Best Shocks?

[Chrisrokc]

Ok, it is time for me to replace these things so what brand is the best? I go to the track a decent amount but not alot just mostly the street. I wouldn't mind having a soft ride. Any ideas?

[RamAirJon]

Hal (QA2's) are good but cost. KYB's are good as well. Both of the first two can be adjusted for what you are doing. You can always go with Bilstein. They are tried and true !

[bRa_DeN]

i love my bilstein hd's with my g2 super springs, ride is better than stock:D

[Darkhalf]

First of all what kind of springs do you have? Stock?
Koni's, Bilsteins, Hals, or KYB's are a pretty good selection. Anything better than the stock DeCrappies.

[bRa_DeN]

go with the bilsteins and if you have the car lowered sam at strano parts can revalve the fronts to give you the ideal ride;)

[wannafbody]

Bilsteins are the best compromise for performance and ride quality for the street- Koni's on the front if you can afford them-

[FlagSStaff]

Originally posted by bRa_DeN
go with the bilsteins and if you have the car lowered sam at strano parts can revalve the fronts to give you the ideal ride;)

How exactly does revalving give you a better ride?

[bRa_DeN]

i worded it wrong, i was trying to get across the point to match the shocks with the springs;)

[Mike Hawk]

Chris.. if you wanna head up north to T-town and ride a F-bod that has Koni SA and Bilsten 3rd Gen in back on STOCK springs... give me a shout.

BTW I love the setup.. Lowered enough to get rid of the horrible 4x4 look too.

[Rotzy]

Originally posted by Mike 01Hawk
Chris.. if you wanna head up north to T-town and ride a F-bod that has Koni SA and Bilsten 3rd Gen in back on STOCK springs... give me a shout.

BTW I love the setup.. Lowered enough to get rid of the horrible 4x4 look too.
Do you have before and after pictures? I want to do the same setup in the spring.

[Andrew]

will the bilstein HD's have a super rough ride for an everyday driver?

[wannafbody]

Bilsteins are firm but not abusive by any means

[Andrew]

ok good cause im about to buy them, hehe.

[DaveX]

Wow alot of shock threads (good chance to get a few hits on my post count). I also have the revalved bilsteins and they are awesome. They are revalved to match your specific spring rates. Shocks = spring dampers. There are so many springs available (pro kits with the rears lifted 1/2" here) and it's important that the springs match the shocks for optimum handling and ride quality. Mine are by no means "plush" but they don't bruise my kidneys either. I think it's the perfect compromise and handles better than I ever imagined it could.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by KY LS1
Wow alot of shock threads (good chance to get a few hits on my post count). I also have the revalved bilsteins and they are awesome. They are revalved to match your specific spring rates. Shocks = spring dampers. There are so many springs available (pro kits with the rears lifted 1/2" here) and it's important that the springs match the shocks for optimum handling and ride quality. Mine are by no means "plush" but they don't bruise my kidneys either. I think it's the perfect compromise and handles better than I ever imagined it could.

how did you revalve them? and im going to be using stock springs, so i should get the front revalved?

[wannafbody]

for stock springs i wouldn't bother but if you want a set of lowering springs it would be a good idea

[mics2fbodies]

If you go to the track on a regular basis you can't go wrong with Hals. 12 way adjustable in seconds. Set it up anyway you want.;)

[bRa_DeN]

Originally posted by mics2fbodies
If you go to the track on a regular basis you can't go wrong with Hals. 12 way adjustable in seconds. Set it up anyway you want.;)

thats a very valid point;)

[jermstyle]

I did some pretty heavy research on f-body suspension last week, so I'll share what I learned.

The Bilstein HD shocks seem to be the best shock for the rear in really all applications. The only people/shops I have found that ran anything different on the rear had full on road race cars and they were looking for every 10th of a second off their lap time.

The front of the car needs to be set up for the type of driving/racing you do. You can go with an adjustable shock up front if you are really into road racing or so.

