Hello, I have done a lot of searching around these forums and am a little confused about shock absorbers and their part compatibility as well as which ones rank from boomer soft to zoomer hard.

For reference, right now (in my '99 hatchback) I have the Z06 shocks and find the ride to be excellent in the city, but once you're doing 75 the pounding is rather unnecessary. The roads here are post-apocalyptic. I plan to use this car as a gran tourer and it will never see a track. Also, the bump steer is a little scary sometimes. The only other aftermarket thing is one of the previous owners put 18/19 on it with hankook V12's instead of the factory 17/18 runflats. Also, I am happy with the rear, there is no tire hop and everything feels settled back there. The fronts pound and dart and high speed.

What I understand is that the GM OE Soft ride is ACDELCO 540514 is the softest, but at $170 a pop I'm unimpressed. I know the Bilsteins get a lot of love here, but I have heard conflicting stories on these forums that they both harder and softer than the Z06 shocks. Also, a lot of the parts say Except Real Time Damping, or wo/o Electronic Suspension, Except F45, etc.

I have whatever came with the 99 base targa top hatchback. There are no switch for anything, there is no ride control, it is equipped with none of those things. The TCS button held down does nothing (no competitive mode). There are no codes. The car is stock height. There is no body roll. I have to push HARD on the corners to move them.

What I'm wondering is what's the type of suspension code I should be looking for (FE1?) and what's the softest to hardest list. Something like

Softest> GM OE ACDELCO, Monroe, ???ACDELCO "Premium"???, Bilstein B6, Bilstein B8 < Hardest

TLDR: What suspension is gonna give me the cushy old man ride on my base targa hatchback with none of the fancy gizmos that isn't the $200 gm ones
Thank you very much.

 

I have a full set of the FE1 soft ride base shocks for sale in the classified section. I just removed them from my 2004 with 16000 miles to install ZO6 shocks. They look and ride like new and the price is less than half of one new shock and includes new upper bushings. They’re gonna be the best for old man cruising.

 

Depending on how much you want to spend QA1 makes adjustable shocks that will "Cadillac float" or can be dialed "zoomer hard" however you want and I think the price is about what any other standard shock will cost for our cars. Bonus points because they are beautiful polished aluminum and rebuildable.

I bought the non adjustable front shocks 122-TN510 and rear 122-TN705 from Summit Racing. Replace the N in the part number with an S or D for single or double adjustable at Summit to see the various options. The doubles are quite a bit more money but the singles are decently priced IMHO.

 

So I wanted to fix the double bounce I had with my 20 year old FE1s and saw a sale and got SACHS shocks from rock auto 70 each.

I did find some information that they were developed for the 2004 ZO6 but who knows.
They are stiffer than FE1s I had at low speeds, but at higher speeds there is much more control without giving me a beating.

If I had to do it again I think I would get the FE1s for the C6 they are only 70 each on rock auto. I bet it would have fixed my double bounce/increase the feeling of control and kept it old guy everyday soft.

I do have to say with the SACHS shocks I can just fling the car into a turn and it feels great with lots confidence, so they are staying on..........for now

 

One of the problems when comparing shocks is what car and what year are you comparing. For example, the 99 Z51 equipped FRC was different from the 00-04 cars, it has smaller sway bars different spring rates, etc. For shocks, the FE1 was softest the the Z51, then 01-03 Z06, C6 Z06, Bilstein HD c5 04 Z06, Bilstein Sport and finally DRM Bilstein. There are a few other shocks that would fit between the early Z shocks and the DRM Bilstein. Also, the tires you run would dramatically change the effect on handling--from a 560 UTOG rating to a 200 UTOG rated tire. The better the grip of a tire and the wider the tire, the more prone it is to trammel when going down a deeply grooved highway.

 

I used C6 ZO6 shocks. They were recommended by the best Corvette Shop in Pe. Great ride and handling. Your choice is just a matter of what you think is best. Worked for me.

 

A lot of owners installed the C6 Z06 shocks on their C5s and based on reviews posted have been happy with the results. Bilstein makes some very good shocks also for the car, so the choice may be a tough one to make.

I did a quick check and places like Zip Corvette lists OEM shocks for $400 a set - probably about right but currently not in stock.

 

To make life even more confusing for you: you shouldn't think of these as "soft" versus "hard" as much as you should be asking how they handle various surfaces. You can actually end up with a very soft set of shocks that still absolutely suck on potholes, or a rather stiff set of shocks that take potholes great. The summary is that shocks have different valving for rebound and compression (ie, for extending the shock or for pushing the shock in, which happens as you hit various surfaces and then happens again as the suspension gets back to steady state / default ride, think what happens after you hit a bump). But that valving is not merely "hard" and "soft," but actually responds differently to different kinds of events. Expansion joints, small potholes, larger pot holes, bumps, cat's eyes, inflections in the road, grooving, pebbles, etc etc, can all be responded to differently with differently tuned valving despite an overall similar level of hard vs soft.

An obvious example is that worn-to-hell shocks can be very soft but ride horrendously poorly.

Ultimately since you probably can't test drive 8 different cars with 8 different sets of shocks ....

Your best bet if you are searching for comfort is probably an affordable shock, from a reputable manufacturer, that is generally well regarded by people you know (ideally a shop that works on corvettes), or, failing that, The Internet (full of weirdos who have different requirements than you.) Might that be the comfort-iest Bilstein that fits on a C5? It very well might.

C5 and C6 shocks can be very affordable options (when standard shocks, not an FE option, ie, not adjustable in any way), but the truth is that shock technology is actually quite a bit better in 2022 than it was in 1996, or 2004, or 2005, or whatever. There can be downsides (occasionally, reputable brands have shoddy manufacturing now), but the major upside is that there's been literal decades of tuning valving for shocks for corvettes, such that a modern shock with modern valving set up for the C5/C6 can get you significantly better ride quality at a decent price and decent overall stiffness.

 

Viking Performance also makes an affordable set of adjustable shocks.

 

Just ordered the c6 shocks from Cultrag..they seem to be the place to go to/ talk to about this. I figure since speeding in Vermont is pretty risky..ill just tighten the car up for cornering. Next month ill change out the sway bars..give them a call.

 

I have a 2000 C5 with the console mounted switch to electronically adjust the shocks. Does anyone rebuild these? Are new ones even available? I know the standard answer is to buy standard non-adjustable shocks and "trick" the car to think it still has adjustable shocks.

 

F45 or F55 option?

I know F55 is available. They are very pricey. I would not recommend spending $ to replace them with another set of F55 shocks.

 

He has a 2000 model year so he has the F45 adjustable shocks. F55 suspension was first available on the 2003 model year.

 

I believe he stated that he has a 1999 coupe, I would snap a picture of the inside of the console lid option list and see what suspension you have and take it from there. Competitive mode was also an option in 99. F45(selective ride), FE1(standard) &FE3(sport)

 

I have a 2000 C5 with adjustable shocks.

 

I've decided to keep the z06 shocks for now. They are as gimp explained (which makes total sense) very well valved for absorbing the potholes around the (crumbling remains of) city streets. It's only harsh around 56-75 mph, so I just drive faster now . Interestingly the bump steer and other unwanted behaviors just disappear as speed increases and she really buttons down.

Thanks folks.

 

Where did you buy them and what is the current price?

 

Cultrag has them..