scca Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 ok so i called a few different distributors No one has any tokikos-- at least not the BZ3099 MR2 rears to use up front.. even the Koni 8610 are not in stock anywhere - koni usa is sold out and no stock expected in their warehouse in KY until mid sept.. so looking at end of sept to early october to have inserts.. Anyone know or have a set of illuminas or Konis or know where some are for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfritts911 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Jegs website says the Koni 8610 will ship August 6th. Dunno if that will actually happen though. I called a LOT of places trying to find illuminas just a couple weeks ago. I ended up picking up some of the VW bilsteins. Haven't got my car on the road yet so I can't vouch for their performance. I just got stock valved ones so we will see how they work. Plan on using 200F/225R for the moment, might change that after I get to drive it. Only other reasonable option I could find was some S13 coil overs, but figured all those were going to handle like garbage unless you paid for a really nice set. -Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The P30-0032 are about the only available perfoance option now and they are good to 250 lb. in. and may a little more. They can be easily revalued by Bilstien in Poway, CA for $60 each. The hard part is getting the correct gland nut. The P30 is an inverted shock and require its own specific gland nut. The ones shipped with the shock won't work on the S30 strut tube without some fab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I hear Bilstein upped the revalve charge to $100. Haven't verified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Could be. Last set I had done was 18 months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 FYI... Bret Norgard, who used to be one of the engineers at Bilstien Motorsports, has gone out on his own. He's built a few custom setups for Datsuns: https://m.facebook.com/YAWSPORT?id=130358890313000&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&_rdr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Contact Techno Toy Tuning. I think they may still have some of the Koni's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I think I paid $80 for my last Bilstein revalve few months ago. And they will surely handle more than 250# springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 What did you do when you had them revalve? Did you give them the 300/100 spec or did you ask them to make it work for xxx lb springs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfritts911 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I think making the stock Bilstein gland nuts work is as easy as any other strut. It just requires welding one more thing. The Bilsteins come with the female and male nut. You just weld the female part to the top of the strut and you're good to go. If you cut the threaded portion off, but don't cut all the way down to the thick portion of the tube, the female nut actually has to be slightly press fit in, helping keep it aligned right. Grind out a little lip in the female nut to let the body fit through. Then the male nut threads into the female nut like a normal setup. Piece of cake if you are competent enough to do your own sectioning. That's on 280Z strut tubes -Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I had them at 300/100 for a couple years. A little too stiff but I ran them anyway. I took more weight out of car AND went up in spring rates last year and found they were undrivable. I gave Bilstein all my data including motion ratios, sprung, and unsrrung weight. They feel great now. The valving they came back with almost exactly where I would have guessed and strangly enough, the same as I calculated from some equation I found on internet. I like the Bilsteins, it would be nice if they were adjustable, but they are practically indestructible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 What spring rates did you go to? I have been told they don't work so well above 425. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calpoly-z Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Considering that there don't appear to be any sport struts available without going to coil overs, can the bilsteins be used in a non-sectioned strut housing? Maybe with a spacer on bottom to make up the difference? It looks like the gland nut issue can be handled with a little welding, which is not a problem for me. I currently have eibach stock replacement springs. I'm perfectly happy with the ride height of the car, but the kyb struts that I currently have need to go. Since the tokico struts seem to be NLA, I'm not sure that I have any stick replacement options other than to return to kyb. If these bilsteins can be made to work I might give them a try. Then if at a later date, I do decide to go coil over, I will already have decent struts. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkspeed Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 They work fine in stock housings if you solve the gland nut problem. Just don't lower the car too much. I'm using 400# springs on the front with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfritts911 Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Yup you could use them in a non sectioned strut, would just have to trim the top a hair then weld on the gland nut. You would need a large spacer(~4 inch) in the bottom of the strut tube. -Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letitsnow Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) The P30-0032 are about the only available perfoance option now and they are good to 250 lb. in. and may a little more. They can be easily revalued by Bilstien in Poway, CA for $60 each. The hard part is getting the correct gland nut. The P30 is an inverted shock and require its own specific gland nut. The ones shipped with the shock won't work on the S30 strut tube without some fab. I'm curious where you get this number, my math suggests that on a 2500lb Z with 50/50 split the should be right around the magical 65% of critical at 325lbs. I'm using them with 200/225 springs, I like how they ride, I'd rather they were digressive, but the ride is alright still. They come out to 70-75% of critical by my math. Edited August 2, 2013 by letitsnow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 I tend to prefer more rebound and less compression then the math indicates. So when say a shock is good to some spring rate that's what mean. The math may say more but for the bumpy tracks here on the west coast I prefer more compliance and more platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letitsnow Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Ok, that makes good sense, my take on 'set it to 65%' is that it's a good place to start, then adjust to preference. I just wanted to make sure you weren't taking about something like durability or some other factor I hadn't considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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