SEMA 2019: QA1 Incites Oh-Em-Gees With Its New OBS Suspension Parts

For those of you who don’t know, when referencing trucks, OBS stands for “Old Body Style.” Now, there doesn’t seem to be any hard-and-fast rules in terms of year range, and the lines can become muddied when talking OBS, NBS (New Body Style), NNBS (Newer New Body Style), etc. For our purposes, though, OBS Chevy’s are post-Squarebody, full-size C1500 from ’88 through ’98.

The folks at QA1 are just as savvy when it comes to these extremely underrated pickups. They’ve seen the writing on the Bow-tie wall and sought to answer the call of the wanting masses. Seriously, these trucks have been popular since they hit the market in ’88, and we saw quite a few clean ones at the 2019 SEMA show. So, it isn’t any wonder why QA1 would apply its expertise to a burgeoning aftermarket.

We had a chance to catch up with QA1 Marketing Rep., Dave Kass, and he broke down the offerings — which are numerous. From the front to the back, QA1 has your OBS covered. Dave told us, “The OBS trucks are huge this year. It’s a cool platform and we wanted to come out and do a whole suspension system for those trucks. The goal of this was to have a bolt-on suspension system that someone can install with the bed and front clip on. The system requires no major cutting and no major welding to install.”

We asked Dave who the target user might be and his response was indicative of the market and what we saw at the show in terms of OBS trucks. Dave said, “Our ultimate goal was – let’s get these trucks down low and let’s get them riding really good.”

“Our ultimate goal was, let’s get these trucks down low and let’s get them riding really good.”  – Dave Kass, QA1

Dave continued, “The system itself is capable of a 6-7 drop – meaning 6-inches in the front and 7-inches in the rear. The rear is really unique, because it’s a torque-arm style setup, and most of the time you’re seeing a four-link style rear suspension. However, four-links will have inherent bind, and we wanted to eliminate that. Plus, the harder you accelerate with a torque-arm, the more it drives the tire into the ground. So, you get the really good traction characteristics that come with a full-length Panhard bar. It’s just a really well-engineered system.”

The rear suspension system comes from QA1 in a beautiful powdercoated finish, which takes a good amount of legwork out of the equation for end-users. Many competitors ship kits in a raw finish, leaving the installer to find someone to powdercoat the parts – just another benefit of a bolt-on system from QA1.

QA1 also offers front suspension options for the ’88-’98 Chevy C1500. For more information on those, as well as everything else QA1 has to offer, hit the website here. And, of course, you can find out more by placing a call to QA1 at (952)-985-5675.

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About the author

Vinny Costa

Fast cars, motorcycles, and loud music are what get Vinny’s blood pumping. Catch him behind the wheel of his ’68 Firebird. Chances are, Black Sabbath will be playing in the background.
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