Rkreigh

well I'm getting ready to send off my 95 shocks for a rebuild and having second thoughts and thinking about ditching the whole fx3 and just getting a nice adjustable coil over shock

I think QA1 makes them for Van Steel, and Penske has some really nice stuff for c5s (not so sure about c4)

what other good coil over shocks are there for the c4?

I suppose I can also just groove ANY shock that works well on the c4 and transfer the DRM kit over as long as the shock tube diameter is similar to the bilsteins

not looking to pay a mint, this would need to be less than 1k for all 4 shocks

I think the rebuilds of the bilsteins have gotten over 200 ea which has me thinking it might not be the best way to go.

-=Jeff=-

I believe there is a nice setup from van steel for the c4, don't know of price though

I also heard that some from the or rear fx3 parts are NLA so you may not get them redone.

But that is for the earlier shock only at the moment

FU

I'm not a fan of coil over's on the street. People that rode in the white car (prior to flood) that had many brands of coil overs etc. Would comment how well the white car rode on the stock suspension.

This is subject like exhaust etc. Everyone has different taste.

JimZRyd

I agree with Frank, it's very subjective. I changed everything over on my C5 and went with Pfadt coil overs, bigger sways, bushings, and non run flats and that thing rode as good as any sports car I've ever been in. For those reasons and the ability to adjust ride height is why I plan to switch over to coil overs on my 94. I've heard alot of good things about the Van Steel set up. Their single adjustable sets run $1700 f&r and their double adjustable sets run $2300 f&r.

Rkreigh

frank, I struggled so much with this *&^% messing around only to conclude the factory stuff is pretty hard to beat

that being said, my system with the banskis, a molds, junk sumitomos, old 89-91 shocks with early controller rides and handles better than ever

it's not rough and much more compliant which is what I've been after all along

its pretty hard to outwit the factory engineers on a cheap system that works on the street

Rkreigh

now that it's getting warmer, the hoosiers will come out and the car will ride on some stock painted a molds which are in pretty solid shape

I need to wear these tires out this summer as they are a few years old and I want to get some fresh meat on it!!

USAZR1

$800 for the rebuilding? Dayum! The VanSteel set-up is starting to look better all the time. Only thing holding me back is the cost of admission.
Maybe next year,,,

rickyrj1

believe Van Steel sells a higher end shock to go with their system. I think they are called JRG

USAZR1

I talked to Vette Brake & Products today about one of their adjustable front springs like Jeff F is running on his 91. That's probably the way I will go with our 94.

rickyrj1

anybody ever check to see if Penske makes anything for our cars ? I believe they offer up some nice stuff I have a sweet set of FX3 94-95 boxed up im keeping if any of the Z brothers gets jammed up

-=Jeff=-

search on Username braincunningham (I think that is right)

I believe he has penskes on his C4

Rkreigh

the penske stuff is great but uber high $$$

until the little ms gets out of college thats where the mod money goes

Rkreigh

how about the plain old "non fx3" bilsteins?

they seem like a decent shock and not priced too crazy.

I took the rear shock off and it doesn't look like the acuator is rotating at all now. I switched to another one, same story.

but now I believe I have a bigger problem. I was getting on the car really hard over the weekend and it sounds like the rear gear or half shafts are making noise when I let off the gas.

under load it's quiet. same thing happened to my old rippie car and it was the front bearing going bad on the pinion in the diff. car had a collar spacer on the pinion gear shaft. I suspect this might be the same thing. anyone have some 4.10 super dana viper gears??

I suspect this might be the same issue. I did find the lower shock nut GONE. that was scarey. I know I torqued it. going to double nut those suckers. the whole rear suspension would have collapsed if that shock jumped off the bolt!!!

scarey stuff!

USAZR1

Sounds like your car now has a 4.09 gearset,is that correct? I might be acquiring a rebuilt 44 pumpkin w/4.10 cogs pretty soon,if interested.

Rkreigh

yes, I'm interested. I'm not really sure what the gear set is. but the car was built a long time ago so my bet is that it's a richmond 4.09 gear which is bad news.

I looked at it last night and it looks like the pass side rear half shaft might be rubbing on the spring again!! the drivers side has plenty of clearance.

last time this happened I loosened everything up and spun the spring around and got clearance. I'm hoping this is all it is.

not in the budget for a new rear right now but hey, easy come, easy go!

keep me posted on the pumpkin, if it's got the dana 44 super viper gears, I'm interested. might go with a 3.73 gear this time if I swap. like to get 1st gear to produce a bit more MPH and this car is plenty torqey even with the light fidanza and the "soggy" bottom end from the stg II cams.

any idea what could be wrong with the fx3??? It seems like I may have broken a wire or something. I unplugged the FX3 controller (used) wonder if it's gone bad. the persistent problem with the drivers side rear shock is getting annoying.


at first, it would only code every now and then when cold. now it codes every time and the reset sequence of grounding 3 times can't reset it. doesn't seem like I'm getting power to the right rear.

need to do some more diagnostics!!


I'm also going to see if that van steel lower bracket can be made with the bilsteins. it's a bit pricey but it looks like it's a much more secure mounting for the bottom of the shock.

that one fastener supports the whole side of the rear suspension, break it and you will have one wild ride!! I've heard of this happening on race cars with coil overs and it ain't pretty

WVZR-1

What size is the hex on the pinion nut? If it's got a D44 with a sleeve then it will have the smaller pinion nut. The Corvette D44 uses a D60 pinion nut.

The D44 is 1 1/8 inch and the Corvette is usually referred to as 1 5/16 but it's actually I believe 1.281 vs 1.312. M33 is a good fit and some mention using M34 which is larger than the 1 5/16.

Jagdpanzer

Ron,
I sent you a PM

Rkreigh

I drove the car slowly with my buddy John last night (excellent mechanic!!) and we believe it's a bad u joint in the half shaft. hoping so!! John and I will tear into it next week and see what's going on.

jeez a weekend without driving a vette, I can feel the withdrawl symptoms setting in!!

I'll be rocking the old pimp mobile (89 Mercedes 560 SEC) it's for sale if anyone knows someone looking for a nice driver. 150k miles but it runs like a top and looks really sharp great driving ms daisy car

BlackWidow#2

Hi Ron
I have a nice set of z51 spec Bilstens, non fx3 for $225 if that's what you want.
George

Rkreigh

that's a great deal george. let me get my Z back on the road and I might take you up on that. the bilsteins work pretty well

anyone know if the van steel lower coil over shock mount will work with bilsteins?? they sell it separately but it looks like the van steel shocks have a narrower shock eye on the back than the bilsteins

I'm tearing into the car this week to see what all the racket is coming from. hoping it's a half shaft u joint

car has 83 HARD miles on it and as far as I know they have never been serviced.

I re-adjusted the shock so I know for sure now it's not rubbing on the half shaft. clearance it pretty tight though and if the van steel shocks have narrower springs or a better shock angle that might be the way to go. pricey stuff, but at least I could sell off the coil overs I have now and recoup some of the cost.