Shock question

[EFI69Cam]

Is there any reason why a coilover shock sold for a street rod would not work on the back of a 69 Camaro provided I pick the right spring?

I've pretty much decided on the air bar 4 link, but I don't want the air springs. Edelbrock sells a street rod coilover IAS shock that matches the dimensions of the air ride shock pretty close.

[baz67]

Valving of the shock. A street rod shock may not be able to control the spring as well as a performance shock. The IAS shock is a Bilstein shock I believe. If my memory is correct then it is a good shock.

[EFI69Cam]

Edelbrock told me they would not work.

Looks like I will be going to QA1s.

[DonQuehotey]

There are a number of quality shock-coilover companies out there. QA-1, BeCool, Tokicko, Alden, Alston,. If you get something adjustable you should be able to tune the dampening to what you want. I dont see why they said it would not work... the ass end of your car would not be any heavier than say a 37 -40 Ford ect.... the weight difference will be more of a spring rate anyway. they probably told you no because it was not a part number and application in their little handy dandy computer.

[EFI69Cam]

There are a number of quality shock-coilover companies out there. QA-1, BeCool, Tokicko, Alden, Alston,. If you get something adjustable you should be able to tune the dampening to what you want. I dont see why they said it would not work... the ass end of your car would not be any heavier than say a 37 -40 Ford ect.... the weight difference will be more of a spring rate anyway. they probably told you no because it was not a part number and application in their little handy dandy computer.


Thats what I was thinking. Why would it matter? Valving is one thing, but the indepentant front and its design would make the difference there I would think?

[DonQuehotey]

Assuming you find a shock appropriately valved...it doesnt........:jawdrop:

[Mean 69]

Edelbrock told me they would not work.

I am not completely familiar with the IAS shock, but I don't believe you can run it in a coil-over application? It was my understanding that the IAS shocks were a bolt on replacement for some of the more popular chassis, but I could be off base. That might be why they told you they won't work.

There are many, many many different shocks available that ARE compatible for coil-overs, the best value is probably the Bilstein line of shocks that are used for circle track applications. They have a huge variety of compression and rebound damping setting in a non-adjustable, mono-tube arrangement, with some help on the valving, this is likely to be your best bet. Make sure the correct stroke is chosen, stick axle cars like a lot of suspension travel.

A note on adjustable shocks, they are not all created equal, by any stretch of the imaginiation. Some adjustments are made for fine tuning, even though there may be a lot of "clicks" available. Some are more coarse tuning, like what you'd like for an application that you really don't know what type of initial valving you need. It has nothing to do with the cost, either. My point is, just because it says adjustable, doesn't mean it is right for your application, sorry.

I'd call Bilstein, with a few factors like total weight, front rear bias, shock mounting angle, and spring rate, they can get you right in the ballpark to the point where you likely won't ever need to do any adjusting, especially for a predominantly street driven car. Call their motorsports division, NOT the street rod division, by the way.
Mark