Upgrading a Fairly Stock Suspension

Doing the bushings to improve handling is a good start. There's some discussion around whether to use rubber or a polyurethane bushing of some sort. For a canyon carver, I use PST's polygraphite. It's a little harsher and a little sharper than rubber. I don't have the squeaking issue that some have reported with other brands.

Holding off on wheels and tires until you to a BBP conversion is a good idea. Try to do both ends of the car at the same time as it is a pain to lug around two spares.

There are going to be many opinions that differ from mine on the topic of springing. For springs, it's hard to go wrong with a .920 inch or larger bar up front. For the rear a 5 or 6 leaf spring. New rear springs will improve control and raise that saggy rear end. Don't forget shocks. I have Monroe Gasmatics on the Demon and Delco Pleasuride on the Custom. Both are high pressure gas units that give a pleasant, controlled ride.

If you're going to be doing some serious canyon carving, I recommend either a Panhard bar (aka track bar). The bar limits the lateral shift of the rear axle when the car is turning. Although new springs will help, under hard cornering, the axle tends to want to pull them over allowing the tire to contact the spring and/or the bodywork of the car.

I personally am not a fan of the Panhard bar because it limits suspension travel more when turning one way than the other. I recommend the Panhard bar over the Watt's link because the bar can be purchased off-the-shelf and is fairly easy to install.

Finally, after you get the bushings replaced, you will need to get the car aligned. This chart from Allpar lays it out. Your car may not give you the ability to hit these numbers. If all else is well, take what you can get and run with it. My Custom would only let me adjust to +2º caster, so I went with it and the rest of the Max. perf. street settings. I'm a happy camper with it.