98cobrakiller

thinking bout getting new shocks and struts for my trans am. flipping through ws6store i came across lakewood struts and shocks thinking about 50/50 rears 70/30 fronts. si anyone running them one the street.

98cobrakiller

bump...

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

ya id like to know if there okay to run on the street also....

i was thinking of running v6 springs with them also

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

anyones ideas

SCott5

iTrader: (40)

haha. I was just getting ready to copy this link and shoot it to you in a message on fb lol

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

haha ya noone knows on here either i guess lol

98cobrakiller

yeah so much for any help

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

you're not gonna get a lot(if any) of replies.
Back in the 60s/70s(yea,I'm old),Lakewood was a very popular/used product line. 'Scattershield' bellhousings,shocks,control arms for the GM musclecars of the era. Since then,other manufacturers have surpassed them and thier product line. Not saying thier shocks are bad,but nobody uses them, They have 'traction bars' for f-bods,which if you do a search for that product in this forum,a high percentage of failures. Thier traction bar has been replaced in usage by the common 'LCA relocation bracket' available from many manufacturers/vendors.
I've used thier shocks back in the 60s/70s,nothing special.

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

ya but if they werent any good i doubt theyd be in business.

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

guess no one believes in buying cheaper stuff i dunno why its always bout spending top dollar on everything

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

A lot of people buy what is known to be good instead of risking a couple hundred bucks on parts that may turn out crap.

And there are plenty of companies that are in business that only churn out crap. Not saying Lakewood is, but just stating the obvious

Maybe you should buy them and test them out? Take them to an autox course and a drag strip, and see how they perform in both of those.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Wow, how is $379.99 "top dollar". And I guess the inverse is true, why are people so hell bent on saving a few bucks and running a POS shock?

Here's the deal.... Drag shocks which those are, aren't about control, they are about weight transfer. Fine for drag racing if you can hang onto the car at speed (notice how much drag cars tend to move around at the big end?????). But not so good for the street.

Lots of crappy stuff exists and gets sold. If it didn't cheap Chinese crap wouldn't be all over, Harbor Freight would never sell another tool.

unioncarpenter84

iTrader: (22)

ya ill just go with the bilsteins its a middle grade shock and strut setup

Sunset01TA

iTrader: (7)

I run these on my street / drag car running the lsx series in rumble great shocks for drag racing I do not drive aggressive on the street like i would with a set of stranos.
But they ride great and definitely transfer the weight and then hold it.
can't tell much difference then the stock until you punch it in a straight line.

I would buy them again.

98cobrakiller

Sam i was more curious on how the performed they caught my eye will flipping through ws6store.com the other day. im probably going to with your bilstein/strano spring package. i also seen the tokico package you had on your website. my uncle brian burdette told me to go with koni's. since thats what he ran on his scca camaro. but my car does get driven that much and doesnt run the autocross course but does see the track 5 or 6 times a year. i was looking for a good upgrade to the warn out factory stuff. in your opinion what would be better the tokico's or bilsteins along with your lowering springs

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I think the telling thing there is that you can't tell much difference from stock. That is not at all what most folks want since the stock shocks don't ride or handle very well, and do not deal with lowering springs at all well either.

The difference you feel in a straight line when you punch it is a lack of rebound... that's what causes the car to "weight transfer". It's also what causes the car to feel a little floaty, and generate a lot of body roll quickly.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Bilstein's are much, MUCH better shocks. The HP2 kit is a set of those and my springs at a bit of a discount. And I can ship them in one box too, saving some shipping cost (cannot ship Tokico's that way).

john563

iTrader: (17)

would the bilsteins transfer weight better than stock shocks while still bieng ok on the street?..my car is not a corner carver and does occasionally see the track and a few street races/weekend toy

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

What you have to understand is "weight transfer" is the car flopping around, basically. There is a reason you see bagged out Nova's with original shocks "weight transferring" really well, the shocks suck. Great for the nose shooting up, not so much for a car you want to drive and be stable and predictable and planted.

You can actually over-transfer and bog the car. I know more than one guy that 60'ed better on Koni's than on drag shocks. Presumably that's because the weight transfer was more controlled. And make no mistake, big time drag cars like Pro Stock do use adjustable dampers to tune this stuff. In fact Koni makes DRAG SHOCKS... which they tell you are NOT to be used on a highway as personal injury can result... because they are about drag racing, not stability.

That said, Bilstein's don't lock the thing completely down anyway and with good bite you will still feel the nose come up pretty quickly... this goes hand in hand with them not having as much rebound as things like Koni Sports (which can be turned down to help with leaving, and up on the street). As a driver shock the Bilstein's are WAY better than Lakewood or even KYB AGX. But if you want something that can be better at each, then I'd recommend AGX's over Lakewood because as much as I prefer the way the Bilstein's drive, the KYB's will drive better than Lakewoods.