Going low without riding rough
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 16
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From: New York
Going low without riding rough Is it even possible
I have a 1998 Trans AM. I don't plan on tracking the car or racing it. I am just looking to go about one inch lower all around while keeping the car riding smooth, since where I live its nothing but hills and pot holes from hell. I have been seeing a lot on Koni shocks but I am not so sure I can handle the price. Any help would be great, Thanks in advance
Mike
I have a 1998 Trans AM. I don't plan on tracking the car or racing it. I am just looking to go about one inch lower all around while keeping the car riding smooth, since where I live its nothing but hills and pot holes from hell. I have been seeing a lot on Koni shocks but I am not so sure I can handle the price. Any help would be great, Thanks in advanceMike
A lowered vehicle will ride differently theres no way around that. You have to give in order to receive. Meaning if you want to make the car handle likes its never done before, you have to be willing to give up some ride quality. Konis are amazing, hands down. They will transform your cars ride.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: New York
I do realize its not going to be the exact same ride, but as close to the way it was stock is what I am looking for. I know A lot of stuff can make a car ride like a Sherman tank 
so I am trying to stay away from that
so I am trying to stay away from that 
TECH Resident
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 827
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From: Dallas, TX
I have this setup and while I like it a lot I am pretty sure this is not what the OP is looking for. The ride is very taunt even w/ the rebound on the Konis dialed down.
IMO your best shot is to do Konis w/ stock springs and move to the lower perch and do the hose mod in the rear. This will drop you about 3/4 inch and the ride will be good. If you need less roll some aftermarket sways will be the ticket.
This is the only 'standard' route that is going to end up w/ any kind of decent ride. Most aftermarket springs will have too high of a spring rate for a comfortable ride. The rate is higher to compensate for the decreased travel....and pairing any lowering spring w/o a quality shock is a recipe for disaster in the ride and handling department.
IMO your best shot is to do Konis w/ stock springs and move to the lower perch and do the hose mod in the rear. This will drop you about 3/4 inch and the ride will be good. If you need less roll some aftermarket sways will be the ticket.
This is the only 'standard' route that is going to end up w/ any kind of decent ride. Most aftermarket springs will have too high of a spring rate for a comfortable ride. The rate is higher to compensate for the decreased travel....and pairing any lowering spring w/o a quality shock is a recipe for disaster in the ride and handling department.
Not for everyone is. OP, must ask yourself...is it a DD? weekend ride? If you live in pot hole hell then maybe keeping it stock is better. Strano/Konis will ride rough, anyone saying differently is just lying or just repeating the same scratched record you hear here.
Maybe Konis with stock springs and heater hose mode in the back could work for you. Some say even cutting springs but Im not that sure about that.
Either way keep researching your setup and even I may suggest to research outside this website and go to the real world, ask guys what setups they have etc....
Good luck!
Maybe Konis with stock springs and heater hose mode in the back could work for you. Some say even cutting springs but Im not that sure about that.
Either way keep researching your setup and even I may suggest to research outside this website and go to the real world, ask guys what setups they have etc....
Good luck!
I have this setup and while I like it a lot I am pretty sure this is not what the OP is looking for. The ride is very taunt even w/ the rebound on the Konis dialed down.
IMO your best shot is to do Konis w/ stock springs and move to the lower perch and do the hose mod in the rear. This will drop you about 3/4 inch and the ride will be good. If you need less roll some aftermarket sways will be the ticket.
This is the only 'standard' route that is going to end up w/ any kind of decent ride. Most aftermarket springs will have too high of a spring rate for a comfortable ride. The rate is higher to compensate for the decreased travel....and pairing any lowering spring w/o a quality shock is a recipe for disaster in the ride and handling department.
IMO your best shot is to do Konis w/ stock springs and move to the lower perch and do the hose mod in the rear. This will drop you about 3/4 inch and the ride will be good. If you need less roll some aftermarket sways will be the ticket.
This is the only 'standard' route that is going to end up w/ any kind of decent ride. Most aftermarket springs will have too high of a spring rate for a comfortable ride. The rate is higher to compensate for the decreased travel....and pairing any lowering spring w/o a quality shock is a recipe for disaster in the ride and handling department.
