Penske Update
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Penske Update Well i made the front springs the way the shocks were valved for, as well as the rear and got them on my car today, been a long solid day of work but it was well worth it. My god have i ever felt an F-Body handle like this, its too low though. I need to raise the front up with the coil over but its an absolute pain in the *** though with the spanner wrench, but well worth it. I mean the car feels completely different. Definitely wouldn't recommend for an absolute daily driver since when it comes time to rebuild these its going to be a pain in the *** to do this over (the fronts are a bitch to get in if you don't know the technique) but for a weekend car or especially a road course, its wonderful. I can't wait to tinker with it some more. 
Yep, that's the experience once you get pretty spring rates with good shock valving. As you noticed like I did, the wide range of ride height adjustment now leads itself to much more pains of finding the optimal combination of ride height, cornerweight, and overall crossweight. Not to forget the adjustment of front end wheel alignment along with all of the times of adjusting the spring perches so you can not only get optimal tyre wear, but also optimal handling. On a positive note, once you find where it's optimal, then you really benefit from the experience of knowing what specifications it takes to make the car handle really well.
And now you see why I too feel a system like can certainly be streetable, however for the price and the effort involved, it sure can be money over spent if it's strictly a daily driver/blingmobile. AFA rebuilding them, you may not have to do so very often, but I will state that if you have spherical bearings on any of those shocks (which I think you do), then those are the parts that you'll definitely need to replace once they begin to develop some major rattling in them.
And now you see why I too feel a system like can certainly be streetable, however for the price and the effort involved, it sure can be money over spent if it's strictly a daily driver/blingmobile. AFA rebuilding them, you may not have to do so very often, but I will state that if you have spherical bearings on any of those shocks (which I think you do), then those are the parts that you'll definitely need to replace once they begin to develop some major rattling in them.
I was just wondering how you made out with those. That's awesome that you made it all work. You should post some pics of everything. What spring rates did you go with front and rear?
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The spring rates are stock LS1 front and rear, which is 292lbs/in and 114lbs/in in the rear. I just followed what the previous user ran with these and what they were valved for. He helped me out a lot as far as setting it up because while i am somewhat fluent in the basic suspension geometry of our cars, i've never really gone into advanced spring rates and shock setups so this was really all new to me. So far i am extremely happy though, ride height is my main concern but like was mentioned above im sure after all the hard work im going to really enjoy it.
As far as the price is concerned, it got these at a steal so it was hard to pass up so i was going to put a lot of effort to make these work. If you can get a good deal on these then i would recommend going through the effort, but if you are planning on paying the $1600+ price tag on these, i would say get koni's. And as i mentioned earlier, these are very tolerable on the street, other then serious pot holes and bumps, but slow down enough and its not too bad. And thanks on the tips about the spherical rod bearings, i really didn't know that. How long do you think i should go before worrying about rebuilding these??
As far as the price is concerned, it got these at a steal so it was hard to pass up so i was going to put a lot of effort to make these work. If you can get a good deal on these then i would recommend going through the effort, but if you are planning on paying the $1600+ price tag on these, i would say get koni's. And as i mentioned earlier, these are very tolerable on the street, other then serious pot holes and bumps, but slow down enough and its not too bad. And thanks on the tips about the spherical rod bearings, i really didn't know that. How long do you think i should go before worrying about rebuilding these??
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Here are some pictures. The car is not at it's final ride height but after finishing at 1 last night and having an 8am class in the morning i couldn't continue.
Hopefully i can get enough height out of the front without changing the springs.
Hopefully i can get enough height out of the front without changing the springs.
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Hold the train up...
What Penske parts did you acquire? Shocks? or do they offer a coilover setup?
I thought that Penske's had a $4500 price tag (I think 4 way adjustable with resevoirs)...
Did you get some non-adjustable Penske shocks for much less than $4500? And how the heck does the rear shock attach to the body. The shocks I have seen all have just the metal rod that goes up through the body.
What Penske parts did you acquire? Shocks? or do they offer a coilover setup?
I thought that Penske's had a $4500 price tag (I think 4 way adjustable with resevoirs)...
Did you get some non-adjustable Penske shocks for much less than $4500? And how the heck does the rear shock attach to the body. The shocks I have seen all have just the metal rod that goes up through the body.
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They are the penske 7500 Series, they are threaded for coilover setups but need to have the spring perches and all that good stuff put on. These are single adjustable shocks, not the 4 ways. And yea the valve body on the rear shocks attaches to the body and rod itself attaches to the rear end
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i too figured the exact same thing, but keep looking around, i got extremely lucky getting a hold of these, otherwise i would have gone with koni's (which are also great shocks) But who knows what will turn up, i never thought i would have these ever
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Those shocks would be great for me though, considering I leave my car in my garage most of the time and just put a few hundred miles or so a year on it. I have more important things to tend to though, hopefully a LS1/T56 swap is in the near future for me
Have you been in a car with Konis so we can get some sort of comparison?
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unfortunately i have not, i'd love to though. And if i were to buy either at full price and not have gotten my kick *** deal then i would have definitely gone with koni's. I was actually about 5minutes away from getting a set for the same price i got these but they got sold to someone else, which i guess is a good thing since i love these so far. I am in college now and any big money on shocks was out of the question but after saving up a bit i just looked for deals and hoped and ran into these for a terrific price.
well i finally got the car raised to about where it used to be and screw coilovers, they're a pain in the *** to adjust. Not no 1 or 2 turns makes a difference, it's like freaking 15-20 makes a difference, and you have to fight for a 1/4 turn
But it was well worth it, i have clearance like i had before, and it handles like a mo fo...but god do pot holes suck, but its easier to avoid them at the last second now too though Overal i am very much pleased with this setup, i love the handling but i did sacrifice in rideability, but hey its a sports car, not a caddy. Now if i can get some big sway bars on the bitch it will freaking awesome.
well i finally got the car raised to about where it used to be and screw coilovers, they're a pain in the *** to adjust. Not no 1 or 2 turns makes a difference, it's like freaking 15-20 makes a difference, and you have to fight for a 1/4 turn
But it was well worth it, i have clearance like i had before, and it handles like a mo fo...but god do pot holes suck, but its easier to avoid them at the last second now too though Overal i am very much pleased with this setup, i love the handling but i did sacrifice in rideability, but hey its a sports car, not a caddy. Now if i can get some big sway bars on the bitch it will freaking awesome. Thread Starter
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well today was the first day of really trying it out, went on a good 20 miles journey through the backroads i know around here and was very satisfied. Only complaint right now is the rear is too stiff, gets a little as happy so im going to play with the settings and springs a bit more but they are worlds above my old pro-kit and stock shocks set up
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well after developing a rather large clank in the car everytime i went over a bump, i checked the upper strut mount and discovered the bolt working loose. It was the first thing i checked since i was kinda iffy about the lock washer that i got with it. Tightened it up and the car rides a bit smoother in the rear, i do still need to mess with the rear springs and see what i can come up with, thankfully im happy with the front since that is the bitch to adjust/change.
Last edited by zlover129; Feb 25, 2008 at 04:15 PM.
