QA1 shocks
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 35
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QA1 shocks
Hey guys, need some help with suspension tuning. I have a 02 zo6 and bought front and back QA1 double adjustable shocks and my car rides like the old vettes. I have attempted different adjustments and with no avail, its just a hard ride and very uncomfortable for the street. Over small bumps in the rode, have to slow down a lot so as not to hear this hard bottoming out noise not from the headers but from the back end itself. The front seems to do fine but the back is awful. I spent 1000.00 on the setup and hate to remove them, but I am thinking about goin back to the oem shocks for the street due to the fact of the car riding like a 2 horse wagon. Any help would be appreciated
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,003
Likes: 89
From: Indy IN
Hey guys, need some help with suspension tuning. I have a 02 zo6 and bought front and back QA1 double adjustable shocks and my car rides like the old vettes. I have attempted different adjustments and with no avail, its just a hard ride and very uncomfortable for the street. Over small bumps in the rode, have to slow down a lot so as not to hear this hard bottoming out noise not from the headers but from the back end itself. The front seems to do fine but the back is awful. I spent 1000.00 on the setup and hate to remove them, but I am thinking about goin back to the oem shocks for the street due to the fact of the car riding like a 2 horse wagon. Any help would be appreciated
Most likely you are on the rear bump stops and the shocks aren't doing anything but being a rigid link between the control arm and the chassis. No matter how much you adjust them it won't make a difference because they aren't moving anyway...
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 35
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re-QA1
Well I have had the car since 2004 with only 18000 miles on it and I have never adjusted the bolts or messed with the suspension at all. So it hasn't been lowered as far as I know and compared to other vettes that have been lowered sitting beside it , it doesn't look lowered. It seems the more compression I give it the worse it gets and when the compression is maybe on a 2 it does ok but not great.
One thing I did notice when I installed them was the shocks were a little shorter and I had to jack the control arm up for them to bolt up.
One thing I did notice when I installed them was the shocks were a little shorter and I had to jack the control arm up for them to bolt up.
Is the car at stock ride height or is it lowered?
Most likely you are on the rear bump stops and the shocks aren't doing anything but being a rigid link between the control arm and the chassis. No matter how much you adjust them it won't make a difference because they aren't moving anyway...
Most likely you are on the rear bump stops and the shocks aren't doing anything but being a rigid link between the control arm and the chassis. No matter how much you adjust them it won't make a difference because they aren't moving anyway...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,003
Likes: 89
From: Indy IN
Well, QA-1's are not known to be a great shock. They have a following in drag racing, but that's not street driving.
Here is a good resource on shocks. Dennis Grant is a multi-time national autocross champ and did shock work for a living, so he knows his stuff...
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html
There's nothing wrong with going full soft on the shock settings although as Dennis notes it may not make much difference as you get to the end of your adjustment. If they are still kidney belt stiff after setting to full soft, send them back to where you bought them from and tell them the are screwed up. Stuff like this happens. They could have easily just put the compression valving in upside down or something as silly as that and they could both be screwed up.
If you put them on a shock dyno and they are out of sight stiff in compression something is wrong.
Here is a good resource on shocks. Dennis Grant is a multi-time national autocross champ and did shock work for a living, so he knows his stuff...
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html
There's nothing wrong with going full soft on the shock settings although as Dennis notes it may not make much difference as you get to the end of your adjustment. If they are still kidney belt stiff after setting to full soft, send them back to where you bought them from and tell them the are screwed up. Stuff like this happens. They could have easily just put the compression valving in upside down or something as silly as that and they could both be screwed up.
If you put them on a shock dyno and they are out of sight stiff in compression something is wrong.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 35
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I should have went with my 1st instinct it sounds like and bought the coilovers from LG motorsports from which I read do well for autocross. I bought the QA1 becuz I was told from another forum how a lot of the guys liked them becuz one could adjust them easily without taking the wheels off. was also told they were great for the 90/10 set up for the track and then just shift them to stiffer settings for the street and did well. I couldn't agree more with u. they do good on a drag strip but def not much for the street- my OEM shocks did way better.
Im not sure Summit will take them back considering they have a few miles on them so I may be stuck with expensive wall ornaments. or either just switch to them when I go to the strip-ugh.
Thanks for the info on that guy and link. Excuse my dumbness, but I have never heard of a shock dyno- where would I find one of those at?
Im not sure Summit will take them back considering they have a few miles on them so I may be stuck with expensive wall ornaments. or either just switch to them when I go to the strip-ugh.
Thanks for the info on that guy and link. Excuse my dumbness, but I have never heard of a shock dyno- where would I find one of those at?
Well, QA-1's are not known to be a great shock. They have a following in drag racing, but that's not street driving.
Here is a good resource on shocks. Dennis Grant is a multi-time national autocross champ and did shock work for a living, so he knows his stuff...
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html
There's nothing wrong with going full soft on the shock settings although as Dennis notes it may not make much difference as you get to the end of your adjustment. If they are still kidney belt stiff after setting to full soft, send them back to where you bought them from and tell them the are screwed up. Stuff like this happens. They could have easily just put the compression valving in upside down or something as silly as that and they could both be screwed up.
If you put them on a shock dyno and they are out of sight stiff in compression something is wrong.
Here is a good resource on shocks. Dennis Grant is a multi-time national autocross champ and did shock work for a living, so he knows his stuff...
