenstein together.

Thanks in advance!

 

Theres coilovers...

https://zzperformance.com/products/zzp-w-body-coilovers

 

thanks for the info!

Thats something id have to save up for I think. Would you happen to know of anything less expensive?

 

Can you weld? There are universal options where you use the existing knuckles and weld the adjustables onto them.

 

Those won't work on his car. The 99 monte / 5th gen isn't a true 2nd gen wbody. Its a hybrid between the 1st and 2nd gen - especially in terms of suspension.

They used to offer a handful of stiffer lowering springs specifically for the 5th gen monte. Id spend some time searching to see if any are still offered as they were a good bang for the buck and relatively inexpensive (<$300 for all 4). Pretty unlikely they're still made, but perhaps some distributor has some leftovers new on the shelf.

Is your car a LS or Z34? If I remember right the sway bars on the z34s were thicker/ stiffer but it depended on the year / trim. Its been a very long time since I've looked into it though, so you'd have to do some digging.

 

Sorry for the delay there...I ended up hitting up the junk yard for some parts and working on another project (wood working). Kind of reminded myself of how I missed being that sort of sore. I cannot weld. I do know a few welders however. That could be something to look into.

 

First off, so pleased to make your acquaintance! Truth be told, I have been reading your posts off and on through out the years be fore finally joining the other day. It's funny you mentioned the Z34 trim as I found one in the junk yard Saturday in pretty good shape. I will definitely be going back for quite a bit of that interior. My vehicle however is an LS. Kind of embarrassed that I wasn't thinking about grabbing those suspension parts while standing right next to them. It was a 5th gen z34 with a 3.8. perhaps the mounting locations are the same? I did grab a strut tower brace from a '00 to see if i could make that work...looking at the receipt, looks like it might have been free. If I cant make it work perhaps it will be reborn as a cheater bar...

 

Yes, all of the suspension from that car will bolt up.

There may still be a table out there online somewhere that shows bar diameter vs year on a 5th gen. They changed bars over the years and in some cases the LS and Z bars were the same, and in others they were different (with the Z being thicker of course). If they're not asking a ton for them, I'd probably buy them to see how they measure up to your stock ones. Or maybe you could grab a quick caliper measurement on yours before you leave your house and only take them if they're thicker.

The springs + struts maybe be different on the Z too. It seems logical they would be, but I don't recall ever seeing info posted about spring rates or strut values between the two trims. Not sure its worthwhile even trying it at this point as they're so old. Id put more effort into trying to find someone who has new old stock of good aftermarket springs + some new replacement struts.

Yes, it'll work. Ive got them front and rear on mine. They're certainly not the best STB, but I imagine you probably got it for the price for the price of a McDonald's value meal so they're absolutely unbeatable at that price. Even back in the day new from GM they were only like $20.

One other thing is that engine harness has some value to someone wanting to do a L67 swap. Not sure anyone is doing them anymore on 5th gens, but a good uncut 3.8 Z monte harness used to be like gold. I ended up having to settle for a lumina harness with some funky options (nom standard alternator and fan plugs) as I couldn't find one from a monte back when I did my swap.

 

Back in the day I was that guy that put air shocks on every car I had. I wont lie, I have air shocks on my 79 c10 right now. Helps it launch.

 

As my interior needs some work, (older failed project, medium sized story) I will definitely be hitting up that particular vehicle in that yard again likely this weekend. I was thinking I would probably get the sway bars and VIN# as well. (probably should make sure my 1/2 inch electric is charged and grab some WD40 come to think of it.) You see, I work for a different junk yard and have access to the software such as I can get build sheets with RPO codes...I'm hoping my thinking isn't faulty in that I can find out if that particular vehicle is more sporty suspension-wise than "FE1", then I can perhaps find suspension parts based on that if they aren't discontinued. Otherwise, I'll have to do what you said and find some old stock.

Any thoughts on a direction where the table you mentioned might be found?