froggy47

Is 8300 the right one for c5z? I can only go double adj - rulz.

Anyone using?

Where are the adjusters mounted?

EZ access?

pics?

thanks.

TedDBere

gkmccready

I have a set of HardbarUSA/LEMD Penske 8100s. Recently had the seals replaced, and dyno'd at LEMD to be deemed "perfect". They currently have the HardbarUSA dual-rate spring package on them. I would be willing to part with them for less than the 8300s alone would normally cost you, and I bet you could easily have them revalved a few times to find your sweet spot with the savings!

Bump adjusters are on the canisters, so they're wherever you want to mount them. Rebound is in the lower eyelet on the front, and under the big clevis rear.

These started life as Mallett shocks so they are shorter than stock... check your rules on shock length. :-) Also check if you're required to use pintops. Mine are pintops, the new Hardbar offering uses clevis mounts.

spazegun2213

8300's are the current series of Penske DA's.

I have the 8100's and cannot speak enough about them really. I had them rebuilt and converted into coilovers, as well.

IIRC the 8300's moved both Bump and rebound to the canisters, thus making it very easier to adjust them (i would double check that). Thats my only problem with the 8100's is i have to pull the wheel to adjust them. past that I'd highly recommend them.

froggy47

Thanks for the info. I want to be able to easily change adjustments in grid between runs, pulling wheels is not in my plan.

TedDBere

Bump is on the canister, the 8300s have double the settings of the 8100s, so you have a little finer control of the bump, I think there are 12 settings. The adjuster is the big black **** on the top of the canister.

Rebound is on the bottom of the shock. In my picture you can see a little nut with a hole in it on the shock on the left...that's the rebound adjuster.

Bump adjustment is done by reaching under and turning the ****, wherever you've mounted the canister. The rules allow you to make holes in the wheelwell for mounting purposes...(Fastrack 7/08 I think)Rebound requires a tool (I use a little allen wrench) to slip through the little holes and turn it for 1 sweep. I can adjust rebound by turning the front wheels and getting in there. My rear rebound requires me sliding under the rear of the car with a flashlight so I can see the tiny holes. No need to take the wheels off.

0MrPickles

Penske DA shocks are the best, especially for autocross. Good thing about them, is rebuilding them is relatively easy. If no desire to do it yourself, there is a guy in Denver that rebuilds them for $30 a shock! Which is pretty good. Search on "Leary Racing Products"

As far as mounting the external canister, the rears are easy to locate. The fronts can be challenging, I would mount the canisters inside the hood for I have had a wheel (with a bad wheel weight) rip out the line going to the canister when the canister was inside the wheel well. This happened to me(by my co-driver) at Wendover ProSolo in 2008. This incident spawned me to relocate them inside. Plus it makes it easier to adjust later.

I can send pictures of my mount spots. All you need is a 2.5" hole saw, 2.5" rubber grommit (that you can get at home depot), 4 hose clamps, some screws and nuts, and perhaps a few zip ties.

The ONLY grip I have with the penske's, is that adjusting the rebound isn't as quick. And requires the wheel to be off( I have WIDE rims, and lowered the car), along with a fine tipped screw driver (about the size of a paper clip) or a small allen wrench. Plus you need to count, the number of "nut faces" to keep adjustments the same on both sides. I wish there was an easier way like a **** or something, but there isn't.

NOTE: Make sure you put your ABS sensor back in place after adjusting the shock so you don't throw codes I always forgot

Hope this helps
Michael

froggy47

The Pfadt's I use now have the best adjuster I have found to date. But they are single adjust.

It's a simple knurled wheel about the size of a quarter & mounted at the bottom of both front & rear (inverted) shocks. It's click (audible if your hearing is still working) and feel (the detent) so if your arms are long enough you just shove your arm in there & feel around and turn.

16 clicks.

Barbara_S

Do you have the front with the rebound facing out and the rear opening facing under the car or are all accessed from under the car?

I've mounted mine all facing under the car, and use ramps to get under and adjust them quickly but that's not working on grid very well.

TedDBere

To be honest with you I got the rebound where I wanted it a few year's ago and haven't touched it since so I don't even remember which way I located it. It's my understanding that rebound controls the unsprung weight of the car so, unless you're changing that weight, once you have it dialed in you should really not have to ever change it again for that car. In fact there is a school of thought that says just set it to 65% of critical damping and forget it. But for some people it's: Have adjuster...will adjust.

Bump and shock pressure is more what I play with based on surface and conditions. FWIW.

BrianCunningham

Not to highjack a thread, but how's the car feel with the new shocks?

talon95

Who are you guys using for shock builders too? Custom shocks are only as good as the person that valves them.

Dave G.

mountainbiker2

No more Penske shocks for me. I went with Pfadt shocks. Penske always seem to leak oil, can't adjust them with the wheels on. I had DBL. and TRI. adjustable shocks from Penske. I'm not saying that the Pfadt shocks are the greatest shock out there. But they do work and your able to adjust them between runs. On some autocross tracks I've had my best runs on #14 and some on #0 That's the greatest thing about them. Make quick changes between runs and see what the outcome is. If Penske had those kind of adjusters, I would still own them.

Steve

Barbara_S

Fronts are crisp, and I only got the rears mounted 2 weeks ago so I have jusr one event with all 4 on the car. It was awful, the rear bounced badly, uncontrolably with mid range rebound and none of my changes helped much. I was going to take them off for Evo school last weekend when I tried full soft on rear rebound, and it lost the bounce. So far, it's not a dismal failure

Now I can work on compression.

BrianCunningham

Did you put them on 'as is' or did you have them revalved for your car?

How was the previous car setup?

Nice thing about Penskes is you can revalve them yourself.
Or take them to a person like Gary with a shock dyno

BrianCunningham

Let me guess pin top?

ghoffman

We did not like the Penske rebound adjusters either so we redesigned them. The old Penske rebound adjuster is a PINA with the "sweeps" so we have a very easy adjuster that has 38 "clicks" that actually do something (unlike some others, that turning the **** does very little, the dyno does not lie). All you do is reach in with a 3/32 Allen wrench (with the wheels on) and turn the adjuster and you have approximately 250-525 pounds of range (depending on valving) for rebound. This is the front:

And the rear:


As far as the compression adjuster goes, that is a **** on the canister and with the 8300, (2 ***** for the 3 speed 8700), you have a much greater range that the old 8100. The old 8100 had a barrel valve with 6 holes in it, whereas the 8300 has a valve stack and when you turn the ****, you are increasing or decreasing the preload in the center of the stack, similar to the piston stack shown below.:


The 8300 is much more velocity sensitive that the old 8100 and really is much superior.
In addition, we will very soon announce the first proper and correct pin top shock mount ever offered by anyone. It is a direct replacement part and has spherical surfaces on the top and bottom for leaf or coil over applications. It works with everything from stock shocks, to Bilsteins, Koni, etc, and of course, Penskes!

mountainbiker2

Yes. How does that change anything? Please don't tell me that's why the oil is always leaking.

Steve

ghoffman

I have not had even one shock returned for oil leaks, but yes, the pin top with the rubber or poly mounts will put alot of side load on the shaft and seals. My stock C6Z shocks had blue rub marks on the shafts, especially on the rear but I have zero leaks on mine with the clevis mounts in 2 years because of zero side load. If the upper mounts are too stiff in angle, any and all brands of shocks will wear out prematurely or in many cases the pin top itself can break off (especially on brands that have hollow pin top shafts). Our new pin top mount will completely correct this on all brands of pin top shocks.

waktasz

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