Hello all,
I have a 89 firebird and will be replacing the springs/ shocks and struts soon. I have eibach springs now monroe shocks and struts. I know there all kinds of combinations I can use. I am looking for a nice ride and I don’t want to car to lean when going around curves. Please advice me of a great combo to use. I am thinking about Eibach Springs and Bilstein shocks. Any and all comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Brad

 

You gotta really choose one or the other-- ride quality or handling. For a sports car like ours I'd definitely go with a stiffer shock. Our cars are not meant to be luxury cars, they're meant to carve corners like a true sports car... Even with stiffer shocks/springs your ride will be better than the bouncy ride you probably have with your worn-out Monroe shocks (which are junk to begin with).

Bilstein shocks would be the best...but also very, very expensive. Konis are awesome too and a little cheaper, so are Tokicos.

I have Tokico HPs on my car, about $250 for the set (a little more than KYBs...which are "OK"), and they're simply awesome! They're the same as the $400+ Illuminas, except that they're non-adjustable and always set on "3" (Illuminas go from 1 to 5). I highly recommend these, unless you have $500 to blow on Bilsteins.

 

I have a couple of questions:
1. So, for the money, Tokico's are the way to go?....if you can't afford the price of Bilstein's....?
2. Is there a cheaper route than the eibach pro-kit as far as springs?? Someone mentioned moog springs and cutting them- Is this a hard process and/or is it a little more respective on the wallet?
Thanks,
-JustinJustin

 

One other thing,
Anybody know anything about QA1 shocks?

 

DropZone springs are another alternative. Similar to Eibach's Sportline kit in terms of drop. I have a set of them sitting in my garage and may get around to installing the back springs along with a pair of Bilstein shocks tomorrow. The adjustable Koni Red struts and front springs will hopefully get installed this weekend.

So hopefully I'll have some experience with them soon. I figured I'd give them a try since their product is 1/3-1/2 the cost of an Eibach setup. I paid $73 shipped for mine from someone off the boards here, but they tend to go for about $100 shipped on ebay.

 

Ok,
I want some more opinions on springs....
Another thirdgen friend told me about suspension techniques springs....and one of you mentioned Dropzone springs.......
I am pretty sure I am gonna go with Tokico HP shocks, and want to know the most overall reasonably priced springs to go with.
I read a tech article saying to make sure you get the proper combination of shocks/springs.....i want to know what exactly this would mean as far as tokico shocks and some other springs.....

 

Magizines are paid to tell you what works! I have tokico ilumina's on my camaro and love them. Got them on ebay cheap! On another car, I have HAL's. A few guys I know have had quality problems with HAL's and I have not. I do use my car at auto-x mostly, but it does see some track days also, I would buy the tokicos again!

 

what are HAL's?
Are the Tokico HP's good too?
What springs would anybody recommend with Tokico HP's??
Springs that are cheaper than Eibach's....

 

I've been researching this topic for quite some time, and I'll be doing the upgrade soon.

As for shocks/struts, IMO you can't go wrong with the Tokico HPs. You can get better stuff for a LOT more, and you can get cheaper stuff that doesn't work, but dollar for dollar they seem to be the best.

Springs. Well, I've heard of people who LOVE the dropzone springs and people who have had them wear out. I've also heard that people who've had Eibachs AND DZs, say that the DZs are too soft. I don't know, but I'm gonna spend the money and buy the Eibachs.

 

Hey everybody, I got some good info on the Front struts on F Body. I went down to ASI Inc, which is www.shox.com to get my bilstein shocks and struts. I was going to get part number S36-0201 and was told that Bilstein put a sticker on that Shock and makes it part number AK1049, which is cheaper, about 25 dollars per strut. I am going to attached two pics to show everybody. They ASI had pretty good deal 419 for all four. I did search the complete bilstein catalogue and found no such part number (AK1049) One of pics I had to make a mirror image to everybody can read it.

OK>>OK please help we figure out how to attach a pic in the body!! I look at the help file, I tried differnt various of the VB code and I cant get it to work.. I feel stupid I cant figure out how to post the images.. any information will be greatly appreciated

 

I also ordered my Bilsteins from www.shox.com. I had to call and order, the website was not working properly. I told them exactly what I wanted the Bilstein HDs w/ Eibach Pros. Excellent price and fast delivery (UPS)...

