346_chevelle

I've got a 99 camaro and I just put some used qa1 single adjustable shocks and struts. I removed the rear rubber isolators from the rear and used the stock rear springs. The front has 300 lb qa1 springs. I've tried several different settings on the shocks and struts but the car rides like its on bump stops. I love the stance of the setup but I'm thinking of going back to stock. Another option is going down to the 275 lb front spring.

I guess what I'm asking is will the 275 spring make that much of a difference?

The car is mostly street driven. It sees some track time but very little.

duh

iTrader: (16)

My car has the sa qa1s with the 275 springs and BMR lowering springs out back. I've got them set at 6 clicks from full loose an it rides great. I get noise from the rod ended arms front and back, but the car rides nice. I've toyed with the idea of getting 300 springs just so that I don't have them so compressed for the ride height since mine is a full weight car. IIRC 6 is the middle setting on the qa1's. start there and loosen or stiffen them to your liking. Depending in how old they are, they may need to be rebuilt. Since I'm on my phone and can't see where you are, if you're near Chicago feel free to hit me up and we'll meet up.

OIF1VET

iTrader: (54)

I run QA1's up front with 315 lb springs.. Mine are set on 2, rides like a champ..

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Proof that when people say "it's great", or "it sucks", it doesn't mean much. People are different.

You've tried adjusting the shocks, and it's no help which means the shocks are either broken or just aren't what you need. The 300 rate, that's about stock (292 on an LS1 Z28, 310 or so on an LT1 Z28)... so that's probably not it unless you are on the ground, or any significant amount lower than stock. One of the issue with "coil-overs" and adjustment is that if you are going to lower the car you NEED more spring rate to compensate and it's not there. So yeah, you hit the stops harder and more often (also due to less than great shock valving).

A real set of shocks and appropriate springs, be they stock or lowering springs, as long as they are *appropriate* for what you want will do wonders.

duh

iTrader: (16)

^ agreed. To me my car rides great. It does bounce around like there's no suspension control, and unless I hit a huge hole it doesn't beat me up either. Because my car is 1.25" lower than stock it rides a little rougher, but it doesn't bottom out, and is just fine for me. I'm also not expecting my car to ride like a Cadillac as it is set up for street/strip duty. If it were a road race car I'd definitely look into another shock and spring combo as well as different sway bars. It's all a matter of what you're expecting out of your suspension.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

That's where I disagree. What you expect isn't a very good measure of how well something works. I know lots of folks that thought the stock stuff was great, until they experienced something else then they realized how crappy what they had was.

If if truly makes you happy, great. But what if find is people will settle, or assume that this is as good as it really gets, whatever.

Maybe it's a typo, but you said It does bounce around like there's no suspension control. Is that correct? And that's great? What was the point of the suspension work then?

I will agree that if you build a car to drive well vs. do a lot of strip duty and get to and from on the street that things are different. Trouble I find is that most of those folks that claim street/strip, don't often go to the strip.... which means they make the street stuff worse even though it's what they do 98% of the time.

UMI Sales

iTrader: (1)

Are the front QA1's "R" series by any chance? If so, that can contribute to the bump stop feeling. Do you know if it's actually hitting the bump stops? R series have almost double the compression damping at each setting than do the single adjustables.

If I were daily driving and only going to the strip once or twice I'd put Strano SP141's on it along with however much damper you can afford (Bilstein SLP econo, Koni higher budget).

ramey

346_chevelle

I'm not sure if the fronts are the R series or not. I bought them used off a guy that parts out fourth gen f bodys for a living. He was sure how many miles are on them. They looked brand new. I'll try to get some #s off of them. I'll also look into getting them rebuilt.

UMI Sales

iTrader: (1)

If they do happen to be R series, you can have them converted to SA during the rebuild...

duh

iTrader: (16)

Sorry Sam, that was a typo. My car doesn't bounce around. My car rides just fine for me on the street. My car hits the drag strip just about every other weekend which is why in have no complaints. Even with no front bar and the huge Spohn bar out back I can handle just fine on the street, mostly because I put about 5000 miles a year on my DD.

OIF1VET

iTrader: (54)

I had mine converted to "R" series a few years ago and with the 315 LB springs Car rides fine.. No bouncing, no bottoming out.. Pic in sig is how my car sits.. So I'm wondering about how good your shocks are? Mine felt much better after having them rebuilt..

JD_AMG

Dont waste your money further, unless you only care about dragracing (since you are complaining about ride, it seems that is a priority as well).
They are low quality, non gas charged drag shocks, they won't ride anywhere near as well a proper shock (one that actually controls the suspension).
The guys that tolerate them are on tall, soft side walled tires that make the car ride much softer and absorb a lot of impacts.
Get yourself a set of bilstiens at minimum, you will love how much more solid, planted and composed the car feels.

duh

iTrader: (16)

I run my car on the street with 17" ZR1'a 275 fronts and 315 rears with my QA1's. I honestly think there is either something wrong with the shocks or they're simply not set right for him. My shocks do all of the dampening, but then again as Sam said, comfort is very subjective. Although, I do think that if I put a stiffer spring up front and put proper sway bars on it that I would be able to turn corners just as well. I simply choose to use them for straight line duty.

JD_AMG

I've been in a car with QA1 on otherwise stock suspension (then modded suspension later), they are not even in the same ball park as a sport shock. I could run circles around that car in reverse with konis... Ride and handling were rough, loose, floaty and unpredictable - reminded me of an old SUV. Just because you can make them "stiff" doesn't mean they can damp worth a damn, or they will make the car handle better.
Heres a direct comparison from a member on here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...ml#post8344345
You have no idea what you are missing out on...

duh

iTrader: (16)

I wasn't saying that its as good as a shock designed to corner. All I said is that for me the current setup is acceptable. I don't plan on road racing my car any time soon. But as stated, you're definition of comfortable is probably completely different than mine. My car handles what I ask it to, even being setup of drag racing. The point I was trying to make is that I think he needs to look a little harder at what he currently has before switching parts around and potentially making it even worse.

JD_AMG

Well you did say " Although, I do think that if I put a stiffer spring up front and put proper sway bars on it that I would be able to turn corners just as well"
Which is simply not true, shocks will make or break the setup, and you certainly don't have to do any kind of competitive handling to benefit (or tell the vast difference) that good shocks make.
As far as making it worse, you can't get too much worse than a low-end drag shock honestly.

duh

iTrader: (16)

It's funny that you call QA1 low end. If seen them on cars worth well over 3 times as much as an fbody was new, and those cars turn just fine. Well, a bit better then fine actually. Guys auto cross and road course QA1's without issue. But again for my setup, they do the job I ask them to. Since I wasn't trying to start a pissing contest over which shocks are better I'll just step back to the original topic as to why his 300 lb springs are riding like crap.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

ooooh that's going to open a can of worms!

Matt@Straightline

iTrader: (1)

I have the R series with a 275 spring up front. It doesn't ride the greatest but I didn't expect it to with it being a drag spring. Like stated above everybody is different with what they like.

Dmjr228

iTrader: (2)

From what it sounds, the OP bought the QA1's from the ride height adjustability and damping adjustability. He is upset with ride quality from drag shocks because to one person the ride quality was ok and opinions differ between people, but were there really any other options he could've gone if he really wanted that ride height adjustability and a "street shock" with adjustable damping? I know ground control makes a kit to convert "street shocks" to coilovers, but I don't know of anything directly bolt in?