Wondering if I need shocks
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 8,824
Likes: 3
From: The left Coast
St. Jude Donor '08
Wondering if I need shocks
I took the vette up the Oregon coast last weekend. Some parts of Highway 101 are not the greatest. Three times I felt the car bottom out in a dip. I hate when that happens. I am wondering if my shocks are worn out. The car has F45 RPO and 40k on the clock. If so are these special shocks and where would I find new ones?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,753
Likes: 9
From: Louisiana
Depends on how bad the roads were. Here in south Louisiana the roads have shifted from being below sealevel. There is a long strech of road before getting into New Orleans that is rediculius. I would have to slow down below the speed limit so that my head didn't hit the top and the car wouldn't bottom out. The cars going passed were just bouncing up and down. How does it ride on smooth roads? I could always tell if the shocks were going out by pushing down on the car right above the shocks and watch the recoil.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 8,824
Likes: 3
From: The left Coast
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by RRT vette
Depends on how bad the roads were. Here in south Louisiana the roads have shifted from being below sealevel. There is a long strech of road before getting into New Orleans that is rediculius. I would have to slow down below the speed limit so that my head didn't hit the top and the car wouldn't bottom out. The cars going passed were just bouncing up and down. How does it ride on smooth roads? I could always tell if the shocks were going out by pushing down on the car right above the shocks and watch the recoil.
I am wondering if the F45 shocks are special or can I use koni's.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Aren't F45s the adjustables? That said, you can always go to a non-adjustable shock, if that's what you've got. From everything that I've read about it, the Konis are great. PM rocco16; he, as you know from reading, likes to move his car along and switched out from stock to Edelbrocks to Konis, in very short order.
His explanation re the good qualities of the Konis were enough to convince me that when I go the shock route, it'll be Konis.
His explanation re the good qualities of the Konis were enough to convince me that when I go the shock route, it'll be Konis.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,642
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From: One day you're a Comet...the next day you're dust... Arkansas
Originally Posted by Maui
I took the vette up the Oregon coast last weekend. Some parts of Highway 101 are not the greatest. Three times I felt the car bottom out in a dip. I hate when that happens. I am wondering if my shocks are worn out. The car has F45 RPO and 40k on the clock. If so are these special shocks and where would I find new ones?
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 26,196
Likes: 0
From: Orlando FL
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
pop the hood and start shoving down on the car to see how the shocks hold up. if they move quite a bit under your own power, they are most likely worn out. with 40K miles, its probably time to replace them anyway. I replaced my FX3's with some regular shocks. Much better/stiffer ride. I was bottoming out as well, but have never had that problem again since I put new shocks on (this was several years ago).
I'd go with Bilstein's stiffest model if you like a stuff/harsh ride.
I'd go with Bilstein's stiffest model if you like a stuff/harsh ride.
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Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 26,196
Likes: 0
From: Orlando FL
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Originally Posted by BADDUCK
That's why you may want to check out a rebuild.
F45's (forgot the brand) arent rebuildable, they are "throw away" shocks from what I read about them. Only the FX3 (bilsteins) offer any rebuilding. Not sure if any aftermarket places rebuild the F45s though.
