Dans toy Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I do mostly weekend driving and drag racing at the track with my car. Recently I've noticed the front passenger strut has lost all of it's resistance on compression and rebound so I'm taking the plunge and investing in a set of Koni custom struts revised on the rebound side to better suit drag racing . They will be rebound adjustable only, with a fixed stockish to firm compression side(as Koni/ Gorden describes). The price $766.00 seems a little over the top but there just aren't any options available. Not that I could find anyway. Going through Summit with a couple of $25 discount cards it came to $716.00 - Merry Christmas to me. I think.... Should be done by the first week in january. Hoping to see some 60ft improvements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnjdragracing Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I have been looking at the Tokico illumina struts, they are 5 way adjustable for $150.00 each. Currently I am using KYB gascharged strut with travel limiters, so far so good. My next purchase will probable be front struts.Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hard to know what works and what doesn't. I haven't seen anyone go to the trouble or expense of drag front struts or coilovers on our cars. I'm using a small drag radial so I wanted something that had a really loose rebound as a starting point and wouldn't limit the travel on the front end , should I need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnjdragracing Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 What size Drag Radial are you running ? I am thinking of trying a DR on my car,I have been looking at the 255/60/15. I can making the 275/60/15 work but it does not look right.Thanks for any info.Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 running a 255-50-16. It's 26.1 dia./ Any taller, on my car it looks out of place. What kind of tire do you run at the track? Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnjdragracing Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) running a 255-50-16. It's 26.1 dia./ Any taller, on my car it looks out of place. What kind of tire do you run at the track? Dan I am running 28X9 M/T drag slick with 10psi air pressure. I am either going to a Drag radial or a M/T ET street tire. Edited January 4, 2013 by jnjdragracing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 It's mind boggling the 60ft times people are getting on drag radials . I'm just starting to get a sense of how the 4 link adjustment "anti- squat", and front end travel play a role in launching. As soon as Koni gets my shocks to me I plan to start with the information I've pick up , setting the car loose & unrestricted on the front end and work my way through tightening the car up until I find it's happy spot. 1.51 is the best I've done so far but looking forward to improving on that. " Jerry " if you have any suggestions your advice would be appreciated . My car has a street stall (2000)/ no transbrake, foot brake only & manages about 1500 rpm before brakes refuse to hold / The 6.0L eng 112 blower does make good torque and still lifts the front tires off the pavement. I'm thinkin I'll get that under control first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I'm building adjustable droop limiters this weekend. How much droop should I allow as a starting point to improve my launch? My 60' is 1.6 with a 2500 2-step and 1.5 with a 3500 2-step. Any advice? jnj-please keep us posted as to whether the drag radials are harder on your axles than the bias plies were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 I was considering limiters also but waiting to get shocks first. In my own little world of ideas I've considered the last 1 1/2" or so of travel having some kind of restraint but not so abrupt as a cable. This would still allow the quick reaction of the front on a soft rebound setting and possibly help to keep the tire on the ground and use that power to move forward rather than up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thought I would ad some information supporting 60ft. improvement at the last track outing prior to changing struts. Koni is a bit behind schedule with my order(delivery jan. 21). Went from 1.55 60ft to 1.51 with a suspension adjustment on the 4 links. Changed the instacenter to create more hit on the back tires and less lift on the front end. I don't want to read in to much on this because the shocks may totally change things.... But a little before and after! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Update- Still waiting on the inserts from Koni. I did receive a call from Gorden about my purchase. Apparently they need to have a run of at least 50 units of the 86-1811 in order to start mine and it didn't sound like that was going to happen any time soon so he offered to revalve a Porsche insert (8641-1038sport) which requires me to open up the "D" hole in the top of the strut mount. I hope to get them soon. Sacramento raceway runs straight through the winter and the blower likes the cool air ! I did make some more runs before taking the front suspension apart . Managed a 1.492 60ft W/ link adjustments, 1600rpm launch- braking just as hard as I could push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Don't sweat opening up the D in the strut mount. Just hit the nut a few time