canbaufo

Car is in sig and has an Eibach Pro Kit. My intended use for this car is "all around weekend street/strip cruiser that could be daily driven if I wanted to" and I don't want it to perform flawlessly in one area and horrible in another. I'm thinking adjustables are a must to maintain this multi-function desire at the utmost, especially in the front. I guess the rears could be a good all around non-adjustable like the old Bilstein HD's (I hear the new rear Bilsteins have been crappily revalved similar to stock decarbon shocks), but to unload the fronts for ocassional trips to the drag strip I'd need something adjustable. Basically in most cases for dragging you want a stiff shock in the rear to control wheelhop and a loose one up front to allow weight transfer if I understand it right. After leaving the strip I'd want to be able to tighten the fronts back up for cornering. This may all be a moot point with my Pro Kit though (doesn't allow much weight transfer anyway)....should I just stay with a good all around shock like the Bilstein HD and not worry about adjustments? (car will very rarely be raced) Another issue is the difficulty of adjustment on the fronts, will it be hard to get to or just a simple turn of a screw that's easy to access?

Sorry so many Q's ...I don't have much knowledge about suspension. BTW, I don't want to spend a fortune but also realize I can't get away with cheap crap. I may consider buying used in order to get better quality shocks for less money. Since I only drive the car 2 - 3K a year even a good used shock will hold up for a long time if it's not a cheapo.

BTW, I've already researched it some, and holy crap the front shocks are expensive on these cars! I once bought a whole set of HD gas shocks for an old 1979 Buick Regal I used to own and spent like $40 for the set (back in 1991 though) ....kind of puts things in perspective lol.

ss9c1man

I say put some Koni SA's in the front and QA1s in the rear. I am doing a similar setup to what you describe only more towards the road race side. So far it works pretty well. On full soft the QA1s allow enough squat for some weight transfer to take place. I am using the normal valving, not the drag race valving.

canbaufo

So I take it adjustability is important at all four corners. Is adjustability easy at all four corners? ....I've never used an adjustable shock on any car, do you just turn a dial?

I've searched and read a lot of posts about rebuilding shocks and see that some are selling used worn out shocks. Could this maybe be better than new since you can get them properly valved for your spring rate? I guess I don't understand the difference between valving and adjustability though, I would think valving wouln't matter as long as you can pick an adjustment that's right for you. Maybe it's the non-adjustables that get revalved for a particular application ....and the adjustables you "valve yourself". I probably just answered my own question, sorry I'm brand new to the shock absorber world

Aren't all Koni's pretty much mega$$$$$ ? What are QA1's ...what brand is that?......lol sorry.

ss9c1man

The adjustable shocks are just a good idea so if you ever want to change springs you can just change a shock setting to compensate. The Konis and the QA1s are both adjusted with a turn of a dial. Rebuilding a shock is a good idea IF you know the spring rate. Sam Strano can recommend a correct valving and can do it for you. The adjustability changes the damping curve. Here is Konis site http://www.koni.com/_cars/frame.html. Just select "Adjustable Damping" in the menu. QA1 is a more economic alternative to the HAL adjustables. Both are an all aluminum racing shock. Konis are a little more expensive than most, but you get what you pay for. Also the Bilsteins do not work well with springs stiffer than stock. The Konis will also hold up well.

canbaufo

thanks for the info. If anyone else has suggestions or other things to consider please chime in, thanks.

Injuneer

My experience in combining the Eibach Pro-Kit with the QA1/HAL shocks was not good. The rear of the car bucked like slammed S10 pickup riding on the axle. Horrible ride, and no manner of "adjustment" would cure it. I've had others confirm these results.

QA1/HAL shocks are good for drag racing, and average (at best) for anything else. I wouldn't recommend them for a street car. They also seem to be prone to leaking, and requiring rebuilds frequently.

canbaufo

What would you recommend regarding my first post? (something good all around)

slomarao

well your spring choice wasn't too good and as long as your on them your going to have to deal with them. The springs are too stiff in the rear and don't really match up with any shocks. I would either get new springs and shocks or go back to the stock springs and new shocks. I am on koni sa's and stock springs, when you install the shocks you have the option to lower the car with the shocks alone. I did and am happy, when it comes down to performance the koni's are great. Road racing they are pretty much the best. For drag i set the fronts to the loosest setting and the rears to almost full stiff. i drop the front sway bar and loose 150lbs (sub and box, front+rear seats, jack+spare, front sway bar, misc items) and the car does well. Weight transfer is good and the car hooks up, I can't really ask for more. The koni's are expensive(800) but consiering how important shocks are in f bodies i feel their worth it. My friends have kyb's and the bilstiens in their trans am's and my car rides and handles so much better than theirs do. My advice is to not go cheap on shocks. Call or email Sam Strano, he is the suspesion god around these parts. He'll set you stright and make a customer out of you. That's exactly what happened when I called him.
strano 800 number 1800 729 1831

canbaufo

Thanks, but no way I'd even consider $800 for shocks, I'm not rich. I thought the Pro Kit was a pretty good choice all around since it's a modest drop. Stiff rear springs aren't good for drag racing but probably pretty good for auto crossing aren't they? No shock is a good match for them? ...why? (just because they're too stiff I guess).

