Will there ever again be a stock replacement performance strut?

[iTurbo]

So I'm thinking of buying shocks and struts for one of my cars. I have already got a set of BC coilovers from Rich for one of my cars, and I agree they are chock full of awesomeness. But for this car I just want to keep it simple and have a true bolt-on replacement that will work with stock springs or Eibachs and stock strut mounts. Something along the lines of the Konis that used to be available, or the Monroe Formula GPs that the Shelby Lancer or CSX came with stock (which are also unavailable).

I've tried the KYB GR2 and those suck, especially with Eibach springs. Gas-A-Justs are nice, but only available for the rear. Sucks to think I'm going to have to give up and get Sensatracks or MonroeMatics or whatever Rock Auto has on sale at the moment. Wouldn't that be great if we could buy KYB AGX shocks and struts for OUR cars? Am I wasting my time waiting for something like this to become available? Pipe dream? You would think there would be a decent market for this kind of product.

[tryingbe]

You're 20 years too late.

Get them while they are still there.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shelby-Dodge-CSX-Lancer-Turbo-MONROE-FORMULA-GP-SHOCKS-CSX-T-Chrysler-T-II-VNT-/251057236078?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a742d686e&vxp=mtr

[135sohc]

Tenneco automotive was contacted in the past about re-releasing the Formula GP struts. They said (someone else actually contacted them, cant remember who now :confused2:) 200 units was the minimum number required before they would remake them. Seeing how hard it is to make anything for this crowd and not be on the losing side of the financial portion of the equation I dont see anything breakthroughs happening besides finding other different make/model products that can be adapted to work with our platforms.

[RoadWarrior222]

200 minimum ain't bad, I woulda guessed 2000, which is like twice the entire market for them now.

---------- Post added at 06:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 AM ----------

I'm figuring it would be barely do-able if you waged a several month group buy campaign across all fora and still active lists and newsletters, to get orders in for a minimum of 50 pairs (100) and persuade two or three vendors to take the rest into stock... but that would take some commitment and "push".

[turbovanman²]

200 minimum is impossible to reach, but we can dream.

This comes up every week.

Gabriels are a good alternative, someone posted up about putting Koni inserts in our stockers, do the Subie thing.

I have some GP's for sale.

[iTurbo]

Hmm well alrighty then. I would certainly get in on a group buy if there was one for the Formula GP struts. Thanks for the info Craig.

[Drewsy1971]

i was dreaming i won the lottery and could afford to get Ohlins to make me some sweet --- suspension! lol

[francois]

I am sure you could adapt one to you car before you win, in the meantime.

[contraption22]

It's not so much the shocks that suck as much as the springs. Eibachs are variable rate, and no damper is going to be a good match throughout the spring range of rate. And I personally do not think they are that much of a performance improvement over stock to justify the ride characterstics.

[iTurbo]

I hear ya Mike. I'm not impressed with Eibach springs for our cars much at all. They are progressive, but if you look at the coils with the full weight of the car on them while parked, there are 4 coils stacked together on the front and 6 coils stacked in the rear! Seems to me like the suspension might get squirrelly as it becomes unloaded and those progressive coils begin to unbind from each other.

I could have swore I thought maybe PolyBushings or FWDP was looking into a good HP strut that would work with stock springs. With a 200 minimum order, it seems like it might pan out in the long run to have FWDP looking into this. Of course, considering it would take 75-100 customers each ordering two struts, it would take them a while to recoup the investment. But I would certainly buy at least 4 repop Monroe Formula GP struts.

[Turbo3Iroc]

I have driven a Spirit on Eibachs and one on MP springs. Totally different ride. I won't put Eibachs on anything.

