87 to 88 suspension pondering (Page 1/2)
skywurz JUN 29, 09:52 PM
So with the thoughts of selling my 88gt and all of the extra parts i have for 88 and the fact that I've been thinking about adding a rear sway bar to my 87. I've been thinking why not just do a cradle swap. My 87 already have 88 wheels and engine in my 87 why not do the rear suspension.

I have 3 full sets of calipers 2 MCs full rear cradle and suspension with hubs just laying around. All i should need is some adapters, struts, rebuild kits for mc and caliper, rotors and pads. Idk ill do some searching for a complete list.

The car is due for CA smog this year and i just picked up a new commuter car because my AC restoration failed and im selling my 88 because i now have too many cars so im just musing and pondering out loud here. I could easily non op my 87 and spend the next year doing this swap at my own pace.
Everything i have ever read says 88 rear suspension helps cut down bump steer and 88 rear plus pre 88 front is the best combo. The only downside is i lose my cool rear tubular A arms nobody ever notices
I could go a step more and figure out what im missing from my front tubular kit and do front tubular with coilovers.

If i had a lift and was retired id contemplate trying for an 88 front suspension swap as i saved the front bits from the 88 i pulled the front suspension from but that's too far

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theogre JUN 29, 10:15 PM
That causes Brake problems sim to See my Cave, Brake Upgrade
Plus 88 P-brake cables are routed different then early years and many illegally skip this function.

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(Jurassic Park)

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skywurz JUN 29, 10:41 PM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:

That causes Brake problems sim to See my Cave, Brake Upgrade
Plus 88 P-brake cables are routed different then early years and many illegally skip this function.




I have all of the P-brake cables from the 88 I dont forsee that being an issue.

I am pretty sure someone on here had some front caliper adapters to put the 88 front calipers and rotors on an pre 88 matching this with 88 MC and 88 bias valve should keep the brakes balanced. unless i missed something.
pmbrunelle JUN 29, 11:01 PM

quote
Originally posted by skywurz:
I am pretty sure someone on here had some front caliper adapters to put the 88 front calipers and rotors on an pre 88 matching this with 88 MC and 88 bias valve should keep the brakes balanced. unless i missed something.



sluppy123 makes caliper brackers to kit to install 12" C4 Corvette rotors onto 84-87 Fieros while using 88 Fiero calipers.

sluppy123 also makes brackets to install 12" C4 rotors onto 88 Fieros using 88 Fiero calipers.

If running the C4 rotors is an option, you could use half of each kit to end up with 88 calipers on all four corners, along with the C4 rotors on all four corners.
cvxjet JUN 29, 11:07 PM
Sluppy123 has both Caliper adapters and aluminum hubs which eliminate the weight gain going to the (necessary) 12" Vette rotors up front (They also eliminate having to cut off the discs from your hubs). If you don't mind me asking, where in CA are you located? I would let you try driving my 85 SE V6 with 88 rear and 88 brakes....



[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 06-29-2022).]

skywurz JUN 29, 11:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:


sluppy123 makes caliper brackers to kit to install 12" C4 Corvette rotors onto 84-87 Fieros while using 88 Fiero calipers.

sluppy123 also makes brackets to install 12" C4 rotors onto 88 Fieros using 88 Fiero calipers.

If running the C4 rotors is an option, you could use half of each kit to end up with 88 calipers on all four corners, along with the C4 rotors on all four corners.



Yep I just sent sluppy123 a PM asking if he is still around. I just realized the front rotors are going to suck because ill have to make a hub... but i guess thats part of the "fun"
skywurz JUN 29, 11:17 PM

quote
Originally posted by cvxjet:

Sluppy123 has both Caliper adapters and aluminum hubs which eliminate the weight gain going to the (necessary) 12" Vette rotors up front (They also eliminate having to cut off the disc from your hubs). If you don't mind mee asking, where in CA are you located? I would let you try driving my 85 SE V6 with 88 rear and 88 brakes....






Oh i did not know he also did hubs I will have to inquire if he is still in business.

Im about an hour up north of you we met on the 2021 vine run im in a black with silver stripe silver notch back. I just have a Duke in mine and the only real thing that bugs me with the suspension is the occasional bump steer. However after my last AC failure (ive given up the car just wont have AC) other than body work im "done" and I dont like being "done" I ended up swapping in a 120mph speedo i picked up when I was 16 thinking it would be cool to swap in mainly because my odo stepper went out and my other 85mph speedo was more burred.

Since I'm entertaining childhood fantasies the 88 swap seems right up my ally . I probably wont swap my spare fast back body parts onto my notchy like you did to yours cvxjet
skywurz JUN 29, 11:59 PM
So doing some more reading if i go with the 12" rotors I will have to abandon my 15" wheels and I'm not entirely sure I wish to do that. I will have to pull a set of 88 front knuckles off the shelf and look at them next to the pre 88 and think about this some more. Maybe also pull my front tubular A arm/coilover setup out of the box and take a gander as well. Its starting to sound like my front suspension may end up a hot mess trying to keep the brakes balanced.

[This message has been edited by skywurz (edited 06-30-2022).]

skywurz JUL 01, 12:19 AM
So sluppy123 he is very much around and selling stuff. First thing he recommended was his pre 88 to 88 strut adapters. I totally forget about the minor geometry change.

Back to my 88 basket wheels. Im now starting to wonder if it would be less of a hassle to just weld in the 2 brackets for the front suspension. Bolt in the 88 suspension. Roll back the carpet inside. Tack in the rear mounting brackets for the front cross member. Unbolt the front suspension get it out of the way weld it really well clean inspect and paint then bolt in. I have a spare set of 88 cooling tubes and 2 sets of brake lines.

Ill have to go digging in the archives as im remembering most of this off the top of my head.
cvxjet JUL 01, 12:36 PM
The biggest problem with the 88 front suspension is that the bearings are not that durable. Most to all of the replacement bearings do not hold up....The possible exception is Rodney's...I believe he has them now set up for repacking which is a big improvement.

The 84-87 vs 88 rear suspension is a very noticeable improvement...But the front is just not that big an improvement....Main thing is the reduction in scrub radius....but you can get some of that by just going to some aftermarket wheels with more offset; I went to 38 mm inset vs the stock 30 mm and that was a noticeable improvement in steering effort and kick-back.

Also, there was a guy who auto-crossed his Fiero- he stated that the best suspension setup was a 84-87 front with the 88 rear.

The rear swap is relatively easy, but the front swap is a big ole pile; Cut and modify the frame- really don't like doing this for a street-driven car- and then change over the coolant pipes....I was actually planning on it and had an 88 crossmember- then I found out about the bearing problem and gave up. I also do not like the slider alignment setup on the front suspension...Had that on my Mustang II and every time I hit the brakes hard it would shift. (M2 was worst car I ever owned- C*R*A*P!!!)

[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 07-01-2022).]