I have the Bilstein Sports on all 4 corners, with 550 lb front springs and a VBP 365 (or 360) rear fglass spring. The ride is stiff but not jarring, I found that adding the Sharkbar really stiffened the ride up as well. MotorHead and I bought them together about 10 yrs ago and for me at least no issues to date although the front are starting to go so will replace in a yr or so once I upgrade the wheels.

 

Here's my setup:

Front:

1 1/8 inch OEM bar with all poly bushings
Shock Tower spreader bar
Poly upper and lower control arm bushings
550 springs, 1 inch lower than stock
Every OEM component replaced-ball joints, tie rods, idler arm etc
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks with poly bushings on the towers
255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires
OEM steering box-Blue printed/rebuilt with custom components-zero play

Rear:

360 Monospring with poly cushings
Competition adjustable Strut rods with Heim joint ends
3/4 Inch OEM type rear sway bar with poly mounting bushings
Bilstein Sport shocks
255/50/17 ZR tires

The Bilstein HD's were not stiff enough for the 360 monospring-too much bouncing on the highway to me. The Sports in the rear only, solved the problem and to be perfectly honest is not that stiff at all-actually pretty comfortable with the 360 spring. The Bilstein HD's in front with the 550 lowered springs are more than adequate since the springs are so stiff.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

It seems a few people use the HD in front with coil springs and Sport in the rear with composite mono spring. I am thinking if I do go with Bilsteins, it will be Sport front and rear because I have a composite mono spring at both locations.

 

Thats exactly my experience to.

//Ricky

 

I tried Bilstein HD and sport but I ended up with single adj QA1 front and rear ( F41 suspensions).Expensive but at the end you can tailor them on your needs with just a ****.cool stuff in my opinion

 

I tried out Bilstein sport, Koni Classic adjustable and QA1 single adjustable both front and rear.

QA1 wins hands down not only for convinience but also for quality.

 

Thank you both for the honest feedback. QA1's are what I really want, and this thread was supposed to help me come to the conclusion that the Bilsteins were just as good for 1/2 the money....so thanks for nothing!!


So, elle88, you have front coils and rear steel spring? Why single adjustables, and not double?

PNK, what is your suspension? Why single adjustables, and not double? Yes, the QA1's are very convenient to adjust almost on the fly, and I have had one in my hands and saw the quality....they even felt high quality! Another plus is that they are rebuildable.

 

I went single adj and not double because of the price (double price too) and because i don't think i'm able to set up correctly the double adj . btw took my car to the racetrack and i was very satisfied. My car has stock suspensions ( no fiberglass) so it reacts much different from your. I think fiberglass springs need more rebound damping
Ah... some months ago there was an issue with single adj QA1 availability because QA1 modified the catalog. check actual availabilty first

 

Koni's have a very good reputation because they are made to a high standard. Koni recommends that you leave the shocks in the softest or lowest setting when first installed and as they wear, increase the damping to accomodate wear. I have well over 100,000 miles on mine, and as I said earlier, they dampen the mono-spring just fine. They are pricey but I think it's a case of you get what you pay for.


Pete

 

A few years back, in 2005/2006, I spoke with "Michelle" at a Corvette aftermarket place that went under (owner going through divorce I think), and not knowing or understanding the difference in shocks, she broke it down "Suspension for Dummies" style....

In her words:

When I swapped out the stock shocks and replaced them with Bilstein's, it was a night and day difference. When i swappe dout the Bilstein's with QA-1s, it was a night and day difference. If you ask me, get the QA-1s."

Then, I paid $995 for the set of single-adjustable HA: QA-1s and at first, the ride was so stiff, it was making my stomach sick. I felt every single inclination of the Autobahn, every bump, everything was amplified 10 fold. It was crazy. My stomach was feeling nausious, but it was a GOOD feeling, because the suspension was that tight.

Now that I am used to it, it don't feel as tight as it was. Maybe the shocks need reconditioning. I don't know. It may be possible.