with an impact wrench and it will be tight enough. We can find you some replacement mounts in the future if you need some (we want you to go coil-over anyway). The resources of a nation are behind you! Are you still foot-braking? I know you were asking me about a 2-step, but what about a trans brake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hi Keith. If the delay goes on much longer I might consider a coilover combination if there's a way to get close to what I'm after. Foot braking for know / Might go transbrake. Just taking in ideas and periodically checking my wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Have you got a line-lock or are you foot braking your burn-out? I can't believe you are lifting those front tires from 1600rpm. Thats a lot of torque, but coming from that low of rpm it has to be pretty drivetrain-friendly. Hoping the droop limiters come in tomorrow and I'll put them on tomorrow night and do some before and after photos. I have total confidence in the rears working out, but in front, the pickup point on the LCA is not very far out on the LCA, so the leverage may not be very good, but there was really no other place for it. If I put it on the swaybar link, there wasn't room for a strap if I wanted my plates to go thru double-thick sheetmetal. Dilemnas, dilemnas! Don't sweat the photos. I have two teenage daughters that help me with all my tech support. So, I have a leg up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 I do have a front brake line lock for the burnouts. Its difficult to judge just how much stress the limiters will cause. I'd guess the spring rate and how much limiting is a big part of it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Should get my strut inserts this week . One thing I noticed when disassembling the stock units was the gland nuts on both sides were loose. If anyone has experience with this I'd appreciate your thoughts. Locktite, welded tab ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted April 19, 2013 Author Share Posted April 19, 2013 Update. Finally got the strut inserts after sending them back last month. What was sent to me the first time was a reworked 924/944 insert that had a much shorter full droop which was not what I was after. Gorden was willing to take them back and make a custom shaft to meet my needs and as of last week they are on the car. I haven't had time yet to get to the track but I've done a little street testing (in a safe deserted agricultural area). On the loosest setting the car comes up to full droop very smooth and quickly and likely best suited for minimal traction conditions with my set-up. It definitely hooked as hard as it ever has on the street without tire worm-up! I'm looking forward to getting down to the track and go through the adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Stock springs still? More details! Adjustable droop or adjustable dampening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted April 19, 2013 Author Share Posted April 19, 2013 Stock springs as far as I know. The only adjustment is for the rebound dampening at the top of the shaft. Compression dampening is fixed/stockish. I believe Koni just takes one of their performance line struts, in my case the 8641-1038sport insert with a 34mm spacer welded to the bottom and opens up the valving to better suit drag racing. For those who may be interested, be aware the shaft that normally comes in the 8641 insert may net you less full droop ( fully extended dimension ). Sorry I can't be more specific as I did not have the stock inserts in the car when I took it apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans toy Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 (edited) Made it to sacramento raceway saturday for the street car grudge fest. It was a great turn out with a wide variety of cars from 8 to 20 seconds. We watch through most of the event but did get 3 passes on the loosest rebound setting and 1 pass on the firmest. Both the passes where I managed to get the RPM's up and kept the car in place netted quite a bit of front end lift (loosest setting) but did nothing to improve my 60ft - 1.52/1.57 - . The last run I decided to tighten the shocks to the firmest setting and positioned myself with a late comer, another Z car with a suspicious smell of alcohol emitting from the back of his car. I had a brief moment before moving in position to ask him what he was running and all he offered was "small block chevy". As it turned out I was completely out of my league. He ran to about half track and then shut down with a 1.33 60ft/5.82 half track and I believe he had to pull out of it because he was going skyword . Looking over at him I thought I was dragging a boat anchor LOL. My car, on the firmest setting was not a good representation 1.53 60ft, I didn't get the RPM's up ," I know excuse excuse etc excuse ". O'well Another day more testing to come. All in all great fun for the night. My first impression of these strut inserts is, I think there great but I'm likely going to need some changes to my car to be consistent and that much faster. Mainly tranbrake a little higher stall and a 2 step. AND IF THAT DON'T WORK I'M GONNA SLAM MY 2 STAGE NITROUS BACK ON THE CAR AND SWITCH OVER TO E85! Edited April 21, 2013 by Dans toy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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