Got ninja'ed by you dude.
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I had my car on Konis with 1LE springs (original on my 98SS) on the lower perch and hose mod rear. The ride was great and handling was not bad either. I just wasn't satisfied with the look, after previously been on DMS springs. I just got a set of strano springs, but have only had time to put the rears on (it sits in the garage I don't drive it everyday anyway). I test drove it over the weekend with just the rears changed to the strano springs and didn't notice any difference in ride quality from the stock springs. now just have to get the front strano springs on to get the nose down.
without a doubt, budget being a consideration, I would recommend you put all your money into a set of Konis rather then getting cheaper shocks AND lowering springs. That way you can use Konis lower front perch (no other shock has that) and do the hose mod rear for a slight drop and be able to tune/adjust the shocks exactly to your liking. In the future, if you ever feel the need to go lower, you can get springs and already have the best shocks available to work with them. The only people who would disagree would be the ones who can't/won't afford the konis.
without a doubt, budget being a consideration, I would recommend you put all your money into a set of Konis rather then getting cheaper shocks AND lowering springs. That way you can use Konis lower front perch (no other shock has that) and do the hose mod rear for a slight drop and be able to tune/adjust the shocks exactly to your liking. In the future, if you ever feel the need to go lower, you can get springs and already have the best shocks available to work with them. The only people who would disagree would be the ones who can't/won't afford the konis.
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Hello
I noticed that you were considering on lowering the vehicle for a better ride quality. And I just wanted to remind you that I would suggest going with a adjustable pan hard bar to allow you to recenter the rear end back under the vehicle. To maintain a good ride quality I would suggest going with a poly/poly or a roto joint set up. Below is a link to show you what all UMI Performance has to offer!
http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...4u7r8im3qig2c7
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help!
Thanks
Brad
I noticed that you were considering on lowering the vehicle for a better ride quality. And I just wanted to remind you that I would suggest going with a adjustable pan hard bar to allow you to recenter the rear end back under the vehicle. To maintain a good ride quality I would suggest going with a poly/poly or a roto joint set up. Below is a link to show you what all UMI Performance has to offer!
http://www.umiperformance.com/catalo...4u7r8im3qig2c7
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help!
Thanks
Brad
i have the BMR springs with koni 4/4s
the only time i notice the ride being more harsh is on sharp "cracks" in the road. things like where the pavement of the road meet the concret of a bridge...and form a 1-2" lip. those are much sharper than on stock springs. but all other imprefections in the road are smoother with the spring/koni's.
but honestly....you're probabaly going to be most happy as far as ride quality with the Koni's and stock springs. you'll get a small drop in stance, a top quality dampener and the ability to swap to lower springs in the future without replacing shocks again.
only having to buy the Koni's and an alignment is alot cheaper than dealing with the springs, shocks, adj phb and alignment
the only time i notice the ride being more harsh is on sharp "cracks" in the road. things like where the pavement of the road meet the concret of a bridge...and form a 1-2" lip. those are much sharper than on stock springs. but all other imprefections in the road are smoother with the spring/koni's.
but honestly....you're probabaly going to be most happy as far as ride quality with the Koni's and stock springs. you'll get a small drop in stance, a top quality dampener and the ability to swap to lower springs in the future without replacing shocks again.
only having to buy the Koni's and an alignment is alot cheaper than dealing with the springs, shocks, adj phb and alignment
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: New York
Yeah its a weekend car lol, I will probably go with the Koni's then. sounds like they are the best shock out there anyway from what I have read. Guess these are going on the parts list lol
I went from stock shocks/springs to Eibach Pro-Kit/Gabriel shocks...the WORST mod I've ever done to my car...the ride was VERY rough and I didn't enjoy driving it. The ONLY thing I liked was the lowered stance. I decided to spend the money and hope the Strano/Koni set-up was as good as all the hype and I wasn't dissappointed. My goal was to get as close to the stock ride as I could but have the lowered stance just so I could get back to the car's "baseline" handling. On the softest setting on the Koni shocks w/Strano springs, I actually thought the car rode and handled as well, if not better, than stock. Of course since the shocks are adjustable, I've played with the settings and the Koni shocks can get VERY firm and the handling improves as well, or you can adjust them to where you like them best...I finally settled on 1.5 sweeps up from the softest setting and I'm very happy with the ride and handling at this point and if I ever do decide to got Auto-Xing or anything, I know I can change the settings and then change them back.
