smokin' joe 00 ss

Can the SLP Bilstein's be re-valved like the HD Bilstein's can and if so who does it? I want to go to a coil over kit so I can get a 1" drop since I have SLP LT's and I'll be running a 600lb spring on the front and a 150 on the rear and I'm running a 32mm front sway bar and a 21mm on the rear.
Thank's!

DARK AGE 53

Hey Joe, Probably the best place to find out what you need is www.stranoparts.com ,later.

Al

ritz

iTrader: (1)

I spoke with Sam Strano about re-valving used Bilsteins. He informed me that they don't do it anymore because they have received many shocks that no only need re-valving, but new parts also, so the customer ending up paying more money to have the shocks sent to Bilstein to be fixed where they could've just bought a new set.

smokin' joe 00 ss

Hey Al, yea I posted on their site but forgot to ask about re-valving my SLP Bilstein's. I think I'm going with their Ground Control setup and some 600lb springs up front since my swaybar is only 32mm if I swap it out for a 35mm I could go with some 500lb springs instead.

smokin' joe 00 ss

Thats what I was afraid of even those these are in great shape I wouldn't be able to get them re-valved.
Thank's

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

If they are in really good shape, maybe you could sell them and get new ones revalved. Personally, I'd prefer the adjustable Koni SA for the front.

smokin' joe 00 ss

Where's a good place to get the Koni SA's?

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Sam Strano, of course. He hooked me up with mine. He's a good guy and can tell you how to adjust them, etc... He really knows his stuff.

absolut_speed

iTrader: (1)

I think Bilstein will revalve for you, if you have specs. I think they can also help out with the specs if you give them your spring info as well.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

The specs to revalve it to are the most important thing. Only Sam can tell you what specs would work for a specific application. So it's a Catch 22.

Sam is the only one that knows the f-body well enough to figure out what valving would work for you in a real world application.

Bilstein would do it, but what would you tell them to do? They don't know what would work best for you, your car, how you drive or the other suspension pieces in your setup.

absolut_speed

iTrader: (1)

I respect Sam's opinion, but saying only Sam could give you the spec seems to be a stretch. After all, Bilstein does make a decent shock (HD) matched to the stock springs, so they must know something.

It seems to me if they have a baseline of knowledge, and you tell them what spring rates and sway bars you have, they could come up with something better suited to you than the SLP or HD versions.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

The factory Bilsteins are right on the edge of being able to control the factory 300lb springs, so yes they were close, but they really need some more low speed rebound to be better suited to them. So SLP can get it close, but they have no where near the experience of manipulating the valving of a specific platform (f-body) like Sam does and then go out on a race track and prove that the change works or doesn't work.

I really do mean it when I say he's the only one. At least the only one to actually offer up his knowledge to the common guy. There may be others, but they won't help you out.

The reason Sam knows so much about valving them is beause some of the stock classes that Sam races in (or used to race in) require you to use stock springs, so he started doing all this custom shock work to help compensate for those springs to make his car handle better. He's spent years trying different combinations with these shocks so he knows exactly what kind of valving in this area can make the car do that, etc... He's kinda the Shock Guru around here.

When you want to get them revalved, you would call Sam at Strano Parts and he will ask you a lot of questions and then figure out what the best valving would be for your specific situation. He'll then call Bilstein and custom order your shocks with his recommended valving specs. Bilstein will build it and you'll have your full warranty on them because they are factory built.

The only reason he does this is to save poeple money. Some people don't like having to dial in their shocks either so a plug and play option is appealing to some folks also.

If he didn't offer his services, you would probably have to get some Koni SA. They offer the same performance, but need adjusting and cost more. So it's up to you what to decide.

smokin' joe 00 ss

Thank's guy's for the input I really need a shock that won't compress real easy since I'm going to go with Sam's Ground Controll set up because I have SLP LT's and I want to lower it around 1" and I don't want to bang the LT's on the road when I hit a hard bank curve which I did before with my SLP Bilstein's with Hotchkis spring's so that why I jack it back up with the stock spring's and sold the other's. I love all this info I wish there was a good site on spring and shock rate's where I could learn alittle more about rebound and compression of different shock-spring setup's.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

There is a site which compiles all the spring rates as well as a few basic shock stuff:
http://www.angelfire.com/my/fastcar/suspension.html
But really, the shock valving is considered corporate secrets. No one publishes that stuff. It's not so bad though. If you get enough people, trying enough combinations, you will get spring rates and shock combos that are proven to work on these 4th gen f-bodies. There are several proven combo's right now.

The Ground Control setup, at least on the front, is an excellent idea. You can fine tune the ride height to go as low as you want without hitting or scraping the headers.