Cascade Crew

[DBL_TKE]

I've been trying to find some options for shorter than stock dampers. My car has been lowered roughly 4" for street use (24.25" front fender height) I raise it up about 1"-1.5" for autocross. I have Ground Control weight jacks with 800/200 springs with 36/24 sway bars and I've been thinking about running up to 1000lb and 250lb springs in the future. I did some measuring and found that the A-arms will contact the crossmember ever so slightly before the struts will bottom out. The same goes for the rear, the axle tube will contact the inner fender/bump stop mount just before the shock bottoms out. However, I only have .75" of clearance at most. Most certainly, this is not enough travel.

I tried contacting Koni for options and they kind of blew me off and said there was nothing I can do. Once I reminded them about sectioning dampers they said it would be about $800 on top of the initial purchase. I also reminded them about their racing dampers and they sent me their catalog.

I'm probably going to use extended ball joints up front to gain some A-arm clearance, along with 1" raised strut mounts. In the rear, I'm most likely going to notch the inner sheet metal/bump stop mount for axle clearance and use a Koni 30 series shock but how would I be able to adapt the upper mounting eye for use in an F-body? And how does the valving compare to their bolt in Sports? I noticed that they say they're recommended for dirt/asphalt oval track racing. How well would that valving hold up to autocross? For the front, the 8610 or 8611 strut insert seems like a nice option. I don't have much knowledge about strut inserts though. How do you adapt them to be able to mount to a spindle?

Unfortunately I probably won't be able to use drop spindles because I use 285/40/17 tires all around for autocross and plan to fit some 18x10 or 18x11's up front in the future. Although racecrafts R&P drop spindles look like the steering arm might clear an 18 wheel. Can anyone provide some insight? I've been searching endlessly on here, TGO and LS1tech and haven't come up with much.

[Dewey316]

The rear is always going to be a problem. Even if you notch the some sheet metal, you have to worry about panhard interference, and exhaust pipe clearance.

You are running yours even lower than I am, so the stuff I did probably isn't enough for what you are doing.

I would honestly look for a pair of the 2" raised HMS mounts. I have who might have them, or if any of the few of us who got HMS mounts has them. Maybe a chat with Alloy about getting the design stuff he has from them, and just paying someone to make a set for you?!?

I would check out the unbalanced engineering rear shocks, that might be a very valid option. I think they sell bilstein race shocks, and penske shocks modified for the rear application in our cars.

[Dewey316]

basically this is what you would be looking for in the rear.

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/BilsteinRear/

[91RSVert]

I think spohn completely duplicated the alloy design. Then you could possibly have some shims made that go between the strut mount and the body.

But still, there isnt alot of clearance before you start getting into the hood.

[DBL_TKE]

I can't find anything that says that those are shorter than stock. They do mention that those are just a shorter version of they front Bilstein race struts. They're also a tad spendy. I'm trying to keep it under a grand total, which is another reason the Koni 30 series shocks and Koni 8610 inserts are appealing to me. The can be had for under $200 a piece. Not to mention beig able to adjust rebound would be nice as I might end up increasing my spring rates.

I've never heard of the HMS mounts. They're raised 2"? Were they discontinued or a limited run type of deal? I'll have to look into those. I was eying the J&M mounts until now.

[Dewey316]

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/Bilstein/

It says on there they allow for more travel than stock.

HMS made the design that Alloy copied, than Spohn then copied. But he made them in Stock, 1" raise, and 2" raised. He made a limited run years ago, it is actually when I got mine.

[DBL_TKE]

I must have missed that part the first time I read through it. For that price I could get a pair of AST's which are also 2" shorter than stock. I'd really like to have adjustable rebound because I may change spring rates sometime down the road. I actually found a pair of lightly used Koni 30 series shocks on FRRAX for a pretty good deal. if they're the right length I might jump on those.

I'd love to get my hands on a pair of 2" raised HMS mounts but I'm sure they're few a far between. After looking at a bunch of other strut mounts it looks like there's enough room for some spacers between the plate and strut tower.

[DBL_TKE]

So I ended up ordering a pair of Koni sports and a friend of mine is going to fabricate some lower shock mount relocation bracketed that will lower the mounting point 2". They should arrive on Wednesday.

[91RSVert]

You could easly fab that into a set of LCA brackets.

[DBL_TKE]

[DBL_TKE]

Did AST pull their offerings for 82-92 F-bodies?? I was seriously considering buying some front struts from them and wanted to compare them to Koni's, bilsteins, etc. But I am unable to find any listings.

[DBL_TKE]

I received my rear Koni's the other day. installation was a breeze. I measured them and both the extended and compressed heights turned out to 1" shorter than the KYB's I previously had on there. I set them to the second softest setting (1) and I can't believe how much of a difference they made. I still have a slight hint of wheel hop so I think I may stiffen up the rebound a little bit. In a couple weeks I should have the relocating brackets made.

[Alphius]

I have those! In my closet still... But I should be receiving my matching fronts and getting them installed soon. I'm looking forward to it!

[DBL_TKE]

Well I ended up ordering a pair of the standard Koni Sport struts for the front as well. I was completely ready to get some AST's but they discontinued their 4100's for F-bodies and the replacement 4150's arent out yet. I just didn't have the patience for them and I wanted to take advantage of Koni's 20% off sale. I'm going to order a pair of Summit 1" extended ball joints and Founders strut mounts and probably run some spacers to raise the mounts another inch.

For the rear I'm going to get founders LCARB'S and have a friend fab up a lower shock relocation mount then I'll notch the spring pockets.

And it gets better. I've been in contact with a guy on TGO who used to built custom drift spindles for the Nissan S chassis. Some time down the road he's going to start making his own spindles for F-bodies that will include a 2" drop and shortened steering arms that will definitely be short enough to not have any interferance with a wide (10-11") 17" front wheel. I offered him my spare set of spindles in exchange for his first prototype set. Keep in mind though, this will be quite some time down the road.

[blue89]

How do you make a set of custom spindles? The steering arm mods I get but making a 2" drop spindle without a new forging I do not.

[90droptoproc]

we make welded fabricated spindles for the late model left turn race cars out here all the time, and they are under alot more stress then our stock stuff would be

[DBL_TKE]

I installed my front Koni struts earlier today. All I can say is that they completely changed the feel of the car. I can't believe how much of a difference they made, the front now feels firm and composed. I've played around with the rear settings and I've ended up having them at full stiff, it was the only setting that completely got rid of my wheel hop. So ive set the fronts to the firmest setting as well. They're easy enough to adjust but i may just leave them where they're at. I have another two autocross events this weekend, so I'll quickly find out exactly how well they perform.

[Twigger]

Drove my car today for the first time with Konis as well, drives like it should thats for sure!

[Alphius]