When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey all. Looking for a set of coilovers. I read alot of good info on here about Viking. I was looking at just purchasing a set of rears. Should I go ahead and get all 4?
There are a couple of different options so curious what to go for?
Also where did y’all purchase?
Car makes 800+ wheel currently and I will be building a motor over winter to go after 1k. Looking for something to grow into.
Unreal. I was going to shoot you a pm, curious to your feedback.
I have the Viking crusader coilovers on all four corners. The rears work perfectly with lots of clearance, as long as you have stock spindles.
On the fronts, the upper control arm will make contact the coilover spring when the suspension is at full droop. I have limiter straps on mine that prevent the full range of motion and the upper control still strikes and rubs the spring when the shock is extended. Without the straps, the control arm actually pushes the spring inwards to the point where you can the spring bend inwards against the shock body. I know there are lots of people running them with no issues, but it can’t be a good thing for a drag setup when the front control arm is striking the spring whenever the car transfers. Here’s a few pictures, which may better explain what I’m talking about.
I have the Viking crusader coilovers on all four corners. The rears work perfectly with lots of clearance, as long as you have stock spindles.
On the fronts, the upper control arm will make contact the coilover spring when the suspension is at full droop. I have limiter straps on mine that prevent the full range of motion and the upper control still strikes and rubs the spring when the shock is extended. Without the straps, the control arm actually pushes the spring inwards to the point where you can the spring bend inwards against the shock body. I know there are lots of people running them with no issues, but it can’t be a good thing for a drag setup when the front control arm is striking the spring whenever the car transfers. Here’s a few pictures, which may better explain what I’m talking about.
It looks like from your last picture your front spring is 10” long? I know on mine the front spring is 9”...not sure if that makes a difference. Which coilovers did you order? Plus I’m using LG drag spindles with no issues.
It looks like from your last picture your front spring is 10” long? I know on mine the front spring is 9”...not sure if that makes a difference. Which coilovers did you order? Plus I’m using LG drag spindles with no issues.
My front springs are 10” long, but even if they were 1” shorter, they would still hit the upper control arms, because the bottom of spring is at least 2-3” below the control arm at full suspension droop. I ordered the DH version in the stock to 2” drop height range. (Pictures below).
I would bet good money that any spring of the same diameter will make contact with the front upper control arm on full drop on these cars. Maybe it’s simply not noticed by many and maybe it’s not an issue or anything to worry about, but my springs now have some dents and scrapes in the coating where they hit, and I’m thinking that springs tend to not like being hit like that.
I really can’t understand what could be different on my car from others? I mean they all bolt to the same damn holes in the lower control arm and the top goes into stock shock bracket, and all of the C6s have the same control arms and range of suspension drop, no? The problem is that the upper control arms kick inwards right where the coilover passes through, as shown in the photos. Just for the hell of it, when I was doing the alignment on the front of the car, I moved the lower control arm all the way out, to where the front tire had maximum negative camber, and it still hit the damn control arm. In my view, if they made a bracket that bolted to the lower control arm that moved the bottom of the coilover inboard slightly, they wouldn’t hit.
My comment with regards to the rears working with stock spindles is also based on my own experience, since mine had plenty of clearance with the stock spindles, but when I recently installed the Carlyle 15” spindle kit (which are, I believe, a copy of the LG Drag spindles) I noticed that at full suspension drop, the upper control arm, which is now lowered due to the shorter spindle, is touching the rear coilovers. Mind you, it isn’t as bad as the fronts, but it does touch. Not that I’m worried about that, since I don’t plan to do any hill jumping or anything that will bottom out the rear coilovers. The fronts are a different story.
In any event, I would encourage anyone who has coilovers to check the clearance between the spring and the front upper control arms and see what you find. Happy to hear that others don’t have any problems, but would be interested to see any photos of the space between the coilover spring and the upper control arm on anyone else’s setup.
Please understand that I’m not trying to be controversial about this, just wanted to share what I’ve experienced.
Like I said, no issues here. 1/4" more all around. Maybe an alignment issue, Plus mine are installed opposite of yours, with ***** pointing inward so they can be easily adjusted. Also running shorter front spring. Maybe the shock runs outs out of travel and limits the droop before anything else with the short spring?
I also have the DH package and the front spring is 9” with a 500 lb rate. Really curious why your spring is longer?
I would call Viking and ask.
