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need suspension help...

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Old 05-30-2008, 10:15 PM
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Default need suspension help...

ok so i havent really done anything to the car since i bought it except change the wheels......

i want to start beefing it up but wont do anything drastic till winter time, so the first thing i wana do is start working on my suspension.....

i am torn between spohn/bmr/umi but ill probably just go with whats cheapest for whatever part i get cause i hear they are all the pretty much the same.....

anyway what would you guys suggest me get?? order from most important to least would be nice.....i dont have a lot of money so ill probably go part by part but i want to get the best of everything so if i have to save up a little no biggie....

help me out guys
thanks
Old 05-30-2008, 10:17 PM
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Most important: shocks.

Which ones depends on your budget and your goals for the car.


-Mike
Old 05-31-2008, 12:00 AM
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Originally Posted by chupr0kabra
Most important: shocks.

Which ones depends on your budget and your goals for the car.


-Mike
well i will probably take her to the track once in a blue but not often, and when its there ill baby it cause of the stock rear

other than that itll be a stricly nice weather street car.....

looking at these http://www.spohn.net/?action=product&pid=1080 but ill have to save up for a little bit....what is the difference in those and the single adjustable ones?
Old 05-31-2008, 04:08 PM
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QA1's tend to be more of a drag shock, from what I've read. I don't have any personal experience with them.

For that kind of money, and based on it being a "nice weather street car", you're probably better off getting a set of Koni SA's. Plenty of people on this board have them and I don't think I've ever seen someone say they were unhappy, aside from the price.


-Mike
Old 05-31-2008, 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by chupr0kabra
QA1's tend to be more of a drag shock, from what I've read. I don't have any personal experience with them.

For that kind of money, and based on it being a "nice weather street car", you're probably better off getting a set of Koni SA's. Plenty of people on this board have them and I don't think I've ever seen someone say they were unhappy, aside from the price.


-Mike
maybe ill look into those as well....im definetly not gonna make a purchase that big until i fully research it so thanks for the info

i am gonna go with SFC weld in to start, then start getting other parts as i save money

what should be next after the SFCs?
Old 05-31-2008, 07:12 PM
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SFC's would be overkill for you. These are exceptionally stiff cars, not like the previous F-bodys and at least twice as stiff as a Mustang. Are you wanting to corner faster with more control on the back roads or are you more interesting in launching harder to deliver a knock-out punch from a stop light? Doing both is fine but you can't do both at the same time as well. Don't get me wrong you can still make both better than stock at the same time.

Vernon
Old 05-31-2008, 08:15 PM
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Shock and Springs should go together... Probably the LARGEST single improvement you can make to your car. The next step should be Sway Bars followed by Panhard Bar. The other stuff like LCA's and STB's can wait till last.

Call Sam Strano. Hes a great guy with tons of experience. He wont steer you in the wrong direction. His recommendation will probably be Koni Singles with his springs. Go for it, you wont be sorry.
Old 06-01-2008, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Manic Mechanic
SFC's would be overkill for you. These are exceptionally stiff cars, not like the previous F-bodys and at least twice as stiff as a Mustang. Are you wanting to corner faster with more control on the back roads or are you more interesting in launching harder to deliver a knock-out punch from a stop light? Doing both is fine but you can't do both at the same time as well. Don't get me wrong you can still make both better than stock at the same time.

Vernon
so your saying that i wouldnt see much improvement in handling overall with SFCs? your the first i have heard say that, reasoning?

Originally Posted by SVTHuh
Shock and Springs should go together... Probably the LARGEST single improvement you can make to your car. The next step should be Sway Bars followed by Panhard Bar. The other stuff like LCA's and STB's can wait till last.

Call Sam Strano. Hes a great guy with tons of experience. He wont steer you in the wrong direction. His recommendation will probably be Koni Singles with his springs. Go for it, you wont be sorry.
i probably will talk to him sometime this week and get an idea on what i should start with...thanks i forgot about him
Old 06-01-2008, 04:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ls1ssws6
so your saying that i wouldnt see much improvement in handling overall with SFCs? your the first i have heard say that, reasoning?
You really wont see much of an improvement from SFC's. Most people that do see an improvement are either putting them on after many other suspension mods and its tying everything together and letting everything work the way it should, or they are feeling a perceived improvement, with little or no improvement.


Dont get me wrong, I think SFC's are mandatory, but not as a first mod. Look at me, I have Koni DA's on all four corners with 650lb springs up front and hotchkis rear springs and 1LE swaybars and a UMI adjustable PHB to compensate for the lower ride height. I will end up doing the SFC's when I do the torque arm. My car is stiff and it out handles most other cars I run into on the road that I run into in the canyons.
Old 06-01-2008, 07:29 PM
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Originally Posted by ls1ssws6
so your saying that i wouldnt see much improvement in handling overall with SFCs? your the first i have heard say that, reasoning?
You need to search more then, most people cannot tell a difference with them.
Ive personally been in a car with SFC's, on a road that I drive on every day and I couldn't tell a difference in chassis flex(but this car was also on QA1's, which made it float and bounce all over).
If you are interested in handling, for our cars shocks are the #1 thing to consider first. The factory shocks are far from being up to par with what they should be. And this is why our cars have a floaty, disconnected sloppy feel and some bumps are jarring causing rattles.
Old 06-01-2008, 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by SVTHuh
You really wont see much of an improvement from SFC's. Most people that do see an improvement are either putting them on after many other suspension mods and its tying everything together and letting everything work the way it should, or they are feeling a perceived improvement, with little or no improvement.


