I have Koni front and Bilstein rear shocks and factory springs and does not have the 4X4 look it actually has between 1"-2" approx. gap and rides pretty nice, I am happy with the front, but the rear when hitting a dip or going over R/R tracks, etc the car bottoms out, now if I used a stiffer spring would it handle and ride close?, maybe a variable spring?

 

its your shocks. thats why your front is good and your rear isnt.

 

Why do you say that? Do you not like the bilstein or do you think I have a problem with one or both?

 

If your car have the aluminum spacers above the rear bumpstops, remove them!
That will give you a little more suspension travel,so you're not on the bumpstops as much!

 

if you dont have the proper springs to damper the drop they will bottom out like that. i never bottom out on my car and im dropped probably 1.5" all the way around and i have konis on all fours.

 

The problem is most likely with the shocks, not the springs. You don't have enough compression damping. Do the Bilsteins have a lot of miles on them?

 

shocks for sure... bilsteins with stock springs should not have a drop at all. Stock springs with koni's Ive heard can mildly drop (not 100% sure).

 

Maybe rebound dampening, but not compression dampening.

 

Think about it: if he goes over a bump and the shock and spring compress to the point where he hits the bumpstop, he's lacking compression damping. The shock is bagged out.

 

Yup. Get some Konis to match your front and I'd go with Strano springs, but thats just me.

 

The car only has 22,000 on it and yes the shocks were one of the first mods...at Strano's recomendation after the shocks were put on while going over a R/R and turning, the rear will sometimes loose traction and 'float" a little and Strano said to get a pair of non-WS6 bump stops, not sure the logic in this because I think they are longer so they force the rear back down sooner to keep the traction? I don't know, the car feels like it bottoms out a fair amount, if this is the longer bump stops, maybe I need to go back to the stockers or maybe it's just the shocks, springs, rear end, rear sway bar, torque arm, etc are all stock if that helps.

 

The non-WS6 bump stops are longer, yes, but also softer and more progressive than the WS6 bumpstops so its not as jarring when you hit them.
If your rear end is "floating" its probably time for some new rear shocks assuming everything else is in working order.

 

More Compression dampening isn't a cure for:

1. driving to fast for the road conditions.
2. too soft of a spring rate.
3. lack of suspension travel.
4. insufficient rebound dampening.
5. all of the above, or any combination of the above.

You have the basic idea right and he probably does need new rear shocks, but the cure isn't more compression dampening because that's not the underlying cause.

 

Right - but I'm not talking about the damping the shocks were built with, but the behavior of worn out shocks. Damping goes away both in compression and rebound. Hit a bump, and compression of the spring is not damped. He hits the bumpstops.

 

Compression damping does not control the weight of the car. Compression damping controls unsprung weight (the wheels, tires, brakes, axle, TA, half the PHB's weight, half the LCA's weight).

Respectfully you guys need to get it through your heads () that it's not bad or abnormal to hit your bumpstops. How you hit them, or if you are riding on them where the shock is not given room to do some damping is a problem. But the term bottoming out, and hitting bumpstops is used interchangeably and with an automatic assumption that hitting the stops is the end of the world. It's not.

Now, the Z28 stops are softer. So when you hit the stops you get a more gradual rising wheel rate vs. the WS6/SS type stops. The Z28's are no longer when you consider the WS6/SS stops use a spacer, in fact the oveall height is the same, but the black ones are more abrupt. I spoke to a man yesterday (in suspect the same person) about this. And the car was using Z28 stops *with* the bumpstop spacers from a Z28. I recommened he fix that and see what the result is.

I'm not saying that he might not want to change rear shocks. Though I see in this post he's saying he as Koni fronts, and if it's the same man he told me he had Revalves on the car front and rear. And ultimately a shock change might help.

However-- He could not tell me if the ride has changed over the miles (which makes me think it hasn't and that shock wear is not the issue). Further until the bumpstop setup is fixed and assessed I can't recommend anything as much as someone might like me too. My bag isn't just blurting out parts you could use, but trying to recommend the correct part for the job. Clearly we can't get an accurate read they way the bumpstops were setup.