Hey gang,

I was going through the rear suspension on my FC last night in preparation for an event this upcoming weekend. I am running the GC coil-over kit with KYB-AGX shocks in back. I noticed that the o-ring that makes a spacer in between the collar and shock body has broken on one side (it fell out while I was inspecting the shock). The ring on the other side wasn't looking too good either.

Has anyone else seen this happen? Are there any recommendations on how to replace/repair the rings without having to pull and disassemble the shock? (I'm thinking about a few turns with some duct tape... ).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-b

 

Duct tape should be fine. An O-ring is just a simple, cheap way to fill the space that looks a little more professional than, well, duct tape...

 

I'm sure they will hook you up fairly. I live about 2 miles from them - they once rebuilt two of my AD shocks in 45 minutes and didn't even charge me (I was going to the track that day). Jay is a righteous fellow.

His favorite beer is Miller High Life, btw, and bringing a case with you can move mountains

Beast

 

I used Gorilla Tape, tightly wrapped around the damper body, thick enough that the sleeve had to be pushed on with some hand-applied force.

 

how do you guys like this set up compared to true full coilovers?

 

Well, they are "true" coilovers in the technical sense. They just aren't as pretty as the integrated units, nor do they have as many adjustments. But they are cheap and they work. In terms of how well they work, I think that's more dependent on the quality of the shock that is used. Right now I have inexpensive single adjustable AGXs on there and that's good enough for me at this point. In the future I may upgrade to a better unit, but for right now they are certainly not the limiting factor in my laptimes.

-b

 

well i'm thinking of running the same set-up as you with the AGX's and GC combo with some Tein camber plates since i can get it in pieces. also can i choose different springs to get different spring rates?
sorry for the thread jack but i would love to know!

 

Springs are cheap - swap them in/out as you like. One warning though. The KYB AGX reaches it's limit with around 400 lbs/in springs. Anything stiffer and the shock just won't handle it. 400 is what I run in front on the track car.

If you are gong to go stiffer, you probably want to start moving up the price scale and looking at something like Konis.

Good luck,

-bill

 

hmmmm okay i'll look into that cause i like the stance's that are out now but this seems a little more practical when it comes to pricing for the GC ste-up. Thanks for your help ill let you know what i end up doing!


-Greg

 

I do not like the AGXs with the GCs (380/325) on my Vert. Too much high speed compression. They crash over bumps hard. If I could do it over again I would go Koni or AWR Bilsteins.

As for out-of-the-box coilover vs. GC/damper combo: How much do you want to learn and how far do you want to go? OotB coilovers will be nicely constructed but will limit your growht in understanding and changin the parameters of the damper/spring setup. With the GC/damper setup, you'll have to learn about how the damper and spring work together, but the performance ceiling is much higher.

 

hmm i never thought of it that way. wow i think i just might go with that set-up cause i wanna understand all the geometeries that come with the car (as well as any other car). But how much are the koni's or bilstein? and do they hold a higher spring rate?

 

Koni adjustables will go up to about 500lb/in springs. The Bilsteins about the same, it depends on which body and valve you get. Bilstein only has two size valves and with a little work any of them can be revalved. The Koni's aren't user servicable, just adjustable.

 

okay i'll look at those beilsteins but are thekoni's the same in a sence off being revalved

 

You can get the Koni's revalved but it would need to be done by a Koni approved service center. It costs about $100 a shock IIRC. The problem with trying to go beyond the regular valving on the Koni is the actual size of the valve, it is just too small on most of the street adjustables. When you get into the double adjustables there is usually enough range to handle about any spring you would want to run unless you go crazy.

The Bilsteins you can usually find a circle track shop that can do it for you.

 

What double adjustables are available?

 

The Koni 8611 for the front struts and the 8200 series for the rears.

 

the beilstein's what model and are they that are adjustable and were can i get them?
Also are the koni's adjustable as well or are they justregular shocks?

 

The Konis I listed are both double adjustable.

The Bilsteins in general are not adjustable, they have some adjustables but you need to do some engineering to use their stuff on an FC and I don't think they have strut inserts that are adjustable. That said any of them are revalvable if you know what you are doing so whatever fits in the gap you are trying to fill can be made to work. They can also have remote reservoirs put on them. At this point you are getting far away from a bolt on application and a shock dyno is needed to know what you have built.

I was headed down the Bilstein path for my race car when a good friend asked, "So, you're going to pull the shocks off at the track, revalve them, test them, re-install them and then go run 4 or 5 laps to see if what you just did worked?"

I have a shock dyno so that wasn't the problem, I have Koni's with strut housings that I made with some GC coil over parts I got off another forum. A few clicks and I'm back on the track.

 

GOOD LORD GC COST MORE THEN AN INTERGRATED SET-UP!!
how much did you guys get yours for?

 

GC makes a lot of things, what exactly are you looking at?

 

well i'm talking about a full coil-over conversion that they have for my car. They gave mr an estimate and the total was 1800 and some change. But it was designed for my car but the stance GR+'s are cheaper and i can get a different spring rate from "Swift" springs for like a $150 extra.

 

There is no comparing the Advance-Design setup that GC will make (which BTW is an "integrated" setup, which I think is what you are calling a threaded body damper) and a brand like Stance. AD is the real-deal, competitive racing ****. Stance is just another copy-cat street coilover. I'm not saying they suck, but it's like comparing a sprinter to a marathon runner.

 

i see but i think i'm still gonna lead more to the GC and the fact that they actually make it for the specified application is pretty damn cool. i guess ill just piece it together and have them make a custom mount for the strut with the koni's. That's if they can let me peice it like so. but thanks for all the info guys