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New Owner--My Firehawk has 67K miles and seems to drive a bit jittery. Can I replace the original DeCarbons with the Bilstein HD without messing around with replacing springs and be OK.
I recall that the Firehawk came with the same custom SLP versions of the Bilstein shocks that the Camaro SS did. (Slightly different from the regular Bilsteins.)
I thought the 2002 Firehawk came from SLP with their package that included the Bilstein shocks. Did they keep the stock DeCarbons and springs on the convertibles?
If the shocks are orange, they are DeCarbons, and 67k is right around the time when they're done. If they're yellow, they're Bilsteins, and still should have life in them.
My car '02 Hawk Vert --ORANGE- stock original deCarbon comes on a Firehawk unless you paid another $800 for the SLP level 2 option- Bilstein and springs. I JUST want to replace the shocks with Bilsteins for $380 and NOT do the springs . ASKING if this will be OK to do, weekend and pleasure driver car.
Got them in and much improved. The original DeCarbon shocks were toast. Got New Firehawk Tires...all suspension parts and trans mount look good...next will put in a shock tower brace, although many have said it doesn't do much I think it sure couldn't hurt being a convertible. Thanks for the response all.
I did the tires first and that solved the problem of the car wanting to track all over the place with grooves in the asphalt. With new shocks it is not all jittery at roll from stop and low speeds. Most vibration through the steering wheel is gone. I did not get up to higher speeds yet, was just starting to rain, I expect it to be nice, over the train tracks was firm yet comfortable like it should be. I took an old shock and compressed it on the ground and oil shot out of it- no surprise.
Nice! Sounds like it was worth it. I'm about to do some Koni STR.T's next week. My DeCarbons have about 90k, and while it's normal bouncy per se, it does feel harsh. So I'm anxious to feel the difference
I've not run Bilsteins on a Fbody, but I can say that on all the vehicles I have run Bilstein HD shocks on that they are an excellent replacement shock for a vehicle using OEM springs. They are very hard to beat as an all-around, do everything well shock for an otherwise factory suspension setup and they're priced right. My truck has them.
If I was just using OEM springs I would of just bought some Bilstein HD instead of spending likely more than double on my Koni 4/4's. They're not the best for a lowered vehicle though as Bilstein seems to make the HD's to work at stock ride heights.
I can't recommend anything less than Strano springs and Koni yellows. Stock springs are meh and probably have sagged by now, and stock shocks are a big effin problem even newish.
Two rules of thumb for the new f-body owner:
Expect to replace your shocks and 10-bolt rear-end. It's almost required even if working right (it won't for long).
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Replacement for DeCarbon shocks 
