Sidney004

Looking to spend some money on my winter upgrades. I have got a 94LT1, almost exclusively track driven(90% of the street miles is driving to the track,) stock FX3 springs, 32mm front, 26mm rear sway bars 70,000 miles on stock Bilsteins with the FX3, no leaks , no problems, it also has an Exotic Muscle FX3 controller with different(more aggresive?) damper valve position vs. vehicle speed mapping. The car feels very good on V710's and has been holding its own in a
Z06 world. Is it worth the money to send these to Bilstein for a revalve, I suspect it is $100 a piece. Does anyone know the compression and rebound specs on these?

STEVEN13

Hi,

While I do not the specs on this valving-I have this set up on my 1992. I did notice a difference in the way the car handled and at Pocono and LimeRock my lap times improved. I also run the DRM shock controller. The person I contacted @ Billstein was (I think) Mr. French.

Now I am in the process of upgrading my springs to fully take advantage of the shocks and (Z51) sway-bars.

I know many people frown on using the FX3 shocks-but in my case they have been very reliable. Also when I upgrade my springs I will probably go with Leaf Springs.

Steve

c4cruiser

The Morraca valving and specs were designed witht he help of a CF members some years ago. Bilstein should be able to re-build your FX3 shocks to this setting or work with you on something different. The cost will probably be higher compared to the standard $100 or so rebuild but still worth the money.

Call Bilstein in Poway CA (near San Diego) at 800-537-1087 and ask for Jack French.

Doug Rippie Motorsports used to offer a custom controller that used swappable PROM chips. You could get chips burned for different driving applications that effectively further fine-tuned the FX3 system. Don't know if the EM system is the same, can you swap chips in it?

What springs are in the car now? FX3 was available by itself and came with the base FE1 spring. Z07 cars got FX3 but the Z07 spring was much stiffer. Z07-equipped cars also got heavy-duty front lower control arm bushings.

When you talk to Bilstein, let them know what other suspension mods you are going to do at the same time.

Sidney004

Mine has the FE1 springs. I am not sure if the EM controller has a removable chip. I will need to check. Is it neccessary to get a new chip to optimize the Morraca valving?

c4cruiser

You might want to contact E-M to see what the specs are on their controller. If the chip in that unit is removeable, find out what they have in the way of other chipsets that work with the cstom Bilstein valving.

I would also check with Vette Brakes to see what they have for better springs. The have an "Extreme" spring that allows for ride height and spring rate changes. It's supposed to be modeled after the 88-90 Corvette Challenge car springs. Also look at their "Smart Struts" for the rear.

Woods

The valving was developed by Tom Morraca and using the Z07 spring rate. He's out of Ohio and I have run with him at the Glenn. If you tell Bilstein you want the Morraca valving they should know what you want. I believe its $200 per shock to revalve.

ZR1 MK

His rates are a bit weak in rebound. Mainly the rear. I have those rates and others that I can send you. You want an fx3 chip with one setting in full firm. The other two can be softer for street or rain use.

Sidney004

Mike:
If you could send or post the compression/rebound rates for various configurations, that would be great.
Sidney