Shock and Strut help!!!
 

So Santa was kind enough to order me H&R race springs...... Now I dont know what a good shock and strut combo would be. I'm thinkin lakewood, but I just don't know. I want a street/strip type of setup. Anybody got some insight for me?

Tokico makes good shocks and struts I'm pretty sure that was what was used in the Mach's so you can always get some Mach takeoffs off ebay

I've got the Race springs...I use Bilstein HD's from Maximum motorsports...they are valved to work with the their Race springs according to them.

I wouldn't think the race springs would be any good for a dragstrip though. I have my car more leaning towards a very mild road race type set up.

The drag shocks from Lakewood are best used for purpose built drag cars since they compromise the handling.

I'd love to setup for road racing but I dont think their are any tracks in South Carolina. How do you like the race springs?

I like them just fine. I dont race my car...I just wanted a nice stiff setup for weekend corner carving. also, I like the fact that the Race springs dont drop the car so low that it becomes a chore to drive. The Race springs are stiffer than most and the ride will be much sharper and stiffer...its not bad in my opinion...its just how i like a car to feel.

Do they give the car a nice stance?

I think so, but stance is an opinion thing. here's a few shots of mine...

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You want a adjustable shock that you can make loose for the track and firm up for the street. Something like the strange 10ways are good and not to much money, but they are noisy.

So on adjustable shocks your adjusting the stiffness of the shock right?

read the sticky I made, then we can start the discussion with you knowing what you want.

whats a sticky?

So I found your sticky and it got me questioning my choice of springs. I want a setup that can be taken to a road course, drag strip, still have a decent setup for the street, and have that nasty rake look. I'm thinkin I went too agressive on the springs....

Theres no such thing as a good set up for road course, drag strip, AND street.

preach it brutha



When you've come to a decision about how you intend to use the car then we can trot down the parts spec path. Until then you're kinda spinnin' yer wheels. Think of suspension setups as being any point along the following scale:

drag------------------street------------------corners

While this is a drastic oversimplification, you can pretty easily see that one setup does not do well for the others. If you want the best of all worlds you'll have to have 3 cars. I have a pretty nice setup for street and road course work. It's not got the right springs in it to do very well on the strip but the torque arm conversion enhances grip enough to help make up for it. It's never gunna be thought of as a drag car but I'll take it to the strip come summer and if I can't muster better than a 2.4 60' time then I'll live with that because corners and street driving are more important to me.

Dang... Well I had a bad feeling about the H&R race springs so I just called and swapped them for the sport springs. I've read better things about them and they will probably handle better than the race setup.

on the street they'll feel better. Race springs are a little stout for my taste. Sports are fine and they do less damage to your 60 foot times.

Preciate all the help. I'm about to order the Tokico D-Spec package to accomedate my new springs. Should I do the whole fox body strut and shock thing or just get the right product for my year car

handle better? wrong... the sports will feel less stiff though, but they wont handle better.

handling is hard to guess. I'm betting that the sport springs will be easier to deal with on the street and not quite so loose.

I haven't felt anything but tight and responsive.

D-spec doesn't give you a lot of room downward. I'd pick up the illumina models. Get struts for a 79-93 and the correct shocks for your year car.

oh and zig... by tight do you mean it pushes in turns or is it just generally well handling and I need to choke you for using improper terminology (hehe)? If you aren't feeling it get loose in the back end on hard corners then you're not driving anywhere near hard enough to find the limit (making you smart). Race stiffening the back end is the easiest way to loosen up the handling and allow oversteer to increase.

FWIW... my car biases to oversteer under throttle and just a touch of understeer in braking.

guess you need to choke me, it handles better than I ever think its going to inside a turn. But, I bet I dont really push the car to its absolute limit though...im just not that hard on it.

<r3d> e-chokes you.

I beat my car like it owes me money. Every corner is done at speed, every stoplight is a launch, every braking op is a test of my seatbelts... got to have some fun somewhere. I know exactly where the limits are though.

For anyone with non-stock suspension, I'd suggest taking a trip to somewhere safe and finding the limits under controlled conditions. That way when you find the limits accidentally you'll be able to get yourself out of the trouble you just found. Just a tip... Saved my life a thousand times.

So will H&R sport springs and Illumina dampners be a descent setup for the drag strip every now and then?

a helluva lot better than race springs and d-spec's. It'll still be slower down the track than even a stock suspension car but that's a good overall combo for mixed street/strip/corners type use. It'll be biased to the twisties and the street but it does a decent job on the track. Try removing your front sway bar for drag strip runs.