What is everyone running for struts and shocks on their drag racing f-bodies? I have Comp Eng 90/10 struts and 50/50 shock on my car and I have been looking at stepping up to an adjustable set to help my car 60' a little better. I see few options for the 3rd-gen but don't know which way to go. The car is a street/strip car, so I don't want to get too "race only". I all ready have PA Racing k-member, control arms, and front coil over kit. For the rear I have all BMR control arms, trak pak torque arm, drag bar, and stock springs.

So what adjustable struts and shocks would you suggest and an aftermarket rear coil spring to help my 60'

 

For street/strip, you probably already have the best shock/strut combination that you should be using.

I use Koni SPA1 front struts and have the extension adjusted as firm as it will go. If I loosen up the front, the car tends to wheelie too easily. Actually, it wheelies even with the front tightened up I use Moroso BBC trick springs. My car is back halved so my rear shock/spring setup is nowhere near "street". I use strange 12 way double adjustable shocks with 110 pound springs.

 

I use lakewood 90/10 front with spohns coilover kit...and comp engineering rears..my car wheelstands pretty easy lately...im adding limiters to mine this winter.

60' is in the carburetor...gear..cam...and converter when the suspension works. If it hooks...you wont change much with shocks/struts....

Mine goes 1.32 in 60' just about scraping the bumper...so if i tie it down i should go 1.31..but otherwise it doesnt change...just my $.02

 

A little more background on the car. Its is has an LT1 swap and it only has bolt-ons. I race in a class that will not allow any internal engine modifications. So power wise I am very limited. I have a SS3600 stall and 3.90 gears in the 10 bolt(soon to be 12 bolt). On the track I run Telstars with ETStreet Radials and 165/80r15 skinnies. I currently run a 1.65 60' and that may be the best the 280 rwhp car can get done. With my 90/10 struts and PA Racing coil over kit the car has a ton of extension when the front comes up (wheels stay on the ground). As you would expect with the power the car does not have traction issues. I was thinking that stiffening up the extension and a stiffer rear spring may help the car go forward more than up.

I was just looking for the best combination, within reason, to get this car out of the hole and down the track faster with the power level I have.

 

The minimum race weight is 3350 lbs in that class.

 

Do you have lca rb's on it? Tuning the IC is important to just how hard you hit those back tires. I believe you have more in it. I went 1.62 with 243rwhp with my old 305. It may want more converter and gear. What size tire are you running? What trap mph and rpm are you seeing?

 

I do have lca relocation brackets welded on and lca in lower hole. I am running a SS3600 stall, 3.90 gears, and a 275/50r15 ET Street Radial. The car runs 12.6x @ 105.6 mph rpm around 5k( I would have to check the datalog again) I set it up to have a little rpm left when I start playing with the plate kit.

 

i have found all the shocks are very important once you get faster.
rear shocks have a ton to do with making it hook and staying hooked up.
front shocks have alot to do with weight transfer as well as keeping it off the bumper. in theory, you shouldnt need to tie down the front end at all once you've got the front shocks where they need to be. i have spa-1's on my car and they have been full firm since my first or 2nd pass in the car. eventually it started going on the bumper and i had to add limiters. but the best plan of attack would have been to put a "slower" extending front shock on the car. just takes $$$.

 

I was looking at these as an upgrade from what I have

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...-Firebird.html

Or these but they are a little more pricey.

http://www.strangeengineering.net/ne...overstrut.html

 

Both of those are nice. According to the QA1 web site, the HD607SK isn't really designed for coil over use so adapter kits need to be used to convert it for coil overs.

The Strange struts are nice but would be better if both adjustments were ***** on the side of the strut instead of one on the top and the other on the bottom.

Pick and choose. QA1 needs a coilover kit so extra money needs to be spent. Strange is already designed for coilovers. Both would be a good choice as being double adjustable front struts.

My Koni SPA1 front struts work well but double adjustable would be nicer. I already have Strange double adjustable on the rear so for me, I'd go for the Strange fronts. Just not sure what kind of front spring rate I would need. I have around 1800 pounds on the front wheels.

 

strange has a much better reputation than qa1 in the small tire world...not sure at this level (10 sec cars and slower) that you'd see any benefit to the pricier struts.

 

correct qa1's rep isnt that good but up until a few months ago I had qa1 singles on the rear of my car and they worked great. they went 1.19 60'. For their price, I would recommend them. Even before the coil overs, I had the bolt in shocks. I heard a lot of stories about leaks but I have never ran into one personally or from friends. I did read a lot online but have read just as much about other brands also. I had 90/10 shocks on t he front up(8 years old) until this year also. I never had wheelie issues until late last year/early this year. The 90/10's drove well on the street IMO.

 

i agree, the 90/10's are totally bareable on the street. just don't drive like a dummy. i even have no front sway bar too (like most drag only cars) and again, no issues. the SA qa1's on the back of my dad's car have been there for like 10 years, and i've never seen them leak.

 

My 90/10's are fine on the street even with the the front sway bar removed, but that Drag Bar really stiffened it up on the corners.

Thanks for everyone's advice on the subject especially since all your cars are faster than mine. I plan on spraying the car next year and building an engine with a little more power later on. I would like to make sure the rest of the car is ready before I get there. I may look into the Koni struts but would like to buy the right set the first time. Now for a little more research on what struts work with my PA Racing coil over kit that I am currently running.

 

I'm very leary of the "bolt-in" Strange steel-bodied struts. We've been through 4 our 5 sets of the single adjustables on the front of my buddies stang; they don't hold up for more than a maybe a couple thousand street miles and maybe a dozen trips to the track. Every set the pistons have come loose from the rod & the adjustments stop functioning. - We put travel limiters on it to keep from top the struts out; that's what got them to hold up for more than 500-1k street miles and a few trips to the track.

The car would consistently knock out bottom 1.5x 60fts(5-speed & 26" radials at around 3600lbs) with out even hiking a tire more than an inch or so, then all the sudden it would start trying to yoke the tires 6" or more right out of the beams and would then spin 2-3' off the line. - Check the struts and if the adjusters would even move they only had 2-3 clicks total & basically no control.


QA1 makes a decent "economy" oriented shock/strut. Their adjustment is more "large scale" than the higher-end brands(meaning 1 click on them is more like 5 clicks on something like a Santhuff) and their seals are known to not like a lot of street driving. - They are decent for their cost though, and I've been bottom 1.1x 60fts on their rears.


I've been hearing a lot of good things on the Koni's, will likely be trying them on the stang next.



For note, most of the "off-the-shelf" coil-over kits have spring rates that are way off in left field. I run an iron tall-deck BBC that's filled with epoxy, with a 1471 sitting on top of it, and still run a lighter spring rate than most the "drag-race" coil over kits come with; and if I wanted some stored energy for getting off the line I'd run even lighter than I already do.

Another note - that mustang I mentioned above still runs the stock front GT sway bar. Car doesn't 60' or 330' any better w/o it and it doesn't handle nearly as well at speed or on the street w/o it.

 

I am building my '91 Z28 for a street/strip car. I will be going with:

- Koni SPA1 front struts
- Competition Engineering rear springs
- Moroso front springs
- Eibach Pro-Launch rear springs (made for a 4th gen but bolt right in)