a-body with coil overs

[72monte]

I'm looking into coilovers for the a-body qa1, varishock,afco,koni,bilstein,dse
Which ones works I saw dse and varishock at the goodguys show last weekend and got there views but is anybody running a set up for hard street driving and weekend autocross.
Harsh rides don't bother me.
I was looking into afco but they don't have an a-body package you need to make measurements.
Let me know

[BobB66SS]

Have had QA1's on the frt of my Chevelle for awhile and just finished installing the full DSE suspension on the rear. I used QA1 450 lb straight rate springs to help get the nose up to proper ride height (2" drop spindles installed previously and car has big block w/ aluminum heads & intake + A/C). Rides fine, not too stiff, handles great.

Haven't done any driving with the DSE stuff yet, install was very straightforward. Just a few holes to drill. Will be interested to compare stock rr suspension (except for Hotchkis lwr trailing arms and sway bar) vs. the full DSE treatment (coilovers, rr suspension incl. SwivelLink arms, and sway bar). Can't beat DSE customer service either.

[72monte]

What did all that run for the rear set up I saw it at the show and it look great on the display but i haven't seen or heard anybody with it installed.
Let me know I only have the Hotchkis springs,boxed arms and upper arms right now.

[BobB66SS]

Website prices Speed Kit 3 at $2345 all in with the base shocks, more if you want double adjustables or remote reservoirs.

http://detroitspeed.com/productpages/indproduct/rearsuspensionprod/041603-rear-spd-kts.htm

Individual components are available -- coilovers, SwivelLink arms, adjustable chassis braces, sway bar -- if you don't want the whole kit. Not shown on the site but I know they're available, call DSE.

If you have the Hotchkis sway bar that mounts to the Hotchkis lwr arms, it won't work with the tubular DSE arms. However the DSE sway bay may work with Hotchkis lwr arms since it doesn't attach to the arms, it attaches to the axle housing and the chassis.

Before I took them off my car I noticed an interference between the Hotchkis boxed lwr arms and the lwr bracket for the DSE coilovers; something to ask DSE about, might not apply to your yr/car and not an issue at all if you use their lwr arms.

BTW, QA1's frt prices also change for the various shock options. I have double adjustable on mine. Given how easy to install and well engineered the DSE stuff is, I'd have gone with their full frt suspension setup had it been available when I started piecing mine together 5-6 yrs ago. I used Belltech drop spindles and Hotchkis ctrl arms when I installed the Baer brakes and added Baer tubular tie rod adjusters. The sway bar and end links were on the car when I got it. The parts all work well together but I'm sure the kit from DSE, being engineered as a system, would be a bit better. For me it's not logical to drop $2600 replacing the solid stuff I already have, which is what their frt Speed 2 kit costs.

The clinching thing for me is the level of product and service you get from DSE. If you've ever had a chance to talk with Kyle or Stacy Tucker you can see how committed they are to their customers and the rest of their staff is the same way, great people all around.

[Roadbuster]

I'm looking into coilovers for the a-body qa1, varishock,afco,koni,bilstein,dse
Which ones works I saw dse and varishock at the goodguys show last weekend and got there views but is anybody running a set up for hard street driving and weekend autocross.
Harsh rides don't bother me.
I was looking into afco but they don't have an a-body package you need to make measurements.
Let me know


I have SC&C's (http://scandc.com) package on the front of my 68 GTO. Marc helped me set it up with lots of phone calls between us. Great customer service from him. His setup uses Varishocks and I have the matching shocks for the rear. This setup runs _low_. See the photo below. The ride is firm and controlled and it handles like its on rails!

The most important thing about any custom set up is to make sure the shock is set for the correct length at ride height. Too low or too high and you will bottom out the shock or hyper extend it and end up with having to rebuild or junk it. Coil overs allow adjust-ability but not infinite range of ride height.

Jon

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/03/08153NK30626-1.jpg

[72monte]

Thanks for the info on both set ups thats dse and varishock any body out there for afco , penske, koni or bilstein
Let me know I'm trying to get as much feed back before I purchase these coil overs.

[SDMAN]

I used the QA-1 coil over setup for a while on a previous setup on my 70 GTO. It worked, but there were 2 things that I did not like. The first one is an easy fix. The out of the box valving is way to coarse, and the result is, out of the 12 available positions, you could maybe use 5. But the remaining ones were WAY to stiff. QA-1 does sell a re-valve kit that addresses this. The other issue was general availability of spring rates. I think when I was using these, there were 2 rates. Period. This situation might have improved, but since I dont use them anymore, I cant say that it has. Having said that, it was an easy to install setup, and it worked pretty good.

I ended up going to the next level, and now use double adjustable Strange coil overs. Getting close to actually getting it on the road.

[72monte]

Let me know how the strange coilovers work I'm currently looking into how to adapt afco or penske from late model asphalt race cars to the rear and front end.

[Bryce]

im using AFCO T2 double adjustables on my own front suspension. i really like there set up. lots of adjustments form drag to autocross