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Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice
Posted By: 68Bullit
Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 01:57 AM
Car is a mostly driver and I want something better than stock for the nice curvy roads where I live (and the hopes for a future road track day) and would like suggestions.
Am I thinking correctly to start with maybe some Koni stock appearing replacements, bigger front swaybar, installation of a rear bar, and a set of subframe connectors???? Would these changes be a noticeable upgrade over stock, and worth it???
I've already installed polygraphite bushings/accessories to the front end, and MP front disc conversion. That's the only upgrades to the front.
Please tell me how you'd better the OVERALL suspension for a big driver car including brand of aftermarket pieces with a Goal under $1200.00.....Thanks
Posted By: dangina
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 02:22 AM
this is the only thing you should save up for - bolt on, no cutting or welding, beautiful installation and for the price its a no brainer for what you want - save those pennies!
http://www.reillymotorsports.com/
Posted By: ahy
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 02:36 AM
Sounds like a great start. How did the alignment come out? A half degree or so of negative camber and some positive caster (around 3 deg if possible) will help a lot. The next step would be bigger T bars. With frame connectors and good shocks 1" bars work great on the street. The stock T bar suspension has great potential with cost effective upgrades.
Posted By: AndyF
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 04:36 AM
Give the guys at
www.firmfeel.com a call and get a list of upgrades from them. You should be able to upgrade torsion bars, shocks, springs, and anti-sway bar until you have it just like you want. Lighter wheels with high performance tires will also make a big difference.
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 06:25 AM
Quote:
Car is a mostly driver and I want something better than stock for the nice curvy roads where I live (and the hopes for a future road track day) and would like suggestions.
Am I thinking correctly to start with maybe some Koni stock appearing replacements, bigger front swaybar, installation of a rear bar, and a set of subframe connectors???? Would these changes be a noticeable upgrade over stock, and worth it???
Yes, noticeable. And suitable for a track day.
Quote:
I've already installed polygraphite bushings/accessories to the front end, and MP front disc conversion. That's the only upgrades to the front.
Does that conversion take Mopar facotory rotors? Nice to be able to get 11.75" dia disks on there. IMHO the factory disks swap is just as capable as these aftermarket kits with cast iron calipers. And if you use the 73-76 A-body or F/M/J spindle the upgrade to one inch larger disc is not very expensive.
Quote:
Please tell me how you'd better the OVERALL suspension for a big driver car including brand of aftermarket pieces with a Goal under $1200.00.....Thanks
OK, $1200 budget... Bang for you buck and trying to not to duplicate labor with further improvements.
- $335 1.18" T-bar from www.firmfeel.com
- stock rear springs
- $100 Addco 1 1/8" front if you have a factory bar allready
- ~$50 Energy sway bar to K-member adapters
- $240 Helwig adjustable 3/4" rear sway bar pn 6907
- ~$50 Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- N/C shaved the rearward poly strut rod bushing like this: http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- $500 Koni shocks or QA1 single or double adjustable
Whew! That's $1275. How'd I do??
Next improvements
- reinforce welded 70-72 K-member with $100 70-72 sway bar to run up to 5.5 backspace front rims (might substitute this for the Koni shocks just because you have to take so much off to get to it)
- adj. prop. valve,
- frame connectors
- Firm Feel Stage III power steering box
- 13" disc AndyF brake kit
- Doc Diff rear brake kit with parking brakes
My current setup in my 340 68 Barracuda listed below. Future plans (if money falls out of the sky) for some bigger T-bars, front and rear 275/40/17 tires on 17x9's, 13" disks with good calipers, brake ducts.
- .99 T-bar
- stock 340 original 40 year old rear springs
- Addco 1 1/8" front 3/4" rear sway bars
- 245/50/15 BFG Comp TA, 15x8 rallyes, 4.5 bksp
- 73-76 k-member welded reinforced
- Mopar reman power steering box
- La Carra steering wheel
- Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- poly: LCA, strut, sway bar, leaf bushings
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- 11.75 front disk, 10" stock rear drums
Mopar Police semi metallic disk pads, braided flex lines, adj. prop. valve, MP alum master
- QA1 single adjustble front shocks
- Koni SPA1 rear shocks
Posted By: StandOnIt
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 07:24 AM
Start with the subframe connecters. Talk about stiffen it up... Then start playing with your shocks and good body mounts, sway bars, etc...
