87 GTA ls1 will be going in at some point, but for now i still have the 305.I want to up grade my suspension.So what should i go with as far as shock struts, springs.I was thinking of getting KYB...not sure of which kybs to get or any other name ??
thanks

 

do some reading on here.Thats what helped me.theres a ton of reviews and post on shocks and springs.Good luck.

 

Bilstein! Their sport series monotube shocks are far superior to any other shock, check them out here:
Rears: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4B461021H0/
Strut fronts: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/BSN-F4VE3C522H0/

I can't even tell you the improvement they had on my car upgrading from KYB red series! Your car will feel like a supercar!

Also, get the Eibach springs, they are far superior to stock and most aftermarket springs. Paired with those shocks up there I suggested your car will feel so great you won't even bother with any other suspension mods, I almost guarantee it lol.
http://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992-...g-Springs.html

I did very thorough research myself because I wanted only the best handeling and ride I could buy without going into the thousands, and these shocks and springs are definately the best I could find. I don't just buy on whim or buy after reading ten good reviews, I buy after doing very extensive research and talking to people that have run or ridden with these. The results are those shocks and springs above, I hope you decide to get them like I did, you will not be disappointed.

 

The first 2 things you need to decide is- What do I want from the car? How much am I willing to spend?

Answer those 2 questions and you should be down to 1 or 2 choices.

 

Thanks for the info i will deff look into this...

 

Hope you find what you're looking for, but as the guy above you said you need to find out what you want from the car. I was assuming you wanted a firm but not harsh ride with very tight handling. If you want a softer ride or more cushy feeling then stay away from what I suggested. Also, those springs will lower the car, but I assume you wanted or already have that. Good luck!

 

I went with KYB AGX's On the IROC for two reasons: 1. They were affordable and 2. they are adjustable. I like the ability to make the car suit my mood. If I want a cushy ride (Relatively cushy, anyways) I set them on the softest setting. I also have a set if eibach sportline springs on that car and the difference between stock and the agx's/eigach springs was incredible. If the car is a daily driver, I would recommend these. Also keep in mind the LS-1 swap will affect the cars ride by shedding over 100lbs from the front end. Having adjustable shocks will help compensate for the differences in ride quality.
Good luck!

 

Thanks that what i was wondering since the ls1 will have less weight then the stock motor.. i wasnt sure which way to go.The car is goin to be a weekend car.I want to car to handle as well as go stright.

 

No problem. I use a similar setup on my RS, but I use an Iron block (LQ-9 6.0 block) and the weight difference isnt too much. I still use a softer setting front to back for street driving, though.
Good luck!

 

For a few hundred more you missed Varistruts. light unsprung weight, fully rebuildable, separate compression and rebound adjstments. 878.00 pair.

The ultimate in 3rd gen handling.

Besides, bilstein are not rebound valved high enough for chassis roll control with higher rate springs. They are valved for upgraded compression dampering on OEM suspensions. koni Yellows are superior over bilsteins for sport performance fixed valves shocks.

lastly, you need to install solid bearing strut mounts to take the no-man's-land slop out of the transistion damper loss the factory struts yeild.

Dean

Varishock.com for more info

 

More on importance of shock dampers and handling. people do not understand the importance when I preech the two best things to spend all of your money on first is tires and shocks.

Why are shocks important? because the right valving can correct alot of faulty handling imbalances.
How? you put the shocks on and set the valvings middle of the road lets say 1-16 (16 being most restrictive valve setting) you st all four corners at 8-8 to start. Thats 8 compression and 8 rebound (thus 8-8 on fronts and rears).

Now the car is tight turning into a corner, it is pushing and not responsive to turn yet feels good in the middle and off the corner- what do you do? easy.. the corner entrance is dictated by front compression and rear rebound settings. With double adjustables, you can adjust these settings without hurting the car coming off the corner also like linear adjustables (such as KYB agx's) would. If the car is diving on the nose (or as we refer to 'rolling over on the fronts") but is still plowing, you do not want to reduce the front compression to get the front to bite, if is is not then reduce the front compression. I would perfer first to increase the rear rebound the lift the inside rear tire weight and get the car to rotate in better.

coming off a corner is the opposite. Increase rear compression to loosen it, drop rear compression to tighten it- and/or- reduce front rebound to tighten the car off, or increase front rebound to loosen it.

now here is another catch. Its a bandaid fix to a factory unibody chassis handling glitch but it works when you can not scale a car 50/50 cross weigh for good turning characteristics both left and right equally. this is common for most all street cars with can springs and non adjustable ride heights, etc....Its very common to have a car turn left better than the car turns right...or visa versa...so how do I fix this? You can't unless you have double adjustable shock dampers.

lets take an example of shock valving of 6-10 LF RF 6-10..and rears 4-8 LR RR 4-8.
and now lets say that car does not turn right as good as left going into a corner. Turns left great, but plows to the right. well, the chassis is x-weight loaded more on the LF and RR tires which will under dynamic chassis loading going into a left loosens the left rear and rotates the car, but in opposite the car to the right loads heavier oin the RR tire (the inside rear tire on the corner) and makes the car tigher to turn into a right corner than into a left corner.

So what do we do? We simply change the damper rates favoring that corner to blance both left and rights equally. Basic terms- we take away a little from the left and give it to the right to blance both to equal permormance. We can improive the car to the right by dynamically upping the weight transfer under braking and corner entrance tot he right to favor the right front tire by upping the compression value from 6-10 to 8-10.
We are now left with 6-10 LF RF 8-10. It will dynamically load the right front more momentarily going into either a left or right corner balancing the dynamic x-weights more towrds 50/50, where as stagnant xweights are still stuck at lets say 46/54. Its a bandaid fix, but it works when you do not have coilover ride height and x-weight adjustments in a factory unibody chassis suspension.

Dean

 

I've got bilstein HD shocks/struts with eibach pro-kit springs on my 87 GTA LS1. Added LCARBs, LCAs, adjustable panhard bar, adjustable torque arm, and wonder bar from UMI as well. I like the ride height, and will be getting everything adjusted this weekend to be able to feel how it rides. I'll take a couple side pictures for ya.