That’s interesting. They do have two different lengths of coilovers for two different height adjustment ranges: one is for stock height to minus 1.5” ride height and the other is for minus 1.5” - minus 3” ride height. They actually emailed my vendor in Tampa an update to the online application chart they had on their website back then (screenshot attached) which he forwarded on to me. I ordered the higher (longer) version, because I did not want to lower my car. Maybe that’s where the problem is? I have to say that the “Small Block” vs. “Big Block” categorization of spring rates/types doesn’t auger well for them. Who uses such terminology for a modern Vette? Neither does the fact that the front coilovers came with the wrong bolts (too short) for the lower control arm attachment. Maybe I just bought them from the wrong guy and I ended up with the wrong setup? But in all fairness, he asked me lots of questions about my setup and intended use and he shared his email exchange with them, so I’m sure that Viking knew what they were supplying these C/Os for. They actually recommended the shorter series shock though, because (they said) that’s better for a car that raced often on a racetrack. I found that weird. I’ve also attached the actual ends of the boxes that the coilovers came in so that you can see the part numbers for the ones that I have.
Like I said, no issues here. 1/4" more all around. Maybe an alignment issue, Plus mine are installed opposite of yours, with ***** pointing inward so they can be easily adjusted. Also running shorter front spring. Maybe the shock runs outs out of travel and limits the droop before anything else with the short spring?
Now I’m really starting to wonder whether I just have the wrong C/Os. It may very well be that it’s because I have the longer version. But these are supposed to work on a C6, in any event. Like I said, I played with the alignment to see if that helped and it did not solve the problem. The only thing I didn’t do was add a bunch of shims to the upper control arm to bring that further out, away from the C/O and then realign everything. I have the Van Steel UCA stud and shim kit though, so I may give that a shot. I also tried turning the ***** in, and that makes absolutely no difference. I prefer them the way I have them - I can easily reach around the the front skinnies at the track and adjust them.
BTW: One if the many disclaimers that these coilovers come with states that you should use some means to limit suspension travel so that the shock doesn’t bottom out. For that reason alone, I would use the limiter straps on the front, especially if you’re using the low rebound settings for maximum weight transfer and much more so if your car pulls the front wheels at the track.
Right about now, I’m starting to like the word Viking as much as the people of Northumbria, circa 800 A.D.
Which is why I suggest to the OP ordering from CPR who knows exactly what works. There are too many options/setups to experiment. Go with a place that has done TONS of these without any issues.
I recently ordered a set of these in the following configuration:
- Crusader C/O
- Big Block / High Drag
- A388AK (Front) / A394AM (Rear)
- 500lb Front Spring / PN: 10DP500 (10" 500lb)
- 600lb Rear Spring / PN: 8DP600 (8" 600lb)
I haven't installed these yet to know if there's any clearance issues, but it appears your front coilover has a different P/N that what I was shipped (C388AK).
I recently ordered a set of these in the following configuration:
- Crusader C/O
- Big Block / High Drag
- A388AK (Front) / A394AM (Rear)
- 500lb Front Spring / PN: 10DP500 (10" 500lb)
- 600lb Rear Spring / PN: 8DP600 (8" 600lb)
I haven't installed these yet to know if there's any clearance issues, but it appears your front coilover has a different P/N that what I was shipped (C388AK).
That’s interesting. Please post pictures if you can. Would like to see how the fronts bolt up onto the lower control arm as well. Maybe that’s the problem - I just have the wrong damn front coilovers! I just realized that on the chart that I posted, which was sent to my vendor by Viking, it shows that should be A388AK, Not C388AK.
On my front coilovers, with the same 10” 500 lb. spring as yours, to get a decent ride height (that wasn’t too high) I had to screw the spring seats down so far that with the shock fully extended, the spring comes completely off the seat. So, without the straps to limit the amount of suspension drop, not only does the upper control arm hit and push the spring in against the shock body, but the spring becomes unseated and so it would make a loud, unnerving crack when I lowered the car down and the spring snapped back into the seat. So, a 9” spring wouldn’t help, as that would only make that worse. I’m going to get hold of my vendor and if he can’t give me a satisfactory answer, I’ll call Viking myself. Thanks for pointing that out.
Here's a few pics of the front c/o, they appear to be ~19.5" tip to tip.
Thanks. Those look just like mine. Unfortunately, I didn’t measure mine though. I’m going to find out what the difference between the “A” and the “C” though, and will post back on here. I’m anxious to hear if you have any interference problems when you install them. I took mine off the other day to change the upper shock bushings out. The crappy rubber ones had started to distort as well. I changed them to some poly bushings I got from Jegs. When I did that, I turned the C/O around so that the the adjuster ***** are pointing in, which makes them a bit more accessible, but doesn’t do a damn thing for interference , which I knew that couldn’t be the problem, since the mounting lug on the bottom is perfectly centered. If it was offset, then it would make a difference.
Viking Coilovers