Or if you know the type of driving/racing you intend to do and you don’t really need fully adjustable shocks, you can go with the Bilstein revalved setup. The revalved shocks are basically a static Koni set to the optimum setting for your spring rate/driving style.

I just ordered ground control coil overs with 500# springs up front and 150# springs in the rear with the revalved Bilsteins up front and Bilstein HDs in the rear.

I could have gone with the Koni SA shocks, but I just don’t think that I really need them for my application. I just want to very aggressively drive my car on the street, maybe hit a few autox events and of course I’ll spend a little time at the strip. And my setup will work well for this.

[SprSprt]

Originally posted by jermstyle
The Bilstein HD shocks seem to be the best shock for the rear in really all applications. The only people/shops I have found that ran anything different on the rear had full on road race cars and they were looking for every 10th of a second off their lap time.

The front of the car needs to be set up for the type of driving/racing you do. You can go with an adjustable shock up front if you are really into road racing or so.

Or if you know the type of driving/racing you intend to do and you don’t really need fully adjustable shocks, you can go with the Bilstein revalved setup. The revalved shocks are basically a static Koni set to the optimum setting for your spring rate/driving style.

I could have gone with the Koni SA shocks, but I just don’t think that I really need them for my application. I just want to very aggressively drive my car on the street, maybe hit a few autox events and of course I’ll spend a little time at the strip. And my setup will work well for this.

That is what i found too. I however went with the Koni SA because at the time the revalved were back ordered so far it wasnt worth the wait.

[Rotzy]

Originally posted by SprSprt
That is what i found too. I however went with the Koni SA because at the time the revalved were back ordered so far it wasnt worth the wait.
By "wasn't worth the wait" do you mean that you like the koni SA's or that you wish you waited for the revalved?

[wannafbody]

he means that the time period for getting the Bilsteins was too long of a wait so he got Koni's instead

[MeentSS02]

I'll let you know how my combo turns out after this weekend...I went with a setup from Sam Strano.

I did a Ground Control kit combined with Bilsteins:

Front - 400# spring rate, revalved shocks
Rear - 125# spring rate, third gen shocks

And with the ground control setup, I'll have full control over my ride height, so no complaints about sagging in the rear or too low/high. I'm hoping it comes out as well as I think it will...

[jermstyle]

Nice setup.. :) Why did you choose such soft springs up front?

I think the proKit springs are right around 400 and they were too soft on my other car.

[MeentSS02]

I wanted something a little firmer than stock, but I didn't want a harsh ride at the same time. Strano is the one who set me up with those...I'll have to see how it all turns out. I think I'll like it...ride quality was one of my prerequisites.

[jermstyle]

Sounds good!

I’ll have to let you know how the 500/150 setup works. I didn’t want a super harsh ride, but a lot of people that have this setup said it was firm, but not bad at all for the performance.

I don’t drive the car all that much anyway, so it’s not a big issue for me.

[MeentSS02]

Originally posted by jermstyle
Sounds good!

I’ll have to let you know how the 500/150 setup works. I didn’t want a super harsh ride, but a lot of people that have this setup said it was firm, but not bad at all for the performance.

I don’t drive the car all that much anyway, so it’s not a big issue for me.

That's the key right there man...mine is still my daily driver. I would have only gone to a 500 up front if I was planning on doing some Auto X or road racing, which this car will see neither of. It will most likely just see a 1/4 strip every once in a while, so I thought I'd just do a good compromise.

[wannafbody]

400# is nice for a street car- firmer than stock but no abusive

[jermstyle]

The other nice thing about ground controls is that you can buy different rate springs for about 50 bucks if you want a little more or less.

[MeentSS02]

Originally posted by jermstyle
The other nice thing about ground controls is that you can buy different rate springs for about 50 bucks if you want a little more or less.

:yup: That's another reason why I got the Ground Control kit...as long as you don't make too wild of a jump, the shocks should still be able to handle it.

[RedHardSupra]

koni's are best. don't look at the price, just afford them.
if you don't wanna play with it at all, just buy 'strano edition' bilsteins and be done.

