A502slo

iTrader: (4)

Ok i am done, i have gone bonkers trying to understand this. I have a 99SS with LG springs waiting to go on. What shock can i run. I dont understand y LG would sell shocks that wont work right<from what i read?> I mean these guys are awsome at road racing. SO why wont it work?? and more inportant what shock should i go with?? I have seen people talking about the KA but whats the part number and how much are they?? Last what would happen if i did run the LG with the HD??

thanks everyone

Damian

DesertFox

iTrader: (2)

I know a guy that ran his 2002 camaro in street mod for SCCA auto-xing. he ran the LG springs with Koni single adjustables. If I recall correctly he ran the LG's b/c they weren't progressive or were less progressive than the alternatives. If this is going to be a car for competition, or even just spirited street driving I don't think you can go wrong with a set of Koni's, everyone I have seen get them (with and w/o new springs) has been more than satisfied with them.

Also, wait for Sam Strano to chime in, he seems to know everything about stuff "down there". haha

Josh

A502slo

iTrader: (4)

its not the springs i question is the shocks. and why if there so bad for this setup does LG sell them

Urban Legend

iTrader: (5)

I have been running Koni SAs/G2 Supersprings for about 7 months now. The set up works good. However, the rear springs are a little on the stiff side. But the car rides a whole lot better than it did with the stock crap.

Killer_Bluebird

iTrader: (23)

The Bilstein HD shocks (in stock form) are not recomended for stiffer than stock springs as they do not offer adequate damping for stiffer springs. The LG Springs are 548 # as supose to the stock 360 # in your car so the shock has a lot more force that the shocks needs to control. You actually could use Bilsteins with the LG springs but it is highly recomended that you have them revalved to match your springs and swaybar setup. The only problem is that if you change your set up you would want to re-valve again the shocks to make the most out of the suspension. This is the reason why most people buy Koni Single or Double adjustables shocks. As to why LG does sell them I can not speak for them, I also do not know if the do custom valved blisteins. Sam will be able to help you with this and offer a solution to fit your budget. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

A502slo

iTrader: (4)

ty. see that was simple. lol

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Understand that the simple explaination was contrived by an LG competitor.

Not hating, just the whole story.

A502slo

iTrader: (4)

ok explain. i am here to learn.

Louis

iTrader: (7)

All of the Super spring testing was done on a bilstein HD for many reasons:

The car did not exhibit any evil handling characteristics what-so-ever, or any handling issues that would necessitate a shock adjustment.
The availibility of Bilstein HDs is like walking into a grocery store and buying milk. No waiting for the cow to be milked, processed and then sold to you..
We valve our coil over setups, if we felt it was necessary to revalve the HDs we would certainly offer that.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding your particular setup.

Louis

A502slo

iTrader: (4)

Wow, what a suprise to see this, and i am glad to see you come on here and answer. My GF got me some LGG2 for bday but after over hearing me talking on here she did not buy shocks cause she was confused as me. Anyways i was looking into using the Bilstiens sports?? as used in the z51vette. Thats looks like a great choice aswell. Also tell bobby thanks for all his help and parts, great guy you have there and is always

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I too am glad Louis came along.

I ran the G2 springs and Bilstein HDs for years without an issue. My feud about this issue is well documented.

Revalved shocks has their niche, no doubt there. But for a daily driver, there is plenty of shock there for an off the shelf spring.

Speedpup

who know's more than Louis? Look how his car runs against factory teams

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Look you are free to believe whatever the hell you want. Mitch and I went rounds on this many times, and you know... when he finally got some better shocks he found the car better.... right Mitch?

Simply put, and this is all I have to say about this *AGAIN*. Shocks are spring dampers. The springs you have are much stiffer than stock. Bilstein HD's are not valved for such a spring rate, by Bilstein's own admission, and I'm sure if you could get your hands on the valving curves for G2's coil-overs which use very similar rates, you'd find they use more damping than a set of Bilstein HD's. So I ask you, which is right?

Bilstein and myself when they say the damping is not up to the job (and never mind the fact Bilstein recently changed valvings and lost a lot of rear rebound control making things even worse).

Or LG when the say they developed their springs to work with HD's. HD's that were developed by Bilstein to work with the stock GM springs that are 292 front/115 rear rates vs. 550 front and 180-225 or 230 rear.

You make your own decision, but base it on facts please.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

And I've spoken to A502slo more than once about this. He knows right where I stand, but he doesn't fully grasp why shocks matter and keeps getting hung up on "they say it's ok". That's fine, but I've done my best to explain it.