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html
There's nothing wrong with going full soft on the shock settings although as Dennis notes it may not make much difference as you get to the end of your adjustment. If they are still kidney belt stiff after setting to full soft, send them back to where you bought them from and tell them the are screwed up. Stuff like this happens. They could have easily just put the compression valving in upside down or something as silly as that and they could both be screwed up.
If you put them on a shock dyno and they are out of sight stiff in compression something is wrong.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,003
Likes: 89
From: Indy IN
Im not sure Summit will take them back considering they have a few miles on them so I may be stuck with expensive wall ornaments. or either just switch to them when I go to the strip-ugh.
Thanks for the info on that guy and link. Excuse my dumbness, but I have never heard of a shock dyno- where would I find one of those at?
Thanks for the info on that guy and link. Excuse my dumbness, but I have never heard of a shock dyno- where would I find one of those at?
Here is a place that seems to have reasonable prices for getting your shocks dyno'd...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/?ic=3192
If you aren't satisfied with your shocks I would send them to these folks and tell the that the compression is thru the roof. They will see right away the issue and may be able to get the fixed and if it turns out they were assembled incorrectly in the first place, since they are a QA-1 service center they may be able to help.
Hope this helps, but if they charge you $50/shock it may be worth it to get them dyno'ed
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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 35
Likes: 1
Just checked there site out and they are def reasonable at testing the shocks as far as price. will update on what I found out. thanks again
A shock dyno basically just strokes the shock at different speeds and measures the force it takes to stroke them. That way you have data on the force vs speed curve and that tells you what they are doing.
Here is a place that seems to have reasonable prices for getting your shocks dyno'd...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/?ic=3192
If you aren't satisfied with your shocks I would send them to these folks and tell the that the compression is thru the roof. They will see right away the issue and may be able to get the fixed and if it turns out they were assembled incorrectly in the first place, since they are a QA-1 service center they may be able to help.
Hope this helps, but if they charge you $50/shock it may be worth it to get them dyno'ed
Here is a place that seems to have reasonable prices for getting your shocks dyno'd...
http://www.smileysracing.com/shopping/?ic=3192
If you aren't satisfied with your shocks I would send them to these folks and tell the that the compression is thru the roof. They will see right away the issue and may be able to get the fixed and if it turns out they were assembled incorrectly in the first place, since they are a QA-1 service center they may be able to help.
Hope this helps, but if they charge you $50/shock it may be worth it to get them dyno'ed
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,003
Likes: 89
From: Indy IN
Revalving a shock is not a big deal, some shops can do it for a reasonable amount.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 36,453
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From: Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position.... DFW, TX
St. Jude Donor '05
I had a set of QA1's. Hated them. Same issues you had. If you need adjustable, buy Koni's. Otherwise, I'd go with the Z51/Z06 shocks and have plenty of shock for most street/track applications.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 35
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shocks
I def will not go with QA1s again. But cant et rid of them becuz I have close to a grand in them and cant validate throwing them out but I agree. My zo6 oems rode way better and I still have them.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
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Not sure if its becuz mine are double adjustable and more tuning to get it right or what. I have been doing a little more research and have dialed the compression in the rear down to four clicks and rebound to five clicks today and it seemed to help a lot. the ride was a not as bumpy and didn't bottom out near as much except for once on a moderate dip on the rode. May dial the compression down to 3 and see if it shows improvement and then move to the front. I was under the wrong assumption that the compression was when the shock itself plummets down but was corrected in that its how far the tire/wheel travels up toward the vehicle on compression. Makes a little more sense to me now. Most people that I have talked to usually have their compression set around 10 to 12 for the street so for me to be at 4 rite now just to have a decent quality ride is quite strange.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 12,414
Likes: 1,750
From: DFW TX
Not sure if its becuz mine are double adjustable and more tuning to get it right or what. I have been doing a little more research and have dialed the compression in the rear down to four clicks and rebound to five clicks today and it seemed to help a lot. the ride was a not as bumpy and didn't bottom out near as much except for once on a moderate dip on the rode. May dial the compression down to 3 and see if it shows improvement and then move to the front. I was under the wrong assumption that the compression was when the shock itself plummets down but was corrected in that its how far the tire/wheel travels up toward the vehicle on compression. Makes a little more sense to me now. Most people that I have talked to usually have their compression set around 10 to 12 for the street so for me to be at 4 rite now just to have a decent quality ride is quite strange.
Compression is how much damping is applied on the compression stroke (hit a bump)
Rebound is how well it's damped on the rebound stroke (extending back to full length after a bump)
'Jouncy' ride is generally due to too much compression, too loose rebound. It can feel 'sporty' and the steering is very fast as long as the road is smooth. But over bumps it's terrible.
Generally, start with loosest (0 or 1) setting on both adjustments, then start tightening it up till it feels good. I bet you end up with something like 4 compression / 8 rebound
Thread Starter
Intermediate
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back to stock
well, I have come to the conclusion my OEM zo6 shocks are way better for me. I did come down to a 4 and tried a 3 for the compression and 8 and 9 on rebound and it def helped a lot as far as harshness however suffered in handling. So apparently I cant have my cake and eat it too. Going back with stock shocks tom. Thanks yu guys for all your help. I def appreciate the hhelp and info on the shock dyno but for me, maybe just being lazy, but too much work and time for what I have a feeling will give me the same result- OEM.