Need some advice. I purchased some BC coils but find them very bouncy on certain stretches of roads at highway speeds. My old (1997 original!) Koni's with Eibachs were slightly better in certain situations. I'm going to be doing a few more tests with the valve settings in the BC's in hope that something improves and I find the "right" setting.
Nonetheless, has anyone had the original Koni's rebuilt to match the Eibachs? This car is pretty much a Sunday cruiser/garage queen, so I don't need any track setups. I just want something comfortable (not bouncy) to cruise with.
If not, my only other choice will be the MCS stage 1 setup, but dropping $3,500+ on a garage queen makes me wonder if it's worth it.
Anybody do a custom rebuild?
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1997 Viper GTS - Blue & White
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Do you have an ACR? Most don't rebuild the stock Konis, but can be done. The ACR shocks were Konis 99-00. I have a set of 99-00 ACR Konis for sale. I also have a good stock set with stock springs for $500 plus shipping
I did exactly that on my 97. Eibachs and rebuilt/revalved Konis (to match the Eibachs) through Jon's (Parts Rack) guy. they worked great until I started over driving their capability on the track. Gave them to my friend for his 97 and he loved them over the stock set up.
I did exactly that on my 97. Eibachs and rebuilt/revalved Konis (to match the Eibachs) through Jon's (Parts Rack) guy. they worked great until I started over driving their capability on the track. Gave them to my friend for his 97 and he loved them over the stock set up.
How would you compare the ride quality for a cruiser? What about them did you "over drive" during the track? I highly doubt I will ever take my GTS on the track again. Given it's an older car that I enjoy having as the car that was on my bedroom wall poster, I don't want to overdo it on a track. For track fun, I'd rather use something newer that's better/faster/everything with the advancements of 20 (really, 30) years of automotive technology.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 99RT10>S
You need to call BC and figure if you got the rebound setting correct. You are the first no happy with the bouncy-bouncy. Most don't do that.
You're talking the valve right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by White Out
Put your BC 10 clicks from soft in the rear and 12 from soft in the front. If you want to dial them down more.
Please explain the road conditions and what the car is doing to be "bouncy"
I tried 15/15, and then 5/5 from full hard. Next weekend I'll try 5/5 from full soft, and also 12/10 and give her a spin.
@ 15/15, I could feel the car was fairly well controlled through most city streets, with some minor bouncing every so often. But as soon as I hit the highway, it was completely uncontrolled bouncing, constantly, at a certain frequency. Very disappointing. Good thing we weren't coming back from lunch because it would've been all over the dash after only 1 highway exit.
So @ nearly full hard, I could feel the car was definitely a little rougher and a little more bouncy. Again on the highway at 75 mph, constant uncontrolled bouncing (about the same as the 15/15 setting).
So I'll try the other two soft(er) settings this weekend. Hopefully I'll come up with something, if not, I guess I'll have go to a different route. Perhaps our Michigan roads just suck in general and don't go well with these BC's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nrs1 View Post
I did exactly that on my 97. Eibachs and rebuilt/re-valved Konis (to match the Eibachs) through Jon's (Parts Rack) guy. they worked great until I started over driving their capability on the track. Gave them to my friend for his 97 and he loved them over the stock set up.
How would you compare the ride quality for a cruiser? What about them did you "over drive" during the track? I highly doubt I will ever take my GTS on the track again. Given it's an older car that I enjoy having as the car that was on my bedroom wall poster, I don't want to overdo it on a track. For track fun, I'd rather use something newer that's better/faster/everything with the advancements of 20 (really, 30) years of automotive technology.
I thought the re-valved Konis were firmer than before (but before was an old worn out shock). I don't drive much on the street, but on the track, the re-valved Konis did not wallow or bounce as compared previously. As far as over driving them, I got a lot faster, so I was hammering them into the corners harder they started to wallow on high speed S's, so much that I had to start turning way to early to make up for the slower response/transitions. Then I added a ton of Aero, which started compressing the springs way too much, which started compounding a bunch of handling issues. Was just time to spend the $$$ and upgrade to racing suspension.