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 08:00 AM
Quote:
Start with the subframe connecters. Talk about stiffen it up... Then start playing with your shocks and good body mounts, sway bars, etc...
Then you'd have to dump the shock upgrade to stay within the budget.
I haven't had subframe connectors in the last 13 years with my setup. I'm sure they would help and I would like to get some. IMHO, you will feel bigger effects in the seat of your pants from the other stuff.
Posted By: ThermoQuad
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 10:54 AM
I am unable to respond to share valuable information at this time...still waiting for our handling/suspension section...
Actually I am waiting for an adult explanation from an adult as to why we can't have a trial period for a handling/suspension section.
Maybe my adult inquiry will get another child like
Posted By: BergmanAutoCraft
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 02:39 PM
Quote:
Quote:
Car is a mostly driver and I want something better than stock for the nice curvy roads where I live (and the hopes for a future road track day) and would like suggestions.
Am I thinking correctly to start with maybe some Koni stock appearing replacements, bigger front swaybar, installation of a rear bar, and a set of subframe connectors???? Would these changes be a noticeable upgrade over stock, and worth it???
Yes, noticeable. And suitable for a track day.
Quote:
I've already installed polygraphite bushings/accessories to the front end, and MP front disc conversion. That's the only upgrades to the front.
Does that conversion take Mopar facotory rotors? Nice to be able to get 11.75" dia disks on there. IMHO the factory disks swap is just as capable as these aftermarket kits with cast iron calipers. And if you use the 73-76 A-body or F/M/J spindle the upgrade to one inch larger disc is not very expensive.
Quote:
Please tell me how you'd better the OVERALL suspension for a big driver car including brand of aftermarket pieces with a Goal under $1200.00.....Thanks
OK, $1200 budget... Bang for you buck and trying to not to duplicate labor with further improvements.
- $335 1.18" T-bar from www.firmfeel.com
- stock rear springs
- $100 Addco 1 1/8" front if you have a factory bar allready
- ~$50 Energy sway bar to K-member adapters
- $240 Helwig adjustable 3/4" rear sway bar pn 6907
- ~$50 Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- N/C shaved the rearward poly strut rod bushing like this: http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- $500 Koni shocks or QA1 single or double adjustable
Whew! That's $1275. How'd I do??
Next improvements
- reinforce welded 70-72 K-member with $100 70-72 sway bar to run up to 5.5 backspace front rims (might substitute this for the Koni shocks just because you have to take so much off to get to it)
- adj. prop. valve,
- frame connectors
- Firm Feel Stage III power steering box
- 13" disc AndyF brake kit
- Doc Diff rear brake kit with parking brakes
My current setup in my 340 68 Barracuda listed below. Future plans (if money falls out of the sky) for some bigger T-bars, front and rear 275/40/17 tires on 17x9's, 13" disks with good calipers, brake ducts.
- .99 T-bar
- stock 340 original 40 year old rear springs
- Addco 1 1/8" front 3/4" rear sway bars
- 245/50/15 BFG Comp TA, 15x8 rallyes, 4.5 bksp
- 73-76 k-member welded reinforced
- Mopar reman power steering box
- La Carra steering wheel
- Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- poly: LCA, strut, sway bar, leaf bushings
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- 11.75 front disk, 10" stock rear drums
Mopar Police semi metallic disk pads, braided flex lines, adj. prop. valve, MP alum master
- QA1 single adjustble front shocks
- Koni SPA1 rear shocks
With all due respect Steve, I can add that the Konis are nowhere near enough shock for the afformentioned t bar. I also beg to differ that the 11.75 brakes with single piston cast iron calipers rival more modern multipiston units with larger rotors. In the real world, it just isn't happening. Since he mentioned track capable, we need to put more modern options on the table...