Dont get me wrong, I think SFC's are mandatory, but not as a first mod. Look at me, I have Koni DA's on all four corners with 650lb springs up front and hotchkis rear springs and 1LE swaybars and a UMI adjustable PHB to compensate for the lower ride height. I will end up doing the SFC's when I do the torque arm. My car is stiff and it out handles most other cars I run into on the road that I run into in the canyons.
i see what your sayin.....thanks for yoru input

Originally Posted by JD_AMG
You need to search more then, most people cannot tell a difference with them.
Ive personally been in a car with SFC's, on a road that I drive on every day and I couldn't tell a difference in chassis flex(but this car was also on QA1's, which made it float and bounce all over).
If you are interested in handling, for our cars shocks are the #1 thing to consider first. The factory shocks are far from being up to par with what they should be. And this is why our cars have a floaty, disconnected sloppy feel and some bumps are jarring causing rattles.
your right maybe i should have said that most people suggest the SFCs but after other mods....

your sayin that with the QA1 coilovers our cars feel floaty and not stiffer? i was thinking about going with the QA1s but not if they dont stiffen the car at all.....i know im gonna do springs/shocks as the first mod then continue with the other suspension things....any suggestions on springs shocks for a mainly street cruising car that isnt a DD....i like the idea of coilovers or something that i could adjust the ride height to exactly where i want it though
Old 06-02-2008, 03:58 AM
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Shocks will make the biggest difference.Buy the koni's.You will be shocked at the difference they will make. Worth every penny.
Then do the other stuff after.IMO
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Old 06-02-2008, 07:24 AM
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QA1 is a drag shock exclusively. It will make the car very floaty, they are soft for drag racing.


Handling shock options are

- Koni Sport (4/3 or 4/4 setup, also called SA and DA respectively) - The best handling shock on the market for the fbody by far
- KYB AGX, a distant second to koni
- Topikco HP, a third behind KYB.

Do a search, order this:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=8

or if you can afford it, get that, and add this:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=8

I have basically the equivelent of HP1, and it totally transformed the car, it is a WONDERFUL difference, i LOVE it. Sway bars will only make it better.

really, the best thing to do, is call sam strano, he will talk to you about your car and what you want, and then make recommendations based on that, he won't oversell you and is a great guy to deal with.
Old 06-02-2008, 07:36 AM
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Originally Posted by ls1ssws6
your right maybe i should have said that most people suggest the SFCs but after other mods....

your sayin that with the QA1 coilovers our cars feel floaty and not stiffer? i was thinking about going with the QA1s but not if they dont stiffen the car at all.....i know im gonna do springs/shocks as the first mod then continue with the other suspension things....any suggestions on springs shocks for a mainly street cruising car that isnt a DD....i like the idea of coilovers or something that i could adjust the ride height to exactly where i want it though
QA1's are drag shocks, thats what they do. They are designed to allow lots of weight transfer, hence them being overly soft. At 60mph the car felt like a boat...
If you want suspension for nice firm handling look into Konis. If you want adjustable ride search for "ground control".
Old 06-02-2008, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by ThumperNC24
QA1 is a drag shock exclusively. It will make the car very floaty, they are soft for drag racing.


Handling shock options are

- Koni Sport (4/3 or 4/4 setup, also called SA and DA respectively) - The best handling shock on the market for the fbody by far
- KYB AGX, a distant second to koni
- Topikco HP, a third behind KYB.

Do a search, order this:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=8

or if you can afford it, get that, and add this:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=8

I have basically the equivelent of HP1, and it totally transformed the car, it is a WONDERFUL difference, i LOVE it. Sway bars will only make it better.

really, the best thing to do, is call sam strano, he will talk to you about your car and what you want, and then make recommendations based on that, he won't oversell you and is a great guy to deal with.
thanks for all the info, i will call sam today and see what exactly he recommends for me, then ill probably place an order for my first suspension mod i would probably order the things in the package seperatly due to money but i mean its only like 30 somethin bucks so its not too bad of a loss....thanks for your input it helped a lot

Originally Posted by JD_AMG
QA1's are drag shocks, thats what they do. They are designed to allow lots of weight transfer, hence them being overly soft. At 60mph the car felt like a boat...
If you want suspension for nice firm handling look into Konis. If you want adjustable ride search for "ground control".
i will do a little more research but it seems like the Konis are the best bet.....only thing is i dont want to get them on there and wish the car was even lower, it says up for a 3/4'' drop which doesnt seem like much that is why i really like the idea of the "ground controls" so i can set it to where i want it....any ideas on fixin this problem?
Old 06-02-2008, 12:41 PM
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ok i just got off the phone with sam from strano, hes probably bangin his head against the wall right now cause i was asking stupid questions but even though i could tell he was kinda annoyed he really helped and had me halfway through checkout of some of his springs till i sat and thought about if im gonna have clearance issues.....i have pacesetter longtubes with flowmaster single chamber turndowns....what would be the best way to see if the drop would be ok on my car other than actually throwin the springs on and crossing my fingers?




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