[shayne]

the spring rate on an eibach coil is not variable. the only way a manufacturer can make the spring rate as high as they wanted it to be is to make it so that the coil has windings that are such a small spring rate that they are meant to go into bind, and the rest of the coil is the spring rate they wanted it to be. if they made the coil 220#/per inch and not have any coils to take up the slack when the suspension goes into full droop then the coil can come unseated causing a big problem. the tight coils are so soft i could close them up with my hands, so the only rate that matters is the rate after the tighter coils are binded and effectively dead in spring rate.
look up "keeper coils" for coil overs and you'll understand that the principal is a sound one. which coils feel better is subjective i have had the mp road race coils on a k-car way back, and i didnt like them, and the rear sat too low, so i cut the front coils to match, which raised the spring rate which made it more prone to understeer in my local auto cross.

[contraption22]

You should let Eibach know that their Pro-Kit springs are not progressive rate, because from their own product descriptions, they are unaware.

[elle bawdy]

You can still get brand new Konis if you just so happen to be in Germany. I found 4.

[RoadWarrior222]

Hmmm will have to brush up on all the German I learned from WWII films...
Ich mochte das konis schweinhund. Was kostet das? funf hundert marks??? Sind sie juden??

[elle bawdy]

Hmmm will have to brush up on all the German I learned from WWII films...
Ich mochte das konis schweinhund. Was kostet das? funf hundert marks??? Sind sie juden??

lemme see... Wenn sie es ernst meinen kann ICH pm können sie sich den Standort. Sie waren sehr teuer und nicht Schiff außerhalb von Deutschland.

[Vigo]

Honestly, using inserts from other shocks in our stock housings is going to be as good as it gets from here on out. The cost is really not that much more than an off-the-shelf mild performance strut would be if it were available, but there is more labor involved. However, as more and more people do it, i think we will all realize it's not that bad and stop pining for the good old days that never really happened, haha.

[glhs727]

yes, the strut insert will be a great way to go! Koni has said that our g/j/k etc... rear shocks should be going in production during Sept, so once we get those in, we will be selling koni inserts for the front and the rear shocks. LRE will be making us lowering springs (like they already do for the l-body), and we will be testing some spring rates out in the next few months. Things are looking up for all those waiting on something better.

[RoadWarrior222]

lemme see... Wenn sie es ernst meinen kann ICH pm können sie sich den Standort. Sie waren sehr teuer und nicht Schiff außerhalb von Deutschland.Thanks, I'm not serious, I haven't got anything they fit at present.

[Vigo]

Cindy, that is good news. I think the market for pre-converted front struts with stock housings and adjustable inserts will go up. Plus, you can get a wider range of dampers for the front that way, and some of them are double adjustable as opposed to the single adjustable stock konis.

[shackwrrr]

The most recent Grassroots Motorsports had an article on changing oil in factory struts. Made quite a difference but doing sealed units requires drilling a hole in the strut body then sealing it up.

[RoadWarrior222]

zerks will do right? :eyebrows:

[Vigo]

Ive used grease fittings to pump bobble struts full of grease after draining the stock oil out, but i can never get them to close right again for some reason.

I plan to try some different shock oil on the rear in my insight for lack of options. Also just because ive got to try it sometime.

[135sohc]

Ive used grease fittings to pump bobble struts full of grease after draining the stock oil out, but i can never get them to close right again for some reason.

I plan to try some different shock oil on the rear in my insight for lack of options. Also just because ive got to try it sometime.

The zerk refuses to reseal ?

I might have to try the grease trick sometime since I do have a few well used stock bobble struts and just cant bring myself to toss them...

[RoadWarrior222]

Most things that have a zerk have downward pressure on them and the zerk is at the bottom.... so maybe just need to position it right and load it.

[shackwrrr]

I was thinking something like this, Rebuildable shocks use the valve stem to charge with nitrogen and this would allow that. GRM mentioned that most HP shock oils do a decent job of preventing foam without the nitrogen charge.

40784

[RoadWarrior222]

silicone should be antifoam.

[Vigo]

The zerk refuses to reseal ?

Yep. Tried on two different bobble struts and had the same issue, but never figured out why.