WARNING! Opinion Follows! May not be good but it's mine (Isn't that what you
always say Keith?) Your mileage may vary...............................
#1 1st off, I would go with Bilstein shocks. There is probably no real
difference between the quality of the Bilsteins and Koni (or possibly others)
but Bilstein is REAL good at customer support. If you get the right shocks to
begin with, you will never have to rebuild them. They are pretty durable and
shouldn't wear out with LSR use. If for some reason you need/want them
re-valved, the current cost is $55 each. FMI:
Western Office:
8845 Rehco Road,
San Diego, CA 92121
(800) 537-1085
#2 I favor the fixed rate springs with height adjustment. I also prefer stiff
suspension The coils are fairly cheap & come in many spring rates if you need
to change the ride. When I went to stiffer shocks & springs on my Vette,
handling improved greatly. You don't need much for suspension travel on salt -
dry lakes are a different story.
#3 See above. I would get the opinion of a chassis expert. My guess is you are
going to want to start in the 500# range for coils.(again Bilstein might help)
You didn't ask, but I'm gonna throw this in as it is also time to think about
this now, and that is sway bars. Since I still have the IRS, I added a
heim-jointed heavy bar to the front which tightened up the rear real well. That
worked so well that I added a stiffer bar on the rear and things got even
better. With a solid axle, the geometry changes completely, and is out of my
range of experience. You may not want/need to use bars at all, but since it is
"part of the whole" I would be thinking about it. I would be curious to know
what set-up Stansbury-Moore uses.(Is Bobby Moore on this list?) This whole
issue seems tailor-made for Joe Timney as he builds chassis. (haven't heard
much from Joe lately, he must be buried in snow..........)
Ed
Ken Bond wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Sorry if this is a repeat but I sent it yesterday and did
> not see it show up. Again, sorry if this is a dup.
>
> ***
>
> I am putting a Ford 9" under the rear-end of a 85 corvette and need to put
> together a set of coil overs for the suspension. Since this is my first
> experience with coil over, there are lots of things I don't understand.
>
> 1st... some shocks are rebuildable/revalvable.... Do I care in a Bonneville
> application? Do they get enough used over a few seasons to make this
> something I need?
>
> 2nd... Springs come in variable rate and standard?' Again, are their pros
> and cons for my application?
>
> 3rd... Since I am taking out a transverse leaf spring rear-end system, any
> starting guess' as to what weight springs I need? When the car is
> finished, the total car will be ~3500 lbs before we start playing with
> ballast (if any).
>
> **************
>
> As I side note, I sent Ed a private message asking about coil overs on the
> FRONT of his Vette, but if anyone else would like to chip in a comment or
> two on that issue, I would love to hear form them as well.
>
> KEN
>
> In far Northern Calif. it is way, way wet... but then some of us just
> consider it self-shoveling snow :-). Hope you folks with really bad
> weather are making out OK.
>
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> * Ken Bond, *
> * Prof. of Bus. Admin. *
> * Humboldt State Univ. ____________ *
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> * Wk.:707.826.4277 /_________ go to Heaven?______/ *
> * Wk Fax:707.826.6666 |_61______61_| *
> * Hm.:707.826.7764 I Never Drive Faster than *
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