DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

I've been searching without much success for any struts that can be used on our cars that have a shorter strut body or shorter shaft. My car is roughly 3.5" lower than stock, making it fairly easy to bottom out my struts. I know I can get raised strut mounts but that still doesn't gain back enough travel. I also want to limit droop. So far the only option I found are from AST.

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=0&ModelID=10

And

http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info...roducts_id=364

Is there anything else out there?

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

i believe the varistruts are shorter too, but im not positive.

ever consider using drop spindles? seriously, if you are truly 3.5" lower that stock, using just springs to get there, your front end geometry is pretty much screwed at this point. The drop spindle will let you use a more stock length strut, and bring the a-arm back into a more proper location.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

I am actually planning to use drop spindles, extended ball joints and raised strut mounts. But I'm saving that for another thread because i want to discuss possibly fitment issues with the size wheels I want to run.

The Varistruts appear to be for drag only application, NOT what I'm looking for. I'm looking for something that will be able to control an 800-1000lb spring rate and be used often for autocross, street driving, and the ocassional weekend on the road course.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

3.5" from what? After lowering a few of these that would mean 1-1.5" ground clearance, I don't see how it's drivable anywhere. I wouldn't run extended ball joints on anything that is going to see any hard use, and the drop spindles I know of don't help geometry.

With 2.5" clearance I was hitting things like the fill caps at gas stations (actually my wife hit it), and even with cut bump stops to the point that the control arms were making hard contact with the k-member I wasn't out of travel in the struts.

I honestly don't know what you're trying to accomplish

87350IROC

iTrader: (2)

I would have to agree. 3.5" lower than stock is like a 24" front fender height. At this height the air dam is about 1" off the ground. You will be scraping the air dam on a crowned road. How could you possibly enjoy that? I would suggest a much more suitable height like 25.5" or so. At 25.5" and with taller strut mounts you will have about 3" of strut compression travel. That is enough.

I do understand the desire for droop control. I have heard that Summit can order Bilsteins in custom lengths and valving. Perhaps you could order Bilsteins from them with their normal thirdgen valving but in a shorter case? Another droop option would be to run suspension travel limiters.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

Im not too sure what can bottom out first, A-arm to K-member, struts/shocks, or K-member to ground. I am at 24.25" fender height up front. I have already contacted Koni about possible solution for a shorter damper and they mentioned that they offer a service to have them sectioned but that would be about an aditional $800 on top of the initial purchase. I may be fine with acceptable travel up front with extended ball joints and raised strut mounts. But are there ANY options for the rear?

fast377

iTrader: (4)

I went through your same issue a few years ago when I did my car. My car is about as low as yours. For the front I ended up using drop spindles and strut mounts with stock fitting koni adjustable struts.

There is a solution to the rear, but you have to think outside the box a little. There isn't a stock fitting replacement shock that is shorter for the rear. But you can get race car fitting shocks in pretty much any size you want. But they all have rod end mounts. All you have to do is make a little conversion bracket to make them stud mount. Look at a picture of Spohn's rear coilover kit and you will see what I mean. The Koni 30 series would be your best bet. They are adjustable and come in a number of sizes. You can get them at pitstopusa or summit and probably others.

Roostmeyer

iTrader: (3)

What size of tire are you running up front? Last year I was running right under 26" ride height but this was with rolled (pushed up and out) fenders and 305/35R18's, so 25.5" with a normal diameter tire. I did bottom out the tire under braking on a bump in the passenger front fenderwell, so watch out for that if you do get shorter struts.

The AST's are a great shock and if I didn't already have koni's on the car I probably would've bought a set just to go coilovers in the back.

In the front I do have slightly raised modified stock strut mounts. Right now the a-arm barely bottoms out on the k-member before the strut. I'm running cut down ground control bumpstops on the shaft of the strut.

In the back I run a shock mounted bumpstop and still need a 1/4-1/2" of packers on the shock shaft to keep the axle off the original bump stop mount (which have now been removed). 4x4 guys use axle limiting straps to control droop travel, its on my to-do list for this year. I'm not so much concerned with dropping a spring autocrossing as I'm just tired of having to watch the springs everytime I lift the car up or down.

I'd suggest getting your car up on jackstands, taking a spring out on both ends of the car, and jacking the suspension up to see where your interfering before you start throwing parts at the car. Once you get rid of the terrible stock bumpstops you may not be doing as badly as you think you are. This is also a good time to check how much travel you have at your ride height, you may find you're just too low.

Reid Fleming

iTrader: (2)

I would suggest some ground control weight jacks. That way you can get the ride height back up for street driving and only lower it for autocross. No matter what you get, driving a car with 24.25" ride height is going to be a brutal ride.

That's over twice as much lowering than an Eibach Sportline setup compared to stock. You're really more like 4.25" below stock height.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

I already do have weight jacks from Ground Control. I'm using 800lb front springs and 200lb rear springs. I actually do the opposite, I like my street cars slammed, but I do raise it about .5" for autocross to make it more practical in the sense of not rubbing or bottoming out. Drop spindles won't work for me due to running 285/40/17 tires up front for autoX.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

So I did some measuring and found that the A-arms will contact the crossmember ever so slightly before the shocks 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.

So I'm 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?

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

I ended up ordering the standard Koni Sport shocks (30-1265S) for the rear. I'm going to make a lower shock relocation bracket that lowers the mount by 2". In my research I've found that the doble adjustable shocks will bottom out and break the external adjustment ****, so that's something to look out for. I ordered them from eBay seller "Kratter" for $180 for the pair. They should arrive by next Wednesday.

87350IROC

iTrader: (2)

Cool. Just be sure to check ground clearance. A full 2" lower will hang pretty low.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

I though about that too. But I found that it won't be any lower than the engine cross member, exhaust, and possibly even subframe connectors when I make or buy some. It'll hang just about as low as lower control arm relocation brackets.

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

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.