[-=boM=-]

I love my SLP Bilsteins - Excellent handling and great daily driving.
If you want very high perfomance at low cost go with KYB G-A-S. I had them as well but the daily driving was way to hard. The car handling like an indy car though.

[MeentSS02]

Originally posted by RedHardSupra
koni's are best. don't look at the price, just afford them.
if you don't wanna play with it at all, just buy 'strano edition' bilsteins and be done.

I had considered the Konis as well, but they were way out of my league for my goals. I will never Auto X or Road Race my car, so the Strano edition Bilsteins fit my bill quite well. I mainly wanted my car lowered (which is why I got the Ground Control kit), and with better handling being an interesting side benefit of my selected spring rates and shocks. I just had to get rid of the DeCarbons...

[mics2fbodies]

Originally posted by RedHardSupra
koni's are best. don't look at the price, just afford them.
if you don't wanna play with it at all, just buy 'strano edition' bilsteins and be done.

If they were only ride height adjustable.

[MeentSS02]

Originally posted by mics2fbodies
If they were only ride height adjustable.

I think with a little modification, they can be converted to a coil over setup using a Ground Control kit. Sam Strano would know for sure...that would certainly give you full ride height adjustment.

[jermstyle]

Ground Control makes a set of Coil Overs for Koni shocks. You should have been asked what shock (strut) you intend to use because there are 4 or 5 different GC kits.

The Strano Bilstein is the same as a Koni, it just has a static setting. I don’t intend be at the track enough to really need adjustability in the front. It just wasn’t worth almost 200 more per shock just to be able to say they are adjustable.

[FlagSStaff]

OK.... I have the BMR springs and the stock DeCarbons right now, but am looking to replace the shocks rather shortly. From everything I've read, it seems as though the best setup for me would be to go with the revalved Bilsteins up front and the Bilstein HDs in the rear.

I rarely go to the strip, but do a lot of twisty mountain road driving, as I LOVE that stuff, so would this combo be a good one for great road handling/good ride? Thanks! :)

[wannafbody]

Bilsteins really are the best choice for daily drivers-the Koni is more expensive-and can be a bit of a pain to adjust

[Mike Hawk]

Dang... sorry for not responding sooner guys.

Here's what I replied to another PM:


To sum up the difference, the car is now FUN to drive. Before, the car felt like a fat pig. Now it actually feels lighter. I've got a couple friends that are huge into Auto-xing and the drove the before/after and said it really made a nice difference. Ride quality is fine. Less floaty.

As for height difference. The Konis up front have a c-clip on the shock body. This can be moved lower down into another grove. This lowers the lower hat that the spring fits in:

http://www.members.cox.net/hawk352/DONE.JPG

In back the top of the spring sits on a fat rubber isolater. This isolater can be tossed and in it's place you can put 5/8ths heater hose around the top coil (I'd get bout 4-5 feet)

These mods can lower the car 3/4-1 inch all round. I didn't measure before/after but the pics can show it a little bit. The car looks sooo much better now in person

http://www.members.cox.net/hawk352/Profile.jpg

http://www.members.cox.net/hawk352/lower.jpg



As for the combo, I read up on what Mitchntx and Eugino_SS said. I gathered that the rear adjustable wasn't really needed since your main suspension to worry about is the front on braking/handling. Plus it was cheaper.

I got my combo on a special from Sam Strano, it looks like he's still running it. It was $629 to my door. (I went w/ 3rd gen Bilstens too)

http://www.stranoparts.com/show_items_special.php

Tell em Mike 01hawk sent ya

[LS1MONSTER]

I'm really looking into getting some new shocks for my 98. I have the Eibach pro-kit. What is the best combination with these springs? Would Bilstein HD's work? Or should I talk with Sam Strano??

[jermstyle]

Call Sam, he will set you up.

[MeentSS02]

Originally posted by jermstyle
Call Sam, he will set you up.

I'll second that recommendation.

[Rotzy]

Originally posted by MeentSS02
I'll second that recommendation.
Third: he's the man.