ss9c1man

The prokits are a good spring. They have been a proven component for the daily driven/autocross cars. Most of the guys on the Frrax forum that use the prokit rears use either Koni SA's or DA's. As for the QA1's, the Impala guys have been using them for a while on their daily driven/autocross applications with good results.

canbaufo

Thanks guys. I'm hoping some more will chime in with their experiences, thanks.

Sam Strano

And yet, you have: Forged 355 LT1 9.5:1 with upgraded Powerdyne supercharger, Lloyd Elliot heads (265/195) w/custom matched Reed cam with .544 lift, Hooker LT 1 3/4 headers, 4-inch Mufflex Y-Pipe, offroad pipe, Borla Cat-back with DMH electronically adjustable muffler bypass, BBK 58mm throttlebody, T-56 with Pro 5.0 and shortened stick, 3.73 rear gears, LT1 Edit, BMR boxed & relocated LCA's, poly sway bar bushings, BMR boxed SFC's fully welded, poly torque arm and motor mounts, Eibach Pro Kit, ' 97 Trans AM Chrome 5-stars, Nitto 555R drag radials, Goodyear F1 GS-D3's ....many many other misc mods. No dyno numbers yet but it is capable of maxing out the MAF at 471 GPS FWIW. Can light tires up from a roll in 2nd gear. Mods to come: 12-bolt, Vortech S-Trim w/aftercooler at 9 PSI, cage, line lock, better brakes. T-top conversion? ....does it ever end?

I find it a big odd that you spent as much on your cat-back system as a set of Koni's cost, but the shocks aren't worth it. The single most important part of any suspension, complicated part with bypass valves, adjusters, lifetime warranties... but it's ok to spend $700 on a bunch of stainless pipe and a muffler.

I'm thinking you really don't know how important shocks are. Too many people thing a shock is a shock. That's no more true than saying a tire is a tire comparing your compact spare to a Hoosier A6 for those that track, or to ET Streets for those that drag race.

Sam Strano

And QA1's.... very poor dampers for godo body motion control and tire compliance. Being able to make a shock stiffer and softer is far from the only thing you need from a shock. How it can deal with sharp impacts at a firmer setting is hugely important, and how they damp motions on lower settings is as well. The trouble with inferior adjusters used by most everyone else is while they get stiffer, they can't deal with sudden high piston velocity impacts, so the car is better controlled, but also quite jarring and jittery on broken pavement. So you turn them down, and now it rides better, but is much more vague and less well damped (like the stock shocks).

canbaufo

Thank you for your input, this is the kind I want. The truth is I overlooked shocks because I bought the springs when the car had 35K on it and the shocks were still "good"....and I didn't know how "bad" the stock decarbons really are until I started reading some in here. The Borla exhaust looks like it did the day I bought it six years ago, good investment. You're right, I don't know much about suspension which is part of the reason I posted this.....you can bet I now know shocks are a major component. When I did a lot of my mods, I had some spare money. I just don't happen to now so I can't fork out $800 for shocks even though they may actually be worth it. You've answered one of my pivotal questions though, which was valving/damping vs adjustability and why not all shocks that are adjustable are equal. So are Koni's the only thing worthwhile or is there in fact a good performing shock for a reasonable price? Since you're a vendor what would you recommend for my application (good performance all around to be used with existing Pro Kit)? I think going with adjustables at all four corners would be best. I guess if it's Koni's and only Koni's and nothing else is worthwhile, I'll have to look for a used set or save money for awhile.

ss9c1man

Well, you could have sam custom valve a set of bilsteins for the front and only run the Koni's on the rear. That might save some money. I say dont worry about that .2 in the 60 foot and just put custom bistein HD's all around. After all, if the car is daily driven I am sure you would appreciate the better shocks rather than make a compromise in ride just for a couple of minutes down a drag strip a month.

Edit: The only reason I tried the QA1's is I was able to get them cheaper than the Koni's. I know I will probably not be happy with them for too long, but I figured I would give them a try since I had good luck with them on my Caprice. I also have ridden in a few Fbodies with the Spohn QA1 kit and it felt pretty good, although the shocks on those cars had less than 2000 miles on the shocks at the time.