Bottom line here is I told him Koni's with those springs. Not that those springs wouldn't work. He doesn't want to spend the money. And even with other springs, I still think you need better shocks than HD's. This isn't just an "LG" thing, it's a damping thing, and that applies to any lowering spring, just more so when you get to stiff ones like those.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

On a race car, Mr. Strano. My street car still has those tired old HDs and G2 springs and handled just fine.

And guess what ... this guy has a street car looking for a replacement shock in order to make DE event. Very simple. He's not looking for a salesman to try and sell him something he doesn't need. Find your lemming pool and hawk your wares over there. There are plenty of folks clammering to follow you Mr. Piper.

This guy and I have discussed his situation for a while. If he were closer to me, I'd lone him a set of Konis for the rear just to get him through the weekend. You see, he has a busted shock and a DE event coming up. Didn't know that, did you.

I get a lot of e-mail and PMs asking about what parts to use. Why?

Because I don't have anything to sell. I've learned a little over the last few years. And it's mostly arguing with you. I still think you are full of crap. That certainly hasn't changed.

And I rarely suggest a specific part. why? because what I think is tight, might be loose for the owner. This cookie cutter, follow me attitude just doesn't cut it, sir. It's a marketing ploy ... and a damn good one.

Unlike you, I don't try to sabotage another person's thread nor do I try and point any one to a part of vendor. I do promote educating someone so that they can chose for themselves.

You should give that a try. It's much more stisfying for the soul ...

And please stop putting words in my mouth. You and I will never see eye to eye on a putting a race prepped shock on a street car. It's lining your pockets and taking advantage of these guys, selling them something they will never get the full potential of.

It's like putting a 100 shot of nitrous on a commuter car. Sure it'll be faster .. but what's the point?

This is an LG help thread. Last I saw, you were not LG help. Show a little class and simple respect, Okay? Your arrogance simply amazes me.

Finally, if you care to look, Lou and LGM parts are leading the points in the WORLD challenge. While it ain't Topeka, it is significant.

JohnTre

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

John, that is probably the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.
And the really sad thing is that it's so true.

<sigh>

A502slo

iTrader: (4)

Hey i did not want this to start into a fight. I did not understand shocks that well. And have learned alot. I also did not understand why someone would sell something that did not work and wanted to here why. Yes budget is a problem. the other problem is my GF bought me the springs and shocks. Then a helper at work broke one. So thus my other problem. I am not looking into a all out race car. Want something that better then stock and something that wont kill my Kidneys when daily driving. Also im on a budget. If i could i would get coilovers. I do think the HD have there place, and for how i drive i think it would be fine. I realy done think i could push the KA to there full use. I would like to thank all who gave advise on this. After all not all of us race evryday.

ps what would you do

Stock springs and shocks
G2 springs and stock shocks
sportlines and stock shocks

ok there that is what i am stuck with.

Glenn98ZM6

i ran the G2 and Bilstien HD set-up on the track from '99 to '04. same shocks. never had one fail. car handled very good for a street car. i had 315 V-700's on all 4's. put the HD's on and drive the car. you will be fine. the sky will not fall.

Killer_Bluebird

iTrader: (23)

From the selection above I would go with "Stock springs and shocks". If you really want to run the G2, HD should be consider the minimum.

Now I do want to put my 2 cents on this. First of all I have no vested interest in either Louis or Sam. I have a lot of respect for both. I consider a 540# front spring a pretty close to an entry level race spring and not a purely street spring, I do know that some real race cars run up to 1,000# front springs, but most dual purpose track cars and Auto Xers are running between 500# and #600 front springs. So why would you buy an entry level race spring and mate it with a purely street shock. I had Koni's with the stock springs and they handle great over the the shitty decarbons. So I know how much a shock will improve the ride and handling. I mean over 1 G of lateral force on 1Le springs and all season tires is nothing to sneeze at. Of course this was at a track and I will never reach that on the street an probably neither will A502slo (although I can't speak for him). I'm in the middle putting stiffer springs right now so we'll see how the car feels after that.

Now since this is a gift there is no sense arguing about it! Get a replacement HD and run them together. If you don't like them, then take them out sell them and save a little more to buy some koni sa's (shop around sometimes you can find better deals out on the internet) to go along with the springs. Heck I don't know if the new Koni non-adjustable shocks are out for F-bodies but that might be an alternative.

A502slo if the above mentioned choices are all you can do right now, stay with stock set up for now. Otherwise run the LG springs with the HD it is your car after all! Let us know how it goes! If your happy with the set up that's all that ultimately matter.