BTW, how did you arrive at that torsion bar selection? 
Posted By: JimG
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 02:58 PM
I can tell you what I've done and how it worked out.
I did most of this 11 years ago, so some details are fuzzy.
1" MP torsion bars
Stiffer bushings in the upper & lower control arms (the brand name escapes me now, but for years they advertised on the back cover of all the Mopar magazines).
Addco front anti swaybar with polyurethane bushings
Koni shocks all around
MP replacement rear springs. I think they're called XHD - 7 leaves on one side, 6 on the other. My car originally came with these springs, but they had sagged, so these were stock replacements for me.
Addco rear bar - 3/4" I think
Not that it affected handling, but I did the disc brake swap and used 11.75 brakes. I have a Firm Feel stage 2 power steering box. I have a very heavy wheel/tire combo, which hurts me I know.
All that stuff helped a lot, but if I had it to do over I'd go with larger front t-bars and stiffer rear springs. In Mopar Action, Mr. Ehrenberg recommended de-arched super stock springs (back when I did this work), but never having had a set of springs de-arched, I could envision multiple intalls, uninstalls, and multiple pricey trips to the spring de-arching shop (ha!)to get the arch set right. That scared me off, so I took the easy way out, and I regret it. Again, that was 11 years ago and there are probably better options for rear springs that did not exist then.
The Koni shocks, while pricey, are nice. I wish I'd bought a Firm Feel stage 3 steering box instead of the stage 2.
Jim
Posted By: Lefty
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 05:12 PM
Quote:
Am I thinking correctly to start with maybe some Koni stock appearing replacements, bigger front swaybar, installation of a rear bar, and a set of subframe connectors???? Would these changes be a noticeable upgrade over stock, and worth it???
Yes, it will feel like a different car. I would go for a matched set on the sway bars.
Also, if the Konis have to be removed to adjust, go with the QA1s as they are externally adjustible. 
Posted By: Pacnorthcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 05:32 PM
Eric,
If you are likely to upgrade the car over time, kinda one project at a time rather than a complete g-machine build all at once then I would do the subframes first--if you drive the car hard sooner or later you will want them and they set the foundation for a stiff/firm platform on which your future mods can operate at their optimum.
Then the T-bars--they are a really inexpensive upgrade that again create the basis from which other improvements can be optimized.
Brakes or Sway bars next. Brakes can be expensive, but everything else is comprimized if your brakes are not performance oriented.
Konis??? Man, they are nice, but they take up too much green ($) in a budget build.
Wheels/Tires, your way over budget now.... but we all know how important low rotational weight and performance tires can be. Maybe by this time your budget has changed
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 06:32 PM
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Car is a mostly driver and I want something better than stock for the nice curvy roads where I live (and the hopes for a future road track day) and would like suggestions.
Am I thinking correctly to start with maybe some Koni stock appearing replacements, bigger front swaybar, installation of a rear bar, and a set of subframe connectors???? Would these changes be a noticeable upgrade over stock, and worth it???
Yes, noticeable. And suitable for a track day.
Quote:
I've already installed polygraphite bushings/accessories to the front end, and MP front disc conversion. That's the only upgrades to the front.
Does that conversion take Mopar facotory rotors? Nice to be able to get 11.75" dia disks on there. IMHO the factory disks swap is just as capable as these aftermarket kits with cast iron calipers. And if you use the 73-76 A-body or F/M/J spindle the upgrade to one inch larger disc is not very expensive.
Quote:
Please tell me how you'd better the OVERALL suspension for a big driver car including brand of aftermarket pieces with a Goal under $1200.00.....Thanks
OK, $1200 budget... Bang for you buck and trying to not to duplicate labor with further improvements.
- $335 1.18" T-bar from www.firmfeel.com
- stock rear springs
- $100 Addco 1 1/8" front if you have a factory bar allready
- ~$50 Energy sway bar to K-member adapters
- $240 Helwig adjustable 3/4" rear sway bar pn 6907
- ~$50 Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- N/C shaved the rearward poly strut rod bushing like this: http://users.erols.com/mathewg/bushings.html
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- $500 Koni shocks or QA1 single or double adjustable
Whew! That's $1275. How'd I do??
