I will be doing some suspension work on my 05 LS. I need a little knowledge from a tech guy. I am aware of the aftermarket options out there. I'm trying to learn about the SS suspension.

I know the SS has stiffer springs, something I definitely want. What I don't know is if they are any lower. If so, how much? And can they be directly swapped into the LS?

I know the SS has aluminum lower control arms. My question is, so what? What does that do except for weight savings?

I don't know anything else about the differences. Any specific help would be great. I will probably be getting one of the aftermarket kits, but I like to be as informed as possible before spending the cash.

 

The springs, shocks/struts and sway bars are all different.

The aluminum arms just help to get the 50/50 weight ratio.

I am pretty sure springs are .25" shorter and the rates are way higher. The shocks/struts are matched to the spring rates and height also.

 

Eibach says that the SS/SC is lowered .50" from the factory vs. the LS. That's all I know.

 

We don't have a 50/50, and the weight difference isn't that big, I thought it was so the control arm had less momentum so it would move faster when the forces changed.

 

Lower control arms are unsprung weight. So it makes sense to try to make them lighter.

 

The Cobalt SS has a 50/50 weight distribution!

 

No dude, not even close.

 

the control arms are only have unsprung weight but reducing the weight of suspension arms allows the car to not be as disturbed in the corners. The wheels are allowed to respond faster and thus stay on the road for a longer period of time.

And remember is you switch to coilovers for your suspension it night be a good idea to beef up the spring perches/towers since they will be seeing almost twice the force.

 

 

Yes, I have LSJ aluminum FE5 arms on my base model.

 

TC Cobalt FE5 alloy arms will also work on base LS models you just have to spread the knuckle where it receives the ball joint stud due to a larger ball joint on those arms. Not sure if the LSJ arms have the larger ball joint stud or not.

 

LSJ has the same size ball joint as the base model