ltborg

I just picked up a set of these to try on my AS car since everyone in the autocross world seems to like them. I've seen some issues come up with them that I want to try and avoid, so I'm looking for any advice people have on them.

Specifically, some people have mentioned that the rubber lower bushings on the fronts get pushed out easily. Is there anything to pay attention to when installing the shocks that would help prevent this from happening? Does anyone know of a good fix if the bushings do push out?

I know the adjusters cause problems as well. Other than being very careful to not adjust them too far or leave them at full stiff or full soft, does anyone have any good tips on how to keep them from breaking?

Lastly, if anyone has any advice for starting positions that they would be willing to share, I'd appreciate it. I found one on the forum (from full soft) of 5 sweeps front, 2.5 rear. The car is a Z51 coupe, Pfadt SS front bar, and A6s. TIA

ltborg

Anyone have any tips?

mountainbiker2

Mine came broken right off the shelf. I bought them from Sam Strano and had problems returning them. After a few months, it got straighten out. Saying that, I would still call Sam Strano and see what he says. He sells lots of them for F-body cars. This year he's racing Corvettes.
http://www.stranoparts.com/

Steve A.

gkmccready

I think Gary @ HardbarUSA had real sphericals to replace the rubber in the 3013s at one point. Not sure if he ever turned it in to a product offering or service, though.

Solofast

I think you are real close...

Sam told me " about 2/3rds stiff in the front and about 1/3rd stiff rear. That was for a Z06.

So the rear just a bit softer than the front. Not sure where your car would be, depends on your springs and bars, but that's probably a real good starting place.

talon95

All I would add here is to start with those settings and then probably try bumping up the rears from run to run until the car rotates like you want it. That's what I do and it varies some from surface to surface.

I *think* they fixed the lower front bushing problem later on, so if you have a recently purchased set, they may be ok.

Dave G.

ltborg

Thanks everyone.

The only suspension differences are a softer rear spring than a Z06 and a softer setting on the front bar than a Z06 would probably take. The car weights more and has a little more weight in the rear, but I'm guessing the same settings would be pretty close. Thanks.


Good to know, thanks.

I guess if people are still having issues with the adjusters, I'll just try to be really careful with them.

ltborg

Well, just heard back from the race shop that dynoed my Konis and one of the front adjusters is broken. If I had just put these on the car, are there any tell tale signs of the damper being stuck at full soft? I'm assuming it would have asymmetric cornering characteristics but I've never driven on a broken aftermarket damper. Any advice, or do I just need to dyno any new shocks I buy?

RacePro Engineering

Lane,

Typically, when the adjusters "break", they fail to "click" any longer, due to no resistance in the tube. If one has a way to compress or extend the shock shaft, broken ones will have very little resistance.

Occasionally, the **** will simply become disconnected from the adjuster shaft, and if that happens, the resistance will remain wherever it was last set, so this is harder to diagnose.

Ed

edwardo99

The issue with the front lower mount rubber coming loose seems to be that the shock is at an angle to the lower A-arm. The rubber bushing gets torqued when the shock is installed. The thinking is that as the A-arm moves up and down this torque gets cycled and it eventually pops the bushing out. This happened last week to a friend's Z06 with 3013's. He was able to pop it back in.

There has also been some concern about the metal mount breaking. I'm leery that this is possible, given that the force is limited by the rubber.

Strano has been passing on a recommendation that you shim under one side to reduce/eliminate the installed twist. I have recently installed the 3013's and was able to get 3 washers underneath the one side. That took out about half of the apparent angular mismatch. I did 2 days of test and tunes last weekend. So far so good. A taller one-piece spacer would be better and much easier to install.

I just got an email from Strano about this. He is thinking about offering an actual ball-jointed lower interface,, but will only do it if enough of his customers want it.

roadracerex

I like these firmer than most. I run full hard in the front and 1/2 way in the back. I had the fastest raw runs every run at the Packwood National tour last year with this setup in the rain and drying track conditions. Pesky cone kept me out of first.

SteveC68

I am considering getting a set of these, but two big strikes against them are that they can't be rebuilt (even by Koni) and the notorious breaking adjuster. What does Koni do when your adjuster breaks?

travisnd

Kony 2012!!!!

SteveC68

The 2012's are about $1000 each. Maybe if I win the Mega Millions tonight.....hey a guy can dream.

travisnd

Um... google Kony 2012... it was a joke