Next improvements
- reinforce welded 70-72 K-member with $100 70-72 sway bar to run up to 5.5 backspace front rims (might substitute this for the Koni shocks just because you have to take so much off to get to it)
- adj. prop. valve,
- frame connectors
- Firm Feel Stage III power steering box
- 13" disc AndyF brake kit
- Doc Diff rear brake kit with parking brakes
My current setup in my 340 68 Barracuda listed below. Future plans (if money falls out of the sky) for some bigger T-bars, front and rear 275/40/17 tires on 17x9's, 13" disks with good calipers, brake ducts.
- .99 T-bar
- stock 340 original 40 year old rear springs
- Addco 1 1/8" front 3/4" rear sway bars
- 245/50/15 BFG Comp TA, 15x8 rallyes, 4.5 bksp
- 73-76 k-member welded reinforced
- Mopar reman power steering box
- La Carra steering wheel
- Moog offset 7103 rubber UCA bushings for caster on stock A-arms
- poly: LCA, strut, sway bar, leaf bushings
- Alignment: 4.4 deg pos caster, 1 deg neg camber, 1/16" toe in
- 11.75 front disk, 10" stock rear drums
Mopar Police semi metallic disk pads, braided flex lines, adj. prop. valve, MP alum master
- QA1 single adjustble front shocks
- Koni SPA1 rear shocks
With all due respect Steve, I can add that the Konis are nowhere near enough shock for the afformentioned t bar. I also beg to differ that the 11.75 brakes with single piston cast iron calipers rival more modern multipiston units with larger rotors. In the real world, it just isn't happening. Since he mentioned track capable, we need to put more modern options on the table...
BTW, how did you arrive at that torsion bar selection?
By more options, means more $$$
I'm just working within stated the $1200 budget. It's easy to blank check this deal. But you've got to make compromises when working with a budget. What do you keep and what do you let go?
Sorry, I was talking about 11.75 factory disk being the same or better than the aftermarket kits that use cast iron GM calipers or early Mustang calipers for a 11" disc converstion kit. Now the MP kit seems like a factory spindle with factory slider calipers. If 68Bullit has those in 10.75" disks, then I would suggest buying some used 11.75" ~$60 slider caliper adapters and some new 11.75" disks from the parts store.
I agree Multipiston brakes would be great and better with much more potential on the track than a 11.75 stock setup. No doubt. But it will put him past the $1200 budget in one shot. The mulitpiston brakes will decrease track pad wear, stiffer track pedal, fade resistance, spread the pad clamping force...
That car is very heavy but he says he want's to drive it on the street. I don't know what he feels is stiff or too stiff. So 1.18 T-bars aren't too stiff. He can balance the car with the adjustable rear sway bar. If he wants more of a track car, go all the way up to 1.24"
I'm going for bang for your buck that you can feel. Sure we can make everything perfect and spend a ton of (someone else's) money at once. I'm going for roll stiffness first, then tire size (like 275's wide up front at least), body re-inforcement, then a big jump in brake upgrade.
Not going to do everything at once. But enough to start having fun and maybe getting out to the track to know what to do next. I think this is what TomQ has basically done too.
Posted By: 68Bullit
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 07:40 PM
Don't ask me how, but I forgot to mention my wheel/tire setup. Here it is. Fronts are 16x7 (245/50-16....I think). I'll get the exact front measurement and post it. The rears are for sure 275-40-17's. Tires are 8 year old Falken Ziex series, not dry cracked yet, but hopin' they wear down fast enough for newer rubber.
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 07:51 PM
Quote:
Don't ask me how, but I forgot to mention my wheel/tire setup. Here it is. Fronts are 16x7 (245/50-16....I think). I'll get the exact front measurement and post it. The rears are for sure 275-40-17's. Tires are 8 year old Falken Ziex series, not dry cracked yet, but hopin' they wear down fast enough for newer rubber.
