DrewSG

iTrader: (1)

I'm about to pull the trigger on a set a Koni 4/3s.

My car is at 72,000 miles and is completely stock. Right now the car handles pretty badly. When I go over bumps, the car goes all the over the place. When I'm coming out of turns, it seems either the front or rear is swaying. All in all the car just feels a lot shittier than when I bought it with 22,000 miles.

I'm thinking Koni 4/3s - I'm pretty much sold on these.
Front/rear swaybar?
Strano springs?

I read posts saying the stock shocks are complete ****. But what about springs? Should I go after strano springs? I don't want to lower my car, but if they are good and will help with a better ride overall, I'll go for them.

Just to note, my car is complete daily driver, I don't drag/road race or do any autocross. About all I'll do is do some spirited driving on the freeway.

Any help will appreciated.

JD_AMG

Just get the shocks and go from there. The stock springs and swaybars are not that bad.

hpjunky98

iTrader: (3)

If you are really concerned about the ride, don't lower it. I loved the way the car rode with stock springs and Konis; very daily driver friendly. If your looking for the best mod to complement the shocks, I would pick up a set of Strano's swaybars or just the front one if your broke like i was after buying the Konis. The two mods complement each other quite well.


Your doing the right thing getting the shocks first. The stock decrapons are the weak link in the stock setup.

robertbartsch

Yeh, what he said ^

Next, after shocks, go for the Samie hollow sway bars front and rear --->

Adjustable PHB and LCAs are nice too.

You will think you are driving a differnt car!

Bow94z

iTrader: (3)

Defintly go with the 4/3 setup Stock spring or not..I love mine on Strano Springs
Also check all ur front end suspension components like front end control arm bushings, tie rods and ball joints...some stuff thats always overlooked when these cars get some mileage on them

1fstSS

iTrader: (8)

what is the koni 4/3 shocks, all i see is sport shocks when i lok them up where can you buy a 4/3 package.

Bow94z

iTrader: (3)

www.stranoparts.com

The Fronts are the same Shock being the 4/

Basically the /4 is the "4th gen" shock and is adjustable while its on the car

The /3 is the "3rd gen" shock which needs to be taken off the car to adjust. It fits the 4th gen aswell. Sam tends to say the /3 shock is more of the "heavy duty" application that works a bit better with a heavier rears like a 12bolt or a 9"

Quick explaination in a nutshell

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Call Sam Strano, and talk to him. If I would have bought all of my parts from him from the get-go, I would have saved a lot of money.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

The sky is the limit. What, beyond shocks, you opt to do largely depends on what you want from the car. You probably know I have springs and swaybars made for me, to my specs. If you want a lowered car, then springs. If you don't, or only a touch lower that the Koni's can give you alone then you don't need springs. You don't NEED lowering springs to make the car handle well. They of course help, but they also ride more firmly and pretty much require you to get an adjustable PHB too. Swaybars don't effect ride like springs, and offer a lot of roll control too.

I make no bones about the fact that I'd not be terribly unhappy with shocks and bars alone for a street car (even a hard driven one). Springs have their place, I don't really know if you are looking for what they do or not. Springs are most cost effectively put in with the shocks (saves a second tear down for install). Bars are easily put in at any time.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I almost forgot... Thank you guys for pointing him my way, and for saying the nice things about me and/or my stuff.

vtirocz

Sam,
I am interested in the Koni 4/3 or 4/4 + your swaybars, but have one other question...

On stock suspension the pass/rear of the car sits about 3/4" lower than the driv/rear. Is there anything to do during the install to even out how the rear sits? I've heard this is a common problem with 4th gen f-body's. Have you come across this before?

Thanks. I am in a similar position as the original poster.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I've found a pretty large number of cars that have bent spring/PHB mounts (about 4 I've seen personally) on the axle. Seems maybe folks try and lift the car here, the last one was done by an alignment shop that should have known better.... Anyway, this makes the LR sit quite high depending on if it's bent or not, and to what degree. You can't "fix" this really unless you can unbend it (probably not wise), or change to an axle that is not tweaked. I can't say if your car is like that, only that it's a possibility because it's happened before, and due to the fact it's the rear only (so it seems) and the RR is the low side I'd not be surprised.

You can check for this on a non lowered car easily by looking at your PHB. Should be level. If any angle exists (on level ground with the cars on wheels, not hanging in the air), then you pretty much know the axle side PHB/spring mount is bent.

A bit of a difference it not abnormal side to side, and the cars have quite good cross-weights stock with a driver. Your car sounds to me like it's a little more than normal. The only easy thing I can recommend it to do the isolator mod on the LR spring and not the RR to help level things out a bit. I can pretty much 98% assure you that you don't have a spring issue (you could, but that's easy to check by swapping sides).

vtirocz

Thanks for the response. I will have to check for this when I get home.

I did a quick search here on LS1Tech, and it seems like many other f-bodies have the same problem. Could the way torque is trasmitted through the rear end and into the rear suspesion have anything to do with it (especially w/ a torque are design)??? I'm just taking a guess. Sorry to the original poster for getting off topic... I will start another thread with any additional questions on this.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Nope.

vtirocz

Sam,
One more question regarding the uneven stance (ie. lower in right/rear than left rear)...

I checked the spring/PHB mounts and no signs of the car being lifted there. I measured the bottom of the PHB mount and it is about 1/2" *higher* on the passenger side than the driver side.

Any ideas of what else could cause this condition on a stock, low mileage car?

Thanks.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

That's not an accurate measurement. The PHB on the passenger side is part of the body, but on the driver's side is on the axle. That doesn't really tell you anything, sorry to say.

Broken spring, junk spring (not likely), missing spring isolator... that's about it.