Do the Flat Out Engineering kits use the Corvette springs?
NO. We have found the Carbon Fiber Corvette springs to be too stiff for the ride quality desired by most Classic Truck and Hot Rod enthusiasts. Also since the Corvette spring is a single leaf design, you can’t eliminate leaves to change the spring rate as on conventional multi leaf springs. The spring rate is designed for the front and rear weight of a Corvette. Our front and rear suspension kits are designed to use coil over shocks and the upper and lower coil over mounting brackets are furnished with the kits when you purchase them. We use and highly recommend top quality Aldan adjustable coil over shocks, which are available separately. We have spring rates in 50 lb. increments to enable us to configure the proper spring rate for the weight of your vehicle.
Do you offer complete hub to hub suspensions?
Our kits were designed with the home builder in mind, so that you can purchase a kit from us, which is specifically designed to fit your frame, and then you can find the Corvette suspension components in your local wrecking yard or swap meet. This is more affordable than the aftermarket hub to hub units that are currently available. We can furnish the Corvette front and rear suspensions if you can’t find them, but usually they are plentiful and more affordable in your local area.
How difficult are your kits to install?
All Flat Out Engineering front and rear suspension kits are designed to be as easy to install for the average home builder as possible. We don’t like to buy parts that don’t fit or that need to be modified and we don’t think you do either. Several of our rear kits, (such as Ford F-100 and ‘55-‘59 Chevy P.U.’s), are complete bolt on kits that only require you to drill some holes. Other rear kits are partially bolt on but require welding of some crossmembers or boxing plates. Most of our front suspension kits include boxing plates that must be welded to the frame rails and the crossmember has to be welded to the frame. All upper and lower A arm and Control Arm mounts and the rack and pinion mounts are prewelded to the crossmember making it a one piece crossmember. You don’t have to figure out the geometry or mount separate upper top hats that are difficult to place properly and often hard to keep straight. We have tried to keep the welding to a minimum, but as in any frame or suspension installation it is important to have proper welding skills or a friend that does. All front and rear kits come with detailed instruction sheets and the necessary nuts and bolts are furnished.
If I want to dress the suspension up more and show the vehicle some, what is available?
Since the Corvette suspension parts are a good grade of aluminum they can be polished to an outstanding luster just like the better grades of aluminum wheels. The coil over shocks we offer can be ordered with polished aluminum shocks and chrome springs, and we can offer other dress up items based on your personal tastes and desires. Check with us regarding your wishes.
What Corvette components do I need?
You want ‘84-‘87 or ‘88-‘96 Corvette front and rear suspensions. We have kits to fit any of those years, but please specify the year of the suspension you have, so that we can send you the correct kit.
What is the difference between the years of the Corvette suspensions?
The ‘84-‘87 Corvette suspensions are approximately 1 inch narrower than the ‘88-‘96. ‘84-‘87 front suspensions have 11-inch front brake rotors, so you can use most 15-inch wheels if you choose. ‘88-‘96 front suspensions have 12-inch front rotors so you must use a 16-inch or larger wheel. The Corvette uses a 4 ¾ on 5 bolt circle wheels, the same as Chevrolet passenger cars, so there is a vast selection of wheels available to fit properly.
What is the width of the Corvette suspensions?
The ‘84-‘87 Front suspension is approximately 59 ½”. The ‘84-‘87 rear is 61 ½”. This is measured from front brake face to brake face (right where the wheel bolts on). The ‘88-‘96 is approx. 1 inch wider, or 60 ½” front and 62 ½” rear. The width of both the ‘84-87 and ‘88-‘96 will fit well under most years of early Ford and Chevy P.U.’s and several Hot Rod and Street Rod applications without narrowing any of the components. We do offer narrowed kits to fit certain applications where it is needed.
Why is the Corvette suspension better than other Independent suspensions?
It is like comparing night and day. For one thing the C4 Corvette suspension was a design milestone in sports car suspensions. GM engineers worked for years on this to have a “World Class Sports Car” that would outperform the finest high priced European sports cars on the market. The forged aluminum spindle uprights, A arms, half shafts and control arms are not only light weight, but incredibly strong. The light weight aluminum components give the suspension system a sprung to unsprung weight ratio that is unsurpassed. This provides excellent ride quality with cornering and handling that out performs any other production vehicle. You can’t imagine how much fun it is to drive a Hot Rod or Classic Truck that corners and handles like a Sports Car.
Another BIG advantage if you are planning to drive your vehicle for many years and many miles is the availability of parts. Ball joints, brake parts, tie rod ends and any other parts that might wear with frequent use are standard GM parts and easily available at parts stores anywhere.
With your kits do I have to buy a different rack and pinion steering unit?
No. Flat Out Engineering kits use the stock Corvette power rack and pinion steering unit. It was designed to work well with the Corvette suspension and it does. It has a good steering ratio and operates with no bump steer. If you have a good steering unit on the suspension you purchase there is no reason to have to buy another. If your unit is bad or damaged we do have new Corvette racks available.
The narrowed front kits that we offer (such as the ‘35-‘40 Ford kits) do require a narrowed rack and pinion. For these kits we cannot use the stock rack and pinion. We do offer brand new power or manual, narrowed rack and pinion units for these applications.