Not bad tires and rims. But have you tried for the heck of it to fit the rear tires in the front. What is your rear backspacing? Never hurts to try, you might be surprised.
I think 17" rims will fit most 13" hipo disc upgraded like the Willwood 6 piston and the AndyF Brembo calipers
You can run around 5.5 backspacing 17" rims in the front with the short upper ball joints and the 70-72 K-member sway bar setup. I think it might hit the 66-69 sway bar on tight turns.
What steering box do you have now?
Posted By: boydsdodge
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 08:23 PM
Too bad we don't have a suspension section.
Posted By: 68Bullit
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/27/08 09:02 PM
Quote:
What steering box do you have now?
Stock power steering box, and it is leaking a good bit. Will need to replace
Posted By: Blakcharger440
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 04:27 AM
How much a difference in ride quality vs handling between the 1 inch torsion bar and the 1.18 size?
Posted By: ahy
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 04:41 AM
1" is 2 or 3 steps firmer than OE "heavy duty" suspension. With a stiffened frame and good shocks 1" isn't punishing on the street. 1.1X" bars were considered race pieces. I wouldn't want to run them for a mixed street/track day car. Comments are based on running 1" bars and big firm Feel Front and rear sway bars on a BB E body.
Posted By: autoxcuda
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 05:32 AM
Quote:
How much a difference in ride quality vs handling between the 1 inch torsion bar and the 1.18 size?
Significant. You need to compare the wheel rates and vehicle weights. The wheel rate is almost doubled. 175 vs. 338 lbs/in.
Some other opinions here but the guy with the 1.12 T-bars just got it back together and has barely driven the car yet: http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=51462.0
Controling a big spring with a good shock is very important to ride quality. IIRC, Clair Davis has 1.14 T-bars with 350 lbs/in rate in his A-body. He doesnt think it's too harsh. But when changed from KYB to QA1 shocks things got much much smoother.
IIRC, Clair runs 245/45/17 series tires with 17" rims. Sidewall thickness and tire construction will make a significant diffrence too. You run a 235/40/18 and that will make the ride quality go down. Remember a 275/40/17 has a bigger sidwall than a 225/40/18
From the www.firmfeel.com website..
Bar
Diameter Rate Application Per Pair
.880 101 Drag Racing $285
.940 142 Stock HP/Police $285
1.00 175 HD/Street $285
1.06 225 HD/Race $310
1.12 270 Race $310
1.18 338 Race $335
Posted By: Clair_Davis
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 03:15 PM
Yep, the QA1/1.14 bar combo is actually quite civilized - even my wife doesn't mind riding in the car, and the roads around here aren't great. I woudln't consider any T-bar upgrade over 1" without including quality (Bilstein/KONI/QA1/etc) shocks as part of the upgrade. If you want an exercise in frustration, try the big bar / generic shock combo some time. KYB's, if you're a real glutton for punishment. BTDT. You COULD put quality shocks on smaller t-bars and see an improvement, but not vice versa.
Clair
Posted By: BergmanAutoCraft
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 03:18 PM
Are the QA1s twin tube or mono tube?
Posted By: 71rm23
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 05:00 PM
Quote:
Are the QA1s twin tube or mono tube?
Does anyone have a web add for or to get QA1s? 
Posted By: 68Bullit
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 09:22 PM
Quote:
Quote:
Are the QA1s twin tube or mono tube?
Does anyone have a web add for or to get QA1s?
That's a good question. I've yet to find any of the QA1's for my application? Where do you get 'em 
Posted By: RokketRide
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/29/08 09:36 PM
I got a set from summit.
Posted By: 68Bullit
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 12:44 AM
Quote:
Are the QA1s twin tube or mono tube?
The ones that are being sold by Summit are labeled twin tube. They don't say QA1 however, but it appears they have the adjustment option while on the car FWIW.