 

So your Bilstein and Eibach setup is pretty high end, right? And fairly expensive too by the looks of it. I'm in the position of having to replace my shocks/struts and possibly springs anyways and want to get a quality set, but perhaps they are too quality for me...

 

Here is a pic of the strut with the sticker on, you can see the 201

 

here is the sticker removed, I had to edit the picture to do a mirror image. Same shock with different part number. hmmm makes me wonder

 

I am getting the struts installed today..will post an update on how I like the bilstein and eibach combo

 

I love the Bilstein shocks and struts with the Eibach springs. This is a great combo...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JungleMan
[B]You gotta really choose one or the other-- ride quality or handling.

JungleMan maybe right on the this one. I thought that handling was a top priority so I went with Koni's and Global West Comp Springs. The car sits beautifully but it rides harsh. Years ago, an ex-GM engineer by the name of Herb Adams did some rethinking on the subject. Adams designed the F-car suspension and he felt that for the street, the best set up was softer springs and big sway bars. Maybe this is the best solution. His theory was that you need softer (not soft but not road-race) springs so the car would be compliant over typical road surfaces. The swaying would be handled by the big sway bars with poly bushings.

I already have the stiffer sway bars on my IROC. The addition of the comp. springs has made my ride suffer. I bought a set of 1LE springs off of eBay hoping to get some harshness out.

 

wesilva,
do you know what are springrates(f/r) of those global west comp springs?

 

What's the ride like in terms of handling, roughness, rear axle hop over bumpy turns, etc?

 

The car handles very well, no leaning while going around curves, no axle hop! The ride is stiff but I can handle that for the performace.

 

I really don't. A call to Global West would get me that information. They are very customer oriented out there. If you go to their website, the springs are listed as the S-11 and S-40's.

http://www.globalwest.net/camaro93.htm

Again, the ride height couldn't be better. But streets in Alb. just are not conducive to stiff suspension. No question that the car handles like a beast. The complete Spohn hiem-jointed hardware in the rear, the Global West Del-a-lum lower control arm bushings in the front, Global springs, Koni reds, SSM frame connectors and Jamis strut tower brace pretty much is the suspension. I am very happy with it's handling, even the straight line. I don't get the weight transfer that a suspension set up for the drag strip would but with only 300 rear wheel horsepower, I don't overcome the suspension and it works nicely with this power level.

 

and how much did you setup cost you bluegoose (i am so tempted to get it myself....)? and did you do the installation on your own?

 

http://www.shox.com

Eibach Pro Kit: $239.00
Bilstein shocks/struts: $419.00

very good price...

I checked with Midas, they wanted about 4-5 hours of labor @ $70.00/hour. Way too much, definitely a do-it-yourself...

 

I installed my back shocks and then took the car to Express Tire..I think they are part of Good Year. They installed the stut, front end aligment, rotated and balance tires. Took them 4 hours and total was 260.00 ( I got the life time aligment)

 

I bought a parts car that had Koni struts/shock/bars/springs (I don't think the bars are available anymore) I tell you what, it handles, but you can run over a dime and tell if it's heads or tales.
http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/blacksheep-1/CAMARO.MOV

There are 2 schools of thought on handling,
1. Guldstrand who felt like you needed to whole package matched springs/shocks/bars/etc.
2. the other guy, I think his name was Mitchell liked to use the softest springs/shocks possibe to let the tires keep road contact, then he added huge bars to stop the sway. Sometimes they both worked, sometimes one was better than the other.

 

I've got the Eibach pro kit with the Billstien's. It's a nice setup for handling, especially with the WS6 swaybars. The ride is rough but solid. I wouldn't go with a cheaper spring set. They wear out quickly and don't handle as well.

 

sorry to get off the original subject but with bilstein what type of shocks should u go with? HD's or sports? using eibach sprotline springs, dose it matter?

 

i think you are forgetting something else,springs and shocks are a huge factor in your cornering but dont forget your sway bars,they are soo huge.not to mention the front bushings,i, running jamex springs,kyb shocks/struts,hotchkis stb,hotchkis lca and the adjustable panhard bar.i just got my new swaybars and thr new poly bushing kit up from and man,what a differance.....look into it....you will wish u did sooner