I too, was looking for a stock ride with lowering springs, and I agree that the Koni/Strano set-up can deliver just about anything you want...race car firm, or stock soft or anywhere in between.
I'm one of the ones that had to learn the hard way by just getting the cheap springs and shocks, and then I paid again to do it the "right" way.
I too, was looking for a stock ride with lowering springs, and I agree that the Koni/Strano set-up can deliver just about anything you want...race car firm, or stock soft or anywhere in between.
I'm one of the ones that had to learn the hard way by just getting the cheap springs and shocks, and then I paid again to do it the "right" way.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: New York
That's good to hear that this set up rides nice, I made the same mistake you did with my daily driver before it became the daily driver lol, I put a set coil overs on my Subaru and the thing road like total ****, while it looked pretty mean and handled like a fighter jet the car took bumps like a tractor. just driving down the highway you could feel everything, even **** you couldn't see on the road like those tiny cracks lol
I had my car on Konis with 1LE springs (original on my 98SS) on the lower perch and hose mod rear. The ride was great and handling was not bad either. I just wasn't satisfied with the look, after previously been on DMS springs. I just got a set of strano springs, but have only had time to put the rears on (it sits in the garage I don't drive it everyday anyway). I test drove it over the weekend with just the rears changed to the strano springs and didn't notice any difference in ride quality from the stock springs. now just have to get the front strano springs on to get the nose down.
without a doubt, budget being a consideration, I would recommend you put all your money into a set of Konis rather then getting cheaper shocks AND lowering springs. That way you can use Konis lower front perch (no other shock has that) and do the hose mod rear for a slight drop and be able to tune/adjust the shocks exactly to your liking. In the future, if you ever feel the need to go lower, you can get springs and already have the best shocks available to work with them. The only people who would disagree would be the ones who can't/won't afford the konis.
without a doubt, budget being a consideration, I would recommend you put all your money into a set of Konis rather then getting cheaper shocks AND lowering springs. That way you can use Konis lower front perch (no other shock has that) and do the hose mod rear for a slight drop and be able to tune/adjust the shocks exactly to your liking. In the future, if you ever feel the need to go lower, you can get springs and already have the best shocks available to work with them. The only people who would disagree would be the ones who can't/won't afford the konis.
Not for everyone is. OP, must ask yourself...is it a DD? weekend ride? If you live in pot hole hell then maybe keeping it stock is better. Strano/Konis will ride rough, anyone saying differently is just lying or just repeating the same scratched record you hear here.
Maybe Konis with stock springs and heater hose mode in the back could work for you. Some say even cutting springs but Im not that sure about that.
Either way keep researching your setup and even I may suggest to research outside this website and go to the real world, ask guys what setups they have etc....
Good luck!
Maybe Konis with stock springs and heater hose mode in the back could work for you. Some say even cutting springs but Im not that sure about that.
Either way keep researching your setup and even I may suggest to research outside this website and go to the real world, ask guys what setups they have etc....
Good luck!
my car with slightly cut springs and Koni 4/4's dialed downrides better than just about every lowered car i have ever been in 
Get the koni sa's and do the lower perch/ heater hose mod that will give you the best ride quality.That's what I did to my t/a.As far as lowering springs goes,Strano's are the best.
My friend has them on his t/a with the koni's.The ride is a little stiff for my tastes.The roads
are complete **** here in southern california.That's why I chose to use the stock springs.
Shocks will make the biggest difference in the ride quality.I would stay away from lowering springs if I were you.If you have the funds you could try the strano springs and if you don't like them go back to stock.
My friend has them on his t/a with the koni's.The ride is a little stiff for my tastes.The roads
are complete **** here in southern california.That's why I chose to use the stock springs.
Shocks will make the biggest difference in the ride quality.I would stay away from lowering springs if I were you.If you have the funds you could try the strano springs and if you don't like them go back to stock.
