Aerohokie

iTrader: (2)

I'm putting a new suspension on my 84 T/A soon. Eibach springs, adj. panhard bar, poly bushings on factory sway bars, LCA relocation brackets, and SFC's ... but what about shocks/struts? I'm leaning toward the adj Tokico Illumina's on the front and back, but do they make a difference over say adj. up front and straight shocks in the rear? I do run slalom type courses as well as daily driving. Any advice on what I really need? Thanks guys!

_Dave

CrazyHawaiian

Well the idea of adjustable shocks and struts is to adjust them for different track or road conditions. Buying them would depend on if you want that feature or not. I like to mess around with my stuff alot and see how it changes the feel of the car, so it is something that I want. I think it depends on your personal preferance. You mentioned that you take it to the track as well as daily drive it. So it might be something you want, you can have one setting for track use, then adjust it to a street setting for more comfortable driving.

Aerohokie

iTrader: (2)

I guess the Q is how much can they really be adjusted?

George

As to how much they can be adjusted - I think usually it's just rebound.

A half turn on the Koni struts made a noticable difference on my car from the full soft setting.

I'm glad I got adjustables because it's something I will use.

rx7speed

most I think adjust both compression and rebound at the same time


but there are some out there that let you adjust both sep from each other

BTS88IROC

I have Ttokico illumina 5-way adjustables and I'm happy with them. They adjust the rebound and compression, but at the same time, not seperately. I got them because I like to push my car, and I like to go to the track/autox. Its definately something I would use, so I got them.

TomP

I considered getting a set of the KYB AGX's... but doubt I'll ever use any adjustability. I'd probably set it and forget it! (What infomercial was that from?) Plus with NJ roads the way they are, I figure I'll just stick with the regular KYB's and save me some dough- I'm sure I'll be replacing the struts in another few years because of all these damn potholes!

AGood2.8

Shocks with adjustments- no matter what type, being saparate adj for rebound and compression or one **** for both, are equally as good when it comes to having room for extending a shocks life (key note: as long as you don't play with them- they will wear out fast if you are constantly raising and lowering the settings). They are to be set at the lowest setting and adjusted up to wear the ride feels right, then left there until later when they state to loose force, then you turn them up a click more, and so on- this is how they will last.

The advantages of having separate compresion and rebound adjustments are- with a single **** for both- both are raised and lowered equally. If you want more rebound force to counter act a higher spring rate, the compression is raised also making things very harsh and non bump absorbing. Separate settings allow you to taylor your compression or "bump" first to where it feels comfortable regardless of body roll (rebound helps roll) then increase the rebound to where it control the recoil forces enough(chassis attitude) but not too much. Too much rebound will cause a car to skipp over bumps while braking and also cause the car to "jack down" on repeditive bumps if too high- this is a result of the springs not returning to ride height fast enough over consecutive bumps- causing the suspension to compress faster than it can rebound (or relax) and the suspension can potentially loose travel range and ground out.

We are talking all out performance tuning that most are not worrisome about with hard street driving. I perticularly sweat every tenth I can get out of a suspension and perfer as many adjustment as possible.

Aerohokie

iTrader: (2)

I'm getting the idea here, but let me throw this into the mix ... which is money best spent Tokico adjustables for $500 or regular KYB's and a torque arm? Keep in mind this goes with the Eibach springs and poly bushings w/ adj panhard bar. Which set up would you go for? Main use is aggressive road driving =)

George

On the rebound issue:

I've seen a few posts that refer to Koni reds and yellows as being adjustable for rebound only and that double adjustable Konis are not available of the shelf for third gens but that singles can be converted to doubles by Koni.

I havn't confirmed this on the Koni website but the posts I'm referring to seemed reliable. In any event, it's one thing to check into if you were to consider Konis.

As for regular KYBs and a torque arm I can't answer from experience but from what I've read regular KYBs are a bit soft.

What I can say though, is that my Koni yellow struts were softer than I wanted right out of the box and being able to adjust them set the car right where I wanted it; so, I'd definetly suggest some kind of adjustables.

This is on an 83TA with prokit, adjustable LCAs, LCA relo-brackets, steering brace and adjustable Panhard. The car is mainly for aggressive street.