bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Currently my car is sitting on a Koni/Strano combo. The shocks are the on-car single adjustables.

I like the stance of the car, but as opposed to being "leveled" I'd really prefer just a slight rake. maybe 1/2"-3/4" lower in the front if possible. I know I could put them on the lower perch, but also know that causes premature wear on the shock and supposedly voids warranty with lowering springs?

Regardless, the combo is maybe a year and a half old and I've already had one of the front Konis take a dump on me. Car rides like a boat again like it did on decarbons/pro kit and its annoying to say the least. That, and it seems like every little vibration is felt in the seats/steering wheel. Honestly it doesn't make for an enjoyable ride.

SO, I'm considering going a whole new route with suspension. The car has been a daily for years, and probably will be for a while longer but hopefully not too much longer. I'm looking for a suspension setup that I can daily on Texas roads without being beat to death, have a decent stance, and actually perform with (curves and straight line). I realize you can't always have your cake and eat it too, so there will be some sacrifice here and there.

I'd like to hear some opinions from you guys as well as vendors here on some possible alternative setups, or maybe what I should do with my current setup.





I do plan on warrantying the shock, but still not confident that alone will fill my needs/wants. The car currently has subframe connectors, tubular LCA's w/relocation, tubular adjustable PHB w/relocation, aforementioned shock/springs, and Sam Strano's hollow 35mm/22mm adjustable sway bars. The car will see some track time, but mostly a street car that gets its fair share of road time. Thanks for any help!

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Also forgot to mention suspension has started to squeak like hell. I thought it was only the cold weather, but it has warmed up with no change. I'll probably replace as many bushings etc as possible while I'm at it.

Also forgot to mention my replacement bump stops, which are only 6-8 months old, have been beat to hell, one of which is now missing entirely. The car doesn't get driven that hard on rough roads, being lowered for 4+ years I'm well aware of the roads around here and how I should drive on them... Surely something is up.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

A lot of vibration and noise can be from those bushings if they're shot. Mine tightened up quite a bit after new bushings, tie rod ends, and shocks all around. I'm now running Strano/Bilsteins, with Moog rubber on everything up front, but replaced my rear LCAs with Founders 3 piece poly joint units. Very happy with this setup so far. Went from vibrating and driving like a clunker all over the road to grabbing the road (despite worn cheap Dunlop tires) but still being a more comfortable ride.

Bilsteins would sit the same as your current setup on the koni upper perch. From what I've read the Bilsteins are a little more comfortable a ride compared to Koni, but I don't have any first-hand experience there.

My nose sits a bit higher because it is just the V6 so there is not quite enough weight to drop it that last 1/2" or so. (Maybe I should throw a couple cinder blocks up there lol.)

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for your input! For the record it drove pretty well after the suspension was put on, but I just don't want to replace one shock and have the same issue with another (I'm only assuming the other 3 are fine at this point). That and, if I'm replacing suspension i might as well say third times a charm and get it 100% what i want.

camarokid91

I have been drooling over unbalanced engineering's penske kit for some time now, but this is $3500+.

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/

But lets get serious for a second. As far as the other stuff goes get the rebuilds or replace them. I have heard about rebuilds going out rather quickly. The front end squeak you are going to have to hunt down. Make sure everything is properly greased and check your sway bar mounts for bends/cracks. It is very common for them to break.

Sway bar mount replacement

http://blainefab.com/swaybrackets.html

As far as the ride height goes you can convert to coilovers rather cheap and still retain the same or more spring rate as Sam's springs. Using the following

Just dont run too much of a rake.

1.Your koni's
2. Allstar Performance coilover kit
http://pitstopusa.com/i-5070643-alls...it-koni-5.html
3. Factory upper mount
4.hyper coil or suspension specialist springs


(photo highjacked from Jeff94TA)

Pair all this up with the koni travel mod. I hope this helps.

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Excellent! just the kind of input i was looking for. The travel mod was something I had planned on looking into as well. As far as the squeak, its an all around squeak, not the sway bars. I'm almost 100% certain its shock/spring related. I've had the squeaky sway bar issue in the past.

Driver_10

What is this "travel Mod" you speak of?

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...ock-mount.html

Driver_10

Thanks for that tantilizing info! I just learned something new today!

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I think we need to slow down a little.

First, running the lower perch won't void the warranty, but it doesn't make life easier for the shock, and you have had one break. Now, I'm sure they will warranty is provided they don't find some evidence of something dumb having been done. And depending on what happened (I can only suspect), there is a way of ensuring the failure that I think it is won't happen again.

As for the squeak. It's not the shocks or the springs. It's probably a control arm bushing.