What i do know is, the settings I have them on (10 all around at this point), the car sits stiff and can be barely moved at all. (That shock up and down movement). When people get in, the car does not sink at all. When you push down on the rear quarter panel to try and rock the car up and down, the car does not move.

 

Just something else that comes to mind about the OP's original question concerning Bilstein shocks: With any high quality shock/strut that I have used over the last 30 years on many different cars, I have NEVER had one "wear" out. My recollection about the Bilsteins is that they were warranted for life to the original owner although I am not sure if Bilstein/Koni still offers that coverage. With that said, I do know that Bilstein does claim that wear for their shocks is still within new tolerances on cars with 200,000 miles on them-another words unless you have driven at least 100-150,000 miles on your Bilsteins, they are probably NOT worn out and the issue may be with the front springs, not the shocks. Lesser quality shocks such as KYB, AC Delco, Monroe etc do and have worn out and in a few cases, have been replaced under warranty.

I currently have Bilsteins on my 94 Mustang GT convertible (no perceptible wear at all), KYB GR-2's on a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix (about 50,000 miles on them, warranted for life and beginning to show a little wear), and Sachs shocks/struts on a 2008 Chrysler 300 with 73,000 miles on them (no wear yet). Bilstein would probably replace your shocks if you still have the original paperwork if indeed the shocks are worn-How many miles are on them? Just a thought!

 

Interesting thread, I appreciate it's a bit old but hey.

Sorry if it seems like i'm hijacking but hopefully this will help?

I've got a lowered '71 with the usual fast road mods and lowered. I had the Koni's first, they were ok but taking them off to adjust them was a pain.

I then fitted the VBP front mono spring and fitted single adjustable Spax's (English shocks) and the ride is bouncy (I didn't know enough about shock valving at the time). Adjusting them seems to only make the ride bad in a softer or harder kind of way

Anyhow we've decided to put the Spax's on our '51 Studebaker and i'm looking for new shocks for the Vette so i've decide to go for what I should have done in the first place - double adjustable QA1's on the rear, this seems to be where you feel most of the jolts as it's next to your ***. Dial in some rebound.

Views on the double adjustables? ( I have a fibre spring in the rear)

For the fronts it seems like i'll use Bilstein sports, any joy with these with the mono spring? If not i'll go for the double adjustable on the front.

With lowered cars you need the adjustability or you'll bottom out and have to buy stuff again

My car is lowered and I drive fast

Cheers.

I've also done a rear crossmember mod to raise the diff up 3/4" to bring the half shafts back to parallel, worked a treat.
http://s877.photobucket.com/user/aar...ml?sort=3&o=26

 

If you want a really fast Vette buy either of these sets of shocks, the way they lighten your wallet, your sure to go much faster!

 

I installed the Billsteins HD series on front and rear.
I have a 68 427 w/ AC, PS, PB so it's a heavy C-3.
I like the ride firm yet rebounds nicely.
Marshal

 

I run Bilstein Sports front and rear, not adjustable, and VBP monosprings front and rear that are adjustable.

 

I have the QA-1 dual adjust semi coil over fronts and dual adjust rears. It is a nice function to be able to change compression and rebound with the twist of a ***.

I tend to run less compression than rebound

 

I have been using Ride Tech shocks now and there a great shock too

 

How's that working out for you? Did you ever wish you had adjustable shocks?

 

I guess I will have to update this thread now!

I ended up going with single adjustable QA1 shocks front and back. I am very happy with them, it took some time to dial them in to my liking, being able to adjust them so easily was a big plus.

My car is lowered quite a but as well, so I am hoping to do some suspension mods this winter to correct the geometry. I am interested in your diff crossmember mod! Is that as high as it can go without hitting the body? What did you do for the front diff mount? Is your strut bracket modded as well? I was going to make a spacer to put between the diff and bracket to lower the bracket. I am also wondering if there is a way to either lower the rear lower shock mount or raise the rear upper shock mount to gain more shock travel.

 

The Bilsteins are stiff even on the softest spring setting. It would be nice to soften the ride a bit more for just cruising around, but at this time I'm not looking to spend big bucks for the QA1's. The Bilsteins work great as a performance shock with my setup.