at23520

iTrader: (1)

mine doesnt ride ROUGH & i still use stock shocks. an average bump doesnt do much. with the lowered center of gravity i can weave around the above average bumps. the only thing that scrapes is the trans mount, but barely

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Look at any other car type for good shocks/coilover combo. Most are well over 600 bucks.

The reason why I and probably many others rely on Strano's advice is that he has had experience trying out many different setups. I'd much rather trust one expert's opinion than a bunch of average joes who have tried stock, and one setup. There are a handful of people here who have compared two different aftermarket suspension setups who would also be reliable sources of information. The info is out there though, just gotta search for it. Also since he's won quite a few autox national championships, I go with what he says. I would look to others who have similar credentials for opinions, but there are none others currently on this message board.

There's more expensive shocks out there like Penske's which are like twice the price of Koni if not more. Koni's are good enough such that most aftermarket springs can be dampened properly with these.

michaelg589

iTrader: (1)

DO NOT cut a coil off of your springs. worst thing to do. Do it right and buy aftermarket springs. I think with the heater hose mod in the rear and sportlines up front, it might be a little too low in front. Sportlines are a BIG drop from what I've seen. They advertise 1.8" and it usually looks like more than 2 sometimes. Do a prokit up front. I think that'd look very nice.

JD_AMG

We are giving you opinions, the other shocks suck.
Sam recommends quality shocks, the others are cheap for a reason, they cannot damper and break all the time (do a search, you will see them literally falling apart)
https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-firebird-1967-2002/732434-my-trans-am-new-paint-dropped-20-s-pics-new-18-s-56k-go-eat-food.html

They will be "better" for STOCK SPRINGS. Think about like a tune, if you have full boltons and a cam your going to have a different tune than stock. Would you rather do a cheap handheld tune and have the car running half assed, or get a real dyno tune for more money?

REDHOT7

Here's how I approached it with a limited budget. First, I removed the Riken 245/50-16s from the back wheels and replaced them with Kuhmo 255/60-16s. That jacked up the rear end a bit and made it look a whole lot better because it filled up the ugly fender gap in the rear. But I needed to do the same thing with the front. However, being a 4th gen Camaro owner for many years and loving it's wedge shape, I wasn't happy at all with the sedan-like look of the Trans Am. So I decided to improve its looks and give it that wedge shape by lowering only the front end. So I bought the Eibach Sportline springs and KYB AGX adjustable shocks for the front. But I had done some research on this forum first and found that some people had problems using KYB AGX and that some even said their shocks broke at the mounts. So I called KYB and talked to their technical dept. The tech rep told me that although their AGX adjustables are actually made to work with the Eibach Proline springs, that as long as I stayed away from settings 1-3, that I should be ok. He recommended a setting of 5, but just to be on the safe side, I bumped them up to 6 (the stiffer the shock, the less likely for bottoming). Then I took the springs/shocks to a really good alignment shop who also specialize in suspensions. The shop owner, who I've known for years, told me they've installed many of the AGX series shocks and never had a driver come in with a broken one, so I suspect the people who had broken shocks, did it through rough driving or bad roads. Since I'm not into competition driving and don't live in a place that's ridden with potholes or bad roads, I don't anticipate any problems with my new shocks. Anyway, I told the installation shop to leave the AGX's at 6 where I had set them. I had measured from the bottom of the fender well to the top of the wheel rim before leaving my house, and then measured again after the drop. I subtracted the two measurements and came up with a 1.875" drop. Yea, it's slammed in the front but it rides smooth as silk -- much better than I had anticipated and surprisingly every bit as smooth as before, although I do have to avoid some intersections that have severe dips in them due to my air dam scraping the dip. I also have to crawl over speed bumps and I have to be very careful when pulling into parking spots with barriers. My bumper used to override the parking barriers but no more. It's worth it though. The ride is excellent, the handling has improved dramatically, and I love how it looks now. Gives it a much sleeker appearance and now I've got the best of both worlds. I've got the Trans Am back end which I've always liked better than the Camaro, and now I've also got that Camaro-like wedge which I favored over the stock Firebirds & Trans Am's. Total cost for the job: $221.21 for the springs & $211.16 for the shocks (both from Tire Rack & includes shipping), and $199.99 for installation/alignment at Network Alignment in Phoenix. Grand total $632.36. Obviously there are better shocks or struts out there, but most of us are on a restricted budget and can't afford the very best. But my car will never see a racetrack or go back East where the roads aren't the best. So I feel that what I did is adequate as far as quality and reliability go for normal daily driving. Now I'm trying to sell the rear set of springs on e-bay and Craigslist. I'm asking $100 buy it now price, or a starting bid of $50. I also kept the old shocks/springs in case I ever sell the car and the buyer wants to return it to stock configuration.