To be honest, if you want to be able to set your height you will want adjustment on the height, with Coil-overs. Trouble is most of drag oriented. And others aren't adjustable for damping. This is where I'd use a set of KW's (which also have less impact harshness than the Koni's do), and a lifetime warranty, and independent compression adjustment on the low piston speed side, which is what you want to have on compression so as not to wreck the ride.

camarokid91

Not trying to contradict your statement Sam but would Koni DA + the All star coil conversion achieve this?

Also on a side note Sam do you accept paypal for parts?

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

Wondering the same here Sam, I appreciate your advice and always have. Also wondering, what would you suspect caused the failure? Control arm bushings is a good idea though, and I'm sure your right there.

Just not looking forward to the warranty process and really want to avoid having to do it again, especially anytime in the near future.

And also Sam, how do you feel about the shock travel mod? That in conjunction with using the lower perch?

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

How much cheaper would that be compared to a KW? It sounds like it probably would. Maybe it's just a question of cost vs quality/benefit.

And do the Koni DA's allow less piston travel than the KWs? I thought I might have heard that.

Just trying to get an idea of the pros and cons of each.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Well, if you do the math on a set of Koni DA's and then buying the stuff to convert them (springs, perches, top hats, spanner, etc.) it doesn't work out a whole lot cheaper. AND then the front shocks have to be modified to accept the coil-overs, which could well mean warranty issues because if you break one (and they have limited front stroke travel) chances are Koni will tell you take a long walk off a short pier.

Then you have the other things. Like the fact the KW's are actually even better than Koni's over high piston speed impacts (sharp bumps like frost heaves, railroad tracks, even steep curbs at a track).

As for Paypal. I don't take it. Used to, but I found it was far, far easier for shady people to steal things (get the parts, claim they didn't and I was left holding the bag) than it is for them to do that with a credit card. Then when my Mom passed away I was denied access to an account my name was all over. So, I'm not a Paypal fan. I'll take a CC, I'll take a money order. I'll even take a personal check (after holding it to make sure it clears). I won't take Paypal.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I suspect it bottomed internally, which is one reason I don't recommend running the lower perch. But there is a way to make sure that doesn't happen again. I'm not going to say it publicly though, because I've had my fill of being open with the things I've learned to have others take it and run. If you're my customer (and I think you are), call me and we can talk about it. Happy to help you there.

As for the shock travel mod. it doesn't actually give you more shock travel. It just changes the mounting location of the shock, and frankly I don't see how to do that when using a stock spring because you'd be losing the part of the mount that locates the spring. With a coil-over that's a little different, but I'm not sure it nets you much. If you want to do it, ok... I don't think it'll hurt anything. I've never done, never found a need myself.

fasteddy

Sam......
What do you think about using those All Star sleeves with the Koni STRs.
Would that work? I wonder how noisy they are....sleeves always tend to slap back and forth.

It would give at least me the ability to adjust the ride hieght, which never comes out right....with "lowering springs" and change springs quickly when I don't like a particular spring rate......

And if you add it up its less than $200 per side.......

What size (length) springs should I get?

What is the stroke of the Koni ? 7 or 9

Thanks

bill12690

iTrader: (4)

10-4 Sam.. Thanks again as always. I'll give you a call when I have some time. FWIW my springs have never seen the lower perch just for that reason

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Slow down Tex... you're overthinking this. First, the STR.T's can't handle big springs if you are headed that way. They are ok with mine, but again the Sports are better (more rebound control).

Also what about the rear, because there are few weight jackers that don't require modification or welding to fit the rear (at least without falling out, I've seen that happen in person) and the two I know of don't come in anything less than a full 4 wheel kit.

Your stroke question about the Koni tells me you are looking at generic race type shocks. Front have nowhere near 7" of stroke.

fasteddy

The car I'm working on is a street car....and it has the koni SRTs on it now, and they are fine....but I don't like the front springs and the last of adjustable ride height.....
So I was just looking for and easy way to get there while retaining the Konis.

So what springs should I try with the sleeves? 275lb or 300lb? and what length? 10inch or 12 inch......

The rears I am fine with....its easy to change those springs anyway....and they make 800 different rear coils that can be swapped inside of 20 minutes.
The fronts are a different story.....just trying to make it easier to tune.

JD_AMG

Doesn't matter. The shocks damp the spring regardless if you are building a race car or street car. What Sam is saying is the shocks will not only have a hard time with a higher spring rate, but also not last as long as the Koni SA's on that higher rate/less travel. While you certainly can use the STR's, and they are leaps and bounds better than the stock Decarbons, they still are not *ideal* for lowering.

Depends on some things. While you say its a street car, does that mean you want better handling? Ride quality? Or does that not matter and you just want a lower look?
FYI stock LS1 front springs are 292lbs/in, if you plan on going lower than stock you want to UP the spring rate to compensate. Sam's springs lower the car roughly 1.2" from stock height and are 550lbs/in, so if you want to be around that height or lower you definitely want to be close to those rates, other wise the spring will be too soft and you will hit the bumpstops more often and harder than you should be.