FYI: My Eibach lowering springs were measured at the shop:
Front progressive: 257 - 343
Rear progressive: 383 - 800
That's another reason I finally switched to MCS, wanted a constant rate spring for consistent track work. The progressive works for the street though.
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97 B/W GTS, Cordes Performance Racing built, Greg Good H/C, MCS suspension, Autoform Aero, StopTech BBK
Last edited by nrs1; October 15th, 2019 at 09:46 AM.
Reason: additional info
5 front/5 rear - Definitely softer, and the bounce was definitely minimized. Still there on the same stretch of road, but not as terrible as before.
12 front/10 rear - Bounce starting coming back
So it appears as if I may need to go full soft on these for Michigan roads. I may still get the Koni's redone with the Eibachs and throw the Koni's on in the spring, and from there decide which setup is better, and then sell whichever setup ends up being second-best.
What you are describing is an overdamped condition. The valving is so stiff it is not allowing the suspension to be compliant with the road surface. Generally, the smoother the pavement, the more stiffness you can get away with, and vice-versa.
Getting a clear description of the ride quality is important. When I hear someone say "bouncy ride", that tells me it's riding the springs and is under dampened. The springs would make the car bouncy after it goes over a bump. An over dampened suspension rides like a rock. No bounce at all. Would be very harsh on the streets of Michigan. You would be bouncing off the bumps HARD , not absorbing them. You are saying it rides nice on a softer setting with less bounce and worse once it's stiffened up. That's the opposite of what a higher dampening would do. I would bet with those springs, it would need to be on a lower dampening setting in the 1st place.
Are yours double adjustable or single adjustable?
One thing to be careful of on double adjustable:
If you set rebound too tight, the suspension with basically ratchet down and get stiffer and stiffer over stutter type bumps. It will compress and since rebound is tight, it wont rebound quick enough before the next bump, which compresses it further, etc etc resulting in an uncontrollable ride. Like you described. You do not need to have both setting the same like 5 conpression and 5 Rebound or 10 and 10. A setting like 10 compression and 4 rebound can be great. And going from 5 to 10 from one test ride to the next is a huge jump. Just go up or down 1 or 2 clicks.
I had koni single adj coilovers on my gen 2 but I ran much stiffer springs than you and it was great on track and even on the street i was happy with the ride. Lots of feed back through the suspension. Handled like it was on rails. Especially with 335 slicks on the front. I currently run MCS double adj on my boss 302 and they are way better but $$$ vs koni singles. But for a street car, the konis should be just fine.
I'd try 6c/2r or 7c/3r with those soft springs if you have double adjustable. If they are single adj then. Start at 3 or 4. I'd run the settings one click softer in the rear since you are sitting on the rear axle basically.
It's tough to beat those stocker Konis for street use. The bushing go bad after 100K and/or 10+ years but the shocks are pretty stout.
Does anyone make good replacement poly bushings for them? I still have stockers and haven't even been able to get around to doing any suspension work just yet, but its definitely in cards.
Try touching base with Mackzilla. He made some of his own a few months back, but said it was kinda nasty stuff and wasn't looking to go into the niche business.
It's tough to beat those stocker Konis for street use.
I agree!
I had a '99 ACR, a '98 GTS with Eibach lowering springs and lowering caps, and when I got my '97 GTS in 2011, I considered some used '99 ACR Koni shocks (not Dynamics) or a set of Penskes for my '97 GTS. Mainly street use, so I decided to get the stock Konis rebuilt and converted to coilovers at PSI. Very happy with the set up and it cost less than a new set of BC's.
Mess around all you want, but the magic solution for street and mild track use has always been Moton or MCS. They come in different configurations, at different prices.
Dan Craigin has been able to put together well priced packages and has a great reputation at his LA shop.
Problem with Viper rear suspensions is that they really have very little (2") travel at the shock to get all the damping done. Need a great shock to get the job done, but still have a smooth and controlled ride.
Eric Messley could also rebuild the factory shocks. and get great results, but usually for the serious racers.
Problem with Viper rear suspensions is that they really have very little (2") travel at the shock to get all the damping done. Need a great shock to get the job done, but still have a smooth and controlled ride.
2" free travel is about all that F1 and IndyCars have to work with and they get it done pretty well. Eric did magic with my 8760 Penskes.
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