Posted By: BergmanAutoCraft
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 02:25 AM
Chances are they are not a true adjustment, just an internal oil restricter. Typically, the higher line monotubes have an adjustment on the top.
Posted By: DennisH
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 05:06 AM
1 USCartool subframe connectors
2 Firm Feel Box
3 Praise-Dyno drum upgrade
4 P-S-T Kit
Different machine now. Straight, rigid, handling. Can stop it now too. 69 Coronet R/T.
Wish I had done these years ago. Rattles, steering correction, front end noise gone now.
Posted By: TC@HP2
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 03:12 PM
The popular, single adjustable QA1 are a twin tube design. Their single adjustment switching simultanously changes rebound and compression, unlike other adjustable shocks that only adjust rebound. Their double adjustable allows rebound and compression to be adjusted independently of each other.
QA1, Carrera and HAL are all owned by the same parent company, BTW.
Posted By: RokketRide
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 03:41 PM
Quote:
The ones that are being sold by Summit are labeled twin tube. They don't say QA1 however, but it appears they have the adjustment option while on the car FWIW.
Says QA1:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail...mp;autoview=sku
Posted By: Clair_Davis
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 04:50 PM
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Are the QA1s twin tube or mono tube?
Does anyone have a web add for or to get QA1s?
That's a good question. I've yet to find any of the QA1's for my application? Where do you get 'em
I got mine on Summit Racing for about $139/ea. IIRC, it's the same price for most all of their "Stocker Star" aluminum-body single-adjustable shocks. They have Mopar applications, but I don't think they break it down to A/B/C/E/F-body, etc. I actually have GM A-body shocks on my Valiant, since they are slightly shorter and a better fit for my lowered suspension. It was just a matter of simple tweaks (bushing sleeves & a 1/2" drill bit) to get them to fit perfectly.
I'm very happy with my single-adjustables, but will probably get double-adjustables some time in the future - after I get some more time in the car.
Clair
Posted By: BergmanAutoCraft
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 08:51 PM
I had single adjustables myself, from Varishock. Similar to QA1, but all american made. Can't say I liked the valving. Needed to crank them up in the front 10 clicks on a 16 scale to control the front, which made the ride pretty harsh. In the rear I needed very little valving which is basically non-existant on these types of shocks.
Posted By: DAYCLONA
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 11/30/08 09:51 PM
Hey Pete,
I always value your input/ experience
.....you have any thoughts or experience with the AFCO T2's?........for a B and E body applications?..... track/ street car,
Posted By: Clair_Davis
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 12/01/08 01:17 PM
Hey, Pete,
The QA1's have 12 clicks of adjustment and I've got my 1.14" bars on 7/12 up from full soft, and the rears are on 5/12 up from full soft on ESPO 6-leaf HD springs (~150#/in). IMHO, the adjustment clicks are pretty significant chunks, but probably won't be a problem for 90% of folks looking to upgrade shocks to control big springs.
BTW, are you saying that QA1's are something other than USA-made? I thought they were, and I'm just curious.
Clair
Posted By: BergmanAutoCraft
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 12/01/08 01:44 PM
No experience with the T2s. I can say that a monotube seems to react faster to changing conditions, and doesn't have the propensity to overheat when the going gets tough.
Clair - Your setup isn't tailhappy? I'd think that setup would be pretty oversprung in the rear making it very lose. What track/autocross experience do you have with the current setup?
Posted By: TC@HP2
Re: Want to upgrade suspension. Need advice - 12/02/08 01:49 AM
In general, a monotube shock is going to be a better performer for longer than a similar twin tube for a couple of reasons. 1) a mono-tube is using a greater amount of the internal area of the shock for fluid control, hence minor adjustments will have a bigger impact. 2) Twin tube shocks have the tubes isolated from the shock body so they are not as efficient at disappating heat as a mono-tube that can pass heat directly through the shock body.
However, for most street driving and even autocross, a twin tube of a good design, especially an adjustable one, will deliver a huge gain in performance over a junk designed mono-tube. For sustained high speed laps or competition, a well designed mono-tube or remote reservour design would be needed