QA1 Double adjustable coilover valving design

[MoparDude]

Looking for a new set of coilovers for my Cuda.
I run Corvette C6 front end & custom torque arm rear, both ends require coilovers. Its a new build and currently it doesnt have anything.

On my other car I initially had Strange coilovers. I found them very harsh on larger bumps. In other words the high speed valving was very hard.
I opened them up hoping to modify the piston shim stack only to find it doesnt use shim stack but a set spring loaded valve with a couple of very small oil bleed holes. No wonder the high speed action was harsh, these things simply could not move oil at a high speed and were simply hydraulic "locking".
I replaced them all with Ridetech HQ's and threw them in the trash.

So back to the Cuda and back on topic......
I could go Ridetech again but they dont have compression/rebound adjustment and I cant afford the TQ series which leads me to the QA1 double adjustables.
Does anyone know if these twin tube shocks run a proper shim stack on the piston or are they the same crap design as the Strange units ?
Cost between Ridetech HQ and QA1 double adjustables is almost identical so money is not a determining factor.

I wish Ridetech made a HQ type shock with dual adjustment in the same price bracket.

[oleyeller]

Look into Viking shocks, double adjustable, Very nice product. Check them out.
http://vi-king.com
I like mine.

[Josh@Ridetech]

What are you doing with the car?

Because of the mono-tube construction and adjustment that we have out of them, there wasn't a real need for us to have a double adjustable shock. Even if you're building a street cruiser but still have performance oriented goals, the HQ coilovers are more than capable of that. We can dial in the coil spring rate for what you're wanting to primarily use the car for and then use the rebound adjustment to fine tune it from there. The build quality, life longevity, and performance that we see from these are the reason that we stuck that 1,000,001 mile warranty on them :).

[bret]

Looking for a new set of coilovers for my Cuda.
I run Corvette C6 front end & custom torque arm rear, both ends require coilovers. Its a new build and currently it doesnt have anything.

On my other car I initially had Strange coilovers. I found them very harsh on larger bumps. In other words the high speed valving was very hard.
I opened them up hoping to modify the piston shim stack only to find it doesnt use shim stack but a set spring loaded valve with a couple of very small oil bleed holes. No wonder the high speed action was harsh, these things simply could not move oil at a high speed and were simply hydraulic "locking".
I replaced them all with Ridetech HQ's and threw them in the trash.

So back to the Cuda and back on topic......
I could go Ridetech again but they dont have compression/rebound adjustment and I cant afford the TQ series which leads me to the QA1 double adjustables.
Does anyone know if these twin tube shocks run a proper shim stack on the piston or are they the same crap design as the Strange units ?
Cost between Ridetech HQ and QA1 double adjustables is almost identical so money is not a determining factor.

I wish Ridetech made a HQ type shock with dual adjustment in the same price bracket.


The QA1 (as well as the Viking and most other lower cost shocks) are a twin tube design. While that design does make it easier to include adjustable compression valving, you are a bit compromised by the MUCH smaller piston/shim stack diameter of about 1". The RideTech shock (along with most other higher end shocks) are a monotube design...1.8" dia piston/shim stack...more consistant oil control...less heat. But...with a monotube design, the compression adjustment has to be located in the remote cannister (attached to the main body by a hose or as a piggyback). After considering the negligible manufacturing cost difference between building a double adjustable and a triple adjustable we chose to build the triple.
In addition...we found that as we became more accurate with choosing spring rates and swaybar rates the benefits of a compression adjustment were minimized. While there are still handling performance gains to be had with compression tuning (and dual stage compression tuning) especially when trying to tune fore widely varying track conditions, 95% of our customers are best served with a rebound adjustable shock with appropriate spring rates and bar rates.

[Typhoon1015]

Looking for a new set of coilovers for my Cuda.
I run Corvette C6 front end & custom torque arm rear, both ends require coilovers. Its a new build and currently it doesnt have anything.

On my other car I initially had Strange coilovers. I found them very harsh on larger bumps. In other words the high speed valving was very hard.
I opened them up hoping to modify the piston shim stack only to find it doesnt use shim stack but a set spring loaded valve with a couple of very small oil bleed holes. No wonder the high speed action was harsh, these things simply could not move oil at a high speed and were simply hydraulic "locking".
I replaced them all with Ridetech HQ's and threw them in the trash.

So back to the Cuda and back on topic......
I could go Ridetech again but they dont have compression/rebound adjustment and I cant afford the TQ series which leads me to the QA1 double adjustables.
Does anyone know if these twin tube shocks run a proper shim stack on the piston or are they the same crap design as the Strange units ?
Cost between Ridetech HQ and QA1 double adjustables is almost identical so money is not a determining factor.

I wish Ridetech made a HQ type shock with dual adjustment in the same price bracket.


It sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of how a shock works. I would call up Viking Performance and talk with them about their Double Adjustable options. They are different valving options and curves depending on what your looking for. All shocks are double adjustable and have proven to be a great bang for buck option for C5/C6 stuff.

[MoparDude]

What are you doing with the car?

Because of the mono-tube construction and adjustment that we have out of them, there wasn't a real need for us to have a double adjustable shock. Even if you're building a street cruiser but still have performance oriented goals, the HQ coilovers are more than capable of that. We can dial in the coil spring rate for what you're wanting to primarily use the car for and then use the rebound adjustment to fine tune it from there. The build quality, life longevity, and performance that we see from these are the reason that we stuck that 1,000,001 mile warranty on them :).

Good to hear from you especially since Ridetech is one of the shocks I'm considering. Car use will be street and social autocross/track day.
As I am in Australia its probably not possible to return the shocks for valving adjustment. In doing this I expect you are fine tuning the shim stack to suit.
The way I see it (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the shocks job is to control the spring with the given constant of vehicle weight.
As spring rate increases I'd expect to see the compression adjustment decrease but the rebound gets firmer to control the extension energy of the spring. Vehicle weight plays a part where a very light car would need more rebound control than a very heavy car. This way you can have a firm suspension but not be harsh on bumps.

Given my car is a new build I'm guessing at spring rates. Luckily over time I have built up a collection of springs from 175lb to 450lb.
So when I hit the street/track I'll start by having an educated guess and adjust from there. However theory being for each spring change I will need to adjust the shocks accordingly.
This all leads me to the topic of compression control.
The only thing stopping me from ordering four ridetech coilovers is my concern that I may end up with something a bit harsh. As I mentioned in my first post I already have them on my 1934 Plymouth and while they were MUCH better than the strange shocks I have always found them too stiff on compression to the point where I have had to drop spring rates to try and compensate.
You state "there wasnt a need for us to have a double adjustable shock", however you guys have the TQ and offer a tuning service to do just that ?? (nothing personal there).

[Josh@Ridetech]

Good to hear from you especially since Ridetech is one of the shocks I'm considering. Car use will be street and social autocross/track day.
As I am in Australia its probably not possible to return the shocks for valving adjustment. In doing this I expect you are fine tuning the shim stack to suit.
The way I see it (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the shocks job is to control the spring with the given constant of vehicle weight.
As spring rate increases I'd expect to see the compression adjustment decrease but the rebound gets firmer to control the extension energy of the spring. Vehicle weight plays a part where a very light car would need more rebound control than a very heavy car. This way you can have a firm suspension but not be harsh on bumps.

Given my car is a new build I'm guessing at spring rates. Luckily over time I have built up a collection of springs from 175lb to 450lb.
So when I hit the street/track I'll start by having an educated guess and adjust from there. However theory being for each spring change I will need to adjust the shocks accordingly.
This all leads me to the topic of compression control.
The only thing stopping me from ordering four ridetech coilovers is my concern that I may end up with something a bit harsh. As I mentioned in my first post I already have them on my 1934 Plymouth and while they were MUCH better than the strange shocks I have always found them too stiff on compression to the point where I have had to drop spring rates to try and compensate.
You state "there wasnt a need for us to have a double adjustable shock", however you guys have the TQ and offer a tuning service to do just that ?? (nothing personal there).

As long as we get the weights of the car (individual corner weights would be ideal), we can get the car dialed in very well for you. We'll have you take some measurements and then plug them into our spring rate calculator: http://www.ridetech.com/info/tech/spring-rate-calculator/

I have no doubt, we can make sure that the ride quality is going to be where you want it. When I was talking about the single adjustable vs double adjustable, Bret went into the detail that I was shooting for :).

".with a monotube design, the compression adjustment has to be located in the remote cannister (attached to the main body by a hose or as a piggyback). After considering the negligible manufacturing cost difference between building a double adjustable and a triple adjustable we chose to build the triple.
In addition...we found that as we became more accurate with choosing spring rates and swaybar rates the benefits of a compression adjustment were minimized. While there are still handling performance gains to be had with compression tuning (and dual stage compression tuning) especially when trying to tune fore widely varying track conditions, 95% of our customers are best served with a rebound adjustable shock with appropriate spring rates and bar rates."

What I am getting at, is that if you're primarily wanting a street car, the HQ is the shock that I would recommend to get the best of both worlds. We can fine tune the valving for ride quality and then adjust it for more performance oriented situations.

If you're wanting a track car, I would go all in and look at the TQ's, which are custom valved in house. The high speed compression, low speed compression, and rebound adjustments will give you the ability to squeeze every bit of performance out of the car. Obviously, there is quite a bit more adjustment on these, but this much adjustment on a cruiser would be overkill in my opinion.