FX3 Shocks and Coilover questions

[-=Jeff=-]

first one..

outside of the FX3 adjusting not working or a obvious leaky shock

how do you tell if they need to be rebuilt/replaced?

Second,

for those with coilovers, where is the groove cut for the snap ring? a measurement would be great!! also what length spring are you using?

I have a solution I want to try for coilovers.. but i need to get the shocks grooved and not sure exactly where on the shock to get the groove cut.

I have the coilover kits, I just need springs

[-=Jeff=-]

nobody?

[tomtom72]

Okay I'll offer up this fwiw on what my OE shocks were doing before I coughed up the $700.00 +

Over undulating road surfaces, not potholes or sharp bumps, just gentle waves in the road surface at speed the car would wallow & porpose. It was a gradual type of thing. Like in tour it would be pretty bad, so switch up to sport & it went away. Then it got to the point that even in sport it would happen. Try perf mode and it went away. That's when I figured there must be something wearing/worn out?

I don't have C/O's, but if you send the shocks to Bilstein or DRM & tell them you're going to C/O's they will put the grooves in the rods when rebuilding the shocks.


Tom

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by tomtom72

Okay I'll offer up this fwiw on what my OE shocks were doing before I coughed up the $700.00 +

Over undulating road surfaces, not potholes or sharp bumps, just gentle waves in the road surface at speed the car would wallow & porpose. It was a gradual type of thing. Like in tour it would be pretty bad, so switch up to sport & it went away. Then it got to the point that even in sport it would happen. Try perf mode and it went away. That's when I figured there must be something wearing/worn out?

I don't have C/O's, but if you send the shocks to Bilstein or DRM & tell them you're going to C/O's they will put the grooves in the rods when rebuilding the shocks.


Tom

Thanks tom.. that is what I was looking for.. I will probably buy a pair of fronts and get the rears rebuilt.. Although I was told by a guy at Bilstein, $65 per shock to rebuild and i did tell him they were FX3 shocks..

[tomtom72]

Jeff, no problem. You might hit up Ron (cuisenartvette) he had Bilstein rebuild his shocks....I seem to recall the final total on the bill to be around $400.00...or in that area. He didn't have C/O's...I don't think. I know that there is an extra charge added to put the grooves on the shafts.


Tom

[Pete]

Jeff, i have that info in my garage don't know it at the top of my head.

I can get it for you later today.

Pete

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by Pete

Jeff, i have that info in my garage don't know it at the top of my head.

I can get it for you later today.

Pete

not needed yet Pete, but will call you when I do

[tomtom72]

Jeff, a thought occured to me about buying replacement shocks. That's what I did.

The replacements have different valving, or it seems that way to me. I believe that they are softer than what the OE's were. I rarely ever remember using the perf setting with my OE ones; that setting was way too stiff for the street, made my eyeballs shake.

Now with 4 replacements I find that the perf setting can be used on the street without blurred vision from vibration. The tour & sport settings are softer than they used to be.

Let me explain it like this. Ya know if you're on a busy interstate and you wanna just get thru traffic, not even that ya need to be at tripples but just up say around 80+ to < 100? I like to feel the chassis stuck dead level during the lane changes, gradual ones. The OE sport setting used to be the ticket. Now with the new 4 shocks, the sport setting in that environment starts to run out of control at 90, chassis starts to become unsettled. If I go to perf the control returns to the chassis. I'm not trying to tell ya what ya gotta do. I just want to be forth right as you said you might buy two new & have two rebuilt. IMHO, if the valving on the replacement shocks is different than what came with the OE shocks on our 90's, then it might pay to match the new replacement valving with any rebuilt valving????


Tom

[-=Jeff=-]

Tom,

I did think of that. I am looking at the pair on eBay, they claim to be OEM parts. ZR1vette (Michael) bought a set.

I have a set on my car and a set ready to be rebuilt. I have a couple other ideas as well. I am limited on funds and need to spend my dollar wisely this year..

Thanks for the thoughts though

[tomtom72]

Jeff, thanks for not taking me the wrong way!

I just wanted to make sure to mention that the valving on the replacement stuff is softer than the original assembly line stuff that came with the cars.

I was concerned for any possible negative effects of having two pairs of shocks with dramatically different valving.

I hear ya about the dinero situation. Ya know I was thinking that when Ron was done with the rebuild he spent over $500.00 on all four, I'm almost positive. His thread is here in the tech section. I followed it because Jeff offered his diagnosis on what my car was doing & he reminded me to either rebuild all four or replace all four at the same time. I also remember that Ron had kind of a sour taste after his experience with Bilstein....kind of nickle & dimed him to death & the shocks came back not even painted! That's what tipped me to just buy new ones and maybe send my OE ones out later.


Tom