A more definitive STR suspension upgrade thread

If your serious about a parts car I know of 2005 STR thats a theft recovery for 2500. Let me know and I can check it out for you.

I would even deliver it to you for the right price,LOL
 
If your serious about a parts car I know of 2005 STR thats a theft recovery for 2500. Let me know and I can check it out for you.

I would even deliver it to you for the right price,LOL

A theft recovery up in MI? Shipping would probably be damn near as much as the car!

I'm probably going to wait until after I do my taxes. The gooberment has been loving me lately. Evidently I don't give them enough money.
 
A theft recovery up in MI? Shipping would probably be damn near as much as the car!

I'm probably going to wait until after I do my taxes. The gooberment has been loving me lately. Evidently I don't give them enough money.



Good luck with that. I didn't even get $500 back. And i work for them...LOL.
 
actually NASCAR teams opt to paint the sponsors on instead of using stickers at the super speedways to minimize the amount of drag added to the car.

BOOM! I don't know why but that felt like the right place to say that...
 
the secret to putting stickers on and maintaining a good balance between added HP/weight and drag is to start putting the stickers toward the rear of the section that you want to sticker up, then slightly overlap the next sticker forward over the rearward sticker. that way by the time you get 10-20 stickers on there, there is only one leading edge on the first sticker and all the other leading edges are covered up
 
also it should be noted that not all stickers net the same amount of power added.

while the average is 5hp per sticker, some stickers will net you a hell of a lot more, for example, NOS and NX stickers usually get you around 75-150 hp more because when you buy a $500 sticker, they usually include a free bottle!
 
lol, I did not mean to get your thread totally jacked man. That theft recovery is probably the best deal you could come across for something like this. Shipping should be around $500.
 
Complete motor and trans, rolling car. It does have some body damage on it though. The car did run with only 81 or 85k miles but he lost the keys for it. Could be put back together no problem!! Well worth the asking price, he just need money ASAP thats why he is selling it
 
Good luck with that. I didn't even get $500 back. And i work for them...LOL.

I don't want a refund, I just don't want to have to pay in! My taxes could end up being more then the car, as awesome a deal and parts mule it would be!
 
I don't want a refund, I just don't want to have to pay in! My taxes could end up being more then the car, as awesome a deal and parts mule it would be!

Yeah we should have a flat rate tax and social security should be optional.
 
And by definitive I mean theoretical but first a little background. I've been doing some research into swapping out the suspension components of the LS for those from an '03-05 Jaguar S-Type. This would give me an improved handling, lower stance, and the brembo brakes. What I have found leads me to believe it's still possible, but requires some pretty big conversions.

Starting in 2003 Jaguar converted the lower control arm to be a two-piece articulated design. There is the main rear piece of the LCA which supports the weight of the car and then a second arm attached by a bolt at an angle. This gave them increased suspension geometry control over the full suspension travel as well as an almost 10% increase in the rigidity of the suspension.

The down side of this means that the front k-member would have to be changed out to do the conversion. There is also no guarantee that the k-member bolts up directly, or that the UCA is positioned in the right spot to maintain geometry. I feel fairly confident that it would all bolt up and work properly though.

So, here's what it would take to do an 03-05 STR suspension conversion on an LS:
Front K-Member
Front Lower Control Arms (both pieces, both sides)
Front Upper Control Arms (both sides)
Knuckles for all 4 corners
Brake Calipers for all 4 corners
E-Brake Calipers for the rear (both sides)
Brake Caliper Brackets for all 4 corners
Brake Rotors for all 4 corners
Brake pads for all 4 corners
e-brake cables for rears
STR Springs, shocks, and everything in between for all 4 corners
Front and Rear sway bars
A keg of beer
lots of cussing
misc hardware


So yeah, that's all. Probably $3K worth of parts, not counting labor.

Here's a computer rendering of the front k-member. You can see how the forward small arm is mounted at a different angle. This is what helps stiffen the suspension and maintain geometry as it flexes:
2006-jaguar-s-type-r-8w.jpg

I have this set up as I have the exact suspension. It will be much more trouble and possibly more money to do this than you think. If you guys can run a stoptech break system and now a fully adjustable coil over....... well lets just say I'm now looking to convert my car to your set up. If you want to trade and it is possible I may consider for a little extra of course.
IMAG0550.jpg
 
Welcome aboard!

Why replace your expensive suspension that is already in place with something that may not be as sophisticated?
 
Welcome aboard!

Why replace your expensive suspension that is already in place with something that may not be as sophisticated?

It may be sophisticated but it isn't adjustable. The S-type is a heavy car and has a lot of body roll making you feel not so confident in the corners. You can't adjust the ride height witch is the main reason for me.

I would rather build a sophisticated suspension and break set up that I can change to my liking that be stuck with one non adjustable set up. If your looking to have a smooth ride buy a 750 BMW. The suspension is way more sophisticated.

Point is, there are other cars out there with smoother suspension than the S-type, but if your into modding your car for maximum performance all around and are willing to go through all the work to convert to a S-type set up, your better off with what you have. That is unless a Jag owner buys the KW verient 3 coilover for $4000.
 
If I remember right, the only major difference, physically, between the LS and the Gen2 S-Type shock was that the S-Type had a narrower knuckle where it bolts to the control-arm in the front. The rears were dimensionally compatible.

Have you thought about buying the stance coil-overs and taking them to a machine shop to trim the lower knuckle? I would think for $100 a machinist would trim it down to whatever width you want. You might also give Stance a call. They might machine the lower knuckle for you. I know they had an initial issue with the rears and had to re-machine them already.

I would rather keep the front suspension set-up you have then try to convert to an LS. It's more rigid and has better geometry. The Gen2 STR upper control arm was also revised for a lower ride and more aggressive driving style. The sway bars are also a different spec.

You mention body roll and handling and I just think an LS suspension would be heading in the wrong direction to achieve that. Specially since you might so easily be able to get adjustable coil-overs without any real headaches.
 
It may be sophisticated but it isn't adjustable. The S-type is a heavy car and has a lot of body roll making you feel not so confident in the corners. You can't adjust the ride height witch is the main reason for me.

I would rather build a sophisticated suspension and break set up that I can change to my liking that be stuck with one non adjustable set up. If your looking to have a smooth ride buy a 750 BMW. The suspension is way more sophisticated.

Point is, there are other cars out there with smoother suspension than the S-type, but if your into modding your car for maximum performance all around and are willing to go through all the work to convert to a S-type set up, your better off with what you have. That is unless a Jag owner buys the KW verient 3 coilover for $4000.

If you into building and modifying cars, you bought the wrong car - a 5 series BMW would have been much more to your liking with the unlimited amount of performance upgrades.

And, yes, i like a smooth ride with precision handling, that's why i got me a XF.
 

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