upgrade, looking for new coil-overs

[CliffS]

Looking for new front coil-overs. Parts which are on now dating from 2005. Speedtech upper and lower arms, standard subframe, nothing cut or weld on.
Coil-over is a QA1 kit GMP13. Upper end of the spring is in the original spring bucket of frame, shock mounts to lower arm with T-bar adapter.
Much be some improvement in all these years. let me hear your suggestions please.

[CliffS]

car: 68 Firebird

[mild2wildpaintngraphics]

Ridetech.

[brownz]

Ridetech.
ridetech x2

[Bryce]

ridetech

[makoshark]

Ridetech:) Top notch coilover at an exceptional price. They can't be beat. Fox Racing is the actual manufacturer of the coilovers.

[CliffS]

Ridetech huh?! Thanks guys.

Been all over the web yesterday including Ridetech. Couldn't find any coil-over with T-bar on the lower link. On the other hand I think the Chicane kit from Speedtech/Ridetech might be an option.

[CliffS]

additional: I do not have the Ridetech strong arms on my ride.

[makoshark]

You do not need the Ridetech control arms. I have the Chicane front coilover mounts and I purchased a pair of T-bars to fit my lower control arms from Ridetech. I have 3.6 eye bearing to eye bearing front coilovers.

[CliffS]

thanks Makoshark!! Did you already weld the mounts in? pics?

[makoshark]

No prob! I haven't welded them in yet. I'm still in the process of minitubbing the car and getting my rear Ridetech Airbar with coilovers fitted permanently. I just finished getting the driver's tub in today. Goal is to have the passenger side finished by the weekend. I'm off work this week, so will hopefully be able to accomplish that task. Starting sometime next week or next weekend I'll start tackling the front subframe. I'll share the pics with you when I get going on it

[Yelcamino]

Ridetech:) Top notch coilover at an exceptional price. They can't be beat. Fox Racing is the actual manufacturer of the coilovers.

To my knowledge, Fox builds the shock cartridge to Ride Tech's specs and then Ride Tech completes the coilover. I've been to the Ride Tech shop and it's a top notch organization! You won't be disappointed.

[CliffS]

No prob! I haven't welded them in yet. I'm still in the process of minitubbing the car and getting my rear Ridetech Airbar with coilovers fitted permanently. I just finished getting the driver's tub in today. Goal is to have the passenger side finished by the weekend. I'm off work this week, so will hopefully be able to accomplish that task. Starting sometime next week or next weekend I'll start tackling the front subframe. I'll share the pics with you when I get going on it

Checked your build, lot of fabbing, looking good!!
Thanks for sharing

[makoshark]

To my knowledge, Fox builds the shock cartridge to Ride Tech's specs and then Ride Tech completes the coilover. I've been to the Ride Tech shop and it's a top notch organization! You won't be disappointed.

Yes, I didn't go into the full details, but Ridetech did collaborate with Fox Racing to build their new coilovers. As far as who did what, I don't know.

[makoshark]

Checked your build, lot of fabbing, looking good!!
Thanks for sharing

Thanks, it has been a lot of work. Fab work is still going on. Hopefully I'll have it done soon though. Kinda tired of cutting metal and grinding welds. My garage and car are a complete mess with all the metal dust coating everything. I have cut the factory shock towers off my subframe and preliminarily cut open the hole for the coilover to pass through on the frame. That is as far as I have gotten on the frame for time being. I jumped back and put focus on the body to get it done, then I'll get back on the frame. I'll be on it within the next 3 weeks and I'll update my build thread here. I keep it more active over on lat-g though.

[CliffS]

Thanks, it has been a lot of work. Fab work is still going on. Hopefully I'll have it done soon though. Kinda tired of cutting metal and grinding welds. My garage and car are a complete mess with all the metal dust coating everything. I have cut the factory shock towers off my subframe and preliminarily cut open the hole for the coilover to pass through on the frame. That is as far as I have gotten on the frame for time being. I jumped back and put focus on the body to get it done, then I'll get back on the frame. I'll be on it within the next 3 weeks and I'll update my build thread here. I keep it more active over on lat-g though.

Keep it going, doing great.
Noticed your post an lat-g!

[Happy Gilmore]

Ridetech , Ridetech, Ridetech

[2gofaster]

I've been quite impressed with the Ridetech shocks. I bought a car with their nonadjustables and it rides really, really well. I had a set of QA1's lying around and as a test I switched em out. The Ridetechs were way better overall and went back in. You can get the T bar for them for like $20 each I believe and they come in two center to center widths. Ridetech has a lot of accessories that aren't on their website but are in their catalog so download the catalog.

[makoshark]

Hey Cliff, I managed to get the Chicane brackets tack welded in place on my subframe. Check it out on lat-g. I'm waiting on some more hiccup parts to finish the install

[CliffS]

Hey Cliff, I managed to get the Chicane brackets tack welded in place on my subframe. Check it out on lat-g. I'm waiting on some more hiccup parts to finish the install

Thanks I will check Lateral

[SLO_Z28]

I was talking with a gentleman from Deuces Wild (a small shop in Fillmore CA not far from my house) and he was able to explain a lot more about the RideTech shocks than anyone I've talked to before, and the shocks are very good. You are able to rebuild them and re-valve them if you're the kind of guy like me that would change the preload and shim stacks to match the cars dynamics, and he said they have very good low velocity response with low amounts of bleed over. The RideTechs are a very capable shock, and I might have a set to play with pretty soon.

[rrelco]

you have speedtech call Blake at speedtech he sells ridetech now

[ROBS6T8]

I was talking with a gentleman from Deuces Wild (a small shop in Fillmore CA not far from my house) and he was able to explain a lot more about the RideTech shocks than anyone I've talked to before, and the shocks are very good. You are able to rebuild them and re-valve them if you're the kind of guy like me that would change the preload and shim stacks to match the cars dynamics, and he said they have very good low velocity response with low amounts of bleed over. The RideTechs are a very capable shock, and I might have a set to play with pretty soon.

Great information!

[SLO_Z28]

Great information!

He also said there was a very linear, and very wide range of adjustment in the rebound adjustment. That means that they are very well set up out of the box and the changes mean something.

[CliffS]

Thanks for all the info guys!!

[SR71]

You do not need the Ridetech control arms. I have the Chicane front coilover mounts and I purchased a pair of T-bars to fit my lower control arms from Ridetech. I have 3.6 eye bearing to eye bearing front coilovers.

why stop with a 3.6" shock and t-bars???

I too have chicane upper mounts. but, the arms are spc top and bottom. the chicane lower mounts are bolted AND welded to the bottom of the spc arms. and with a little clearance work, I was able to fit a 5.2" stroke ridetech tripple. with ridetech spindles I was able to package the 5.2" shock, get the ball joints level with the lower pivots AND get the "in the weeds" ride that I wanted.

needless to say that I don't worry about bottoming the shocks. the sub can lay flat on the asphalt and never bottom the shocks.....now, the inner fenders are another story. :cheers:

[makoshark]

I would much rather damage a coilover rather than the frame or wheel well of my car. Its cheaper:)

[SR71]

I would much rather damage a coilover rather than the frame or wheel well of my car. Its cheaper:)

everything is tucked up inside the sub on my car and we are just talking about possibly bottoming in a dip. I'll take a little sub scraping anyday over possible damage to one of my ridetech tripples. :)

[frojoe]

Ridetech huh?! Thanks guys.

Been all over the web yesterday including Ridetech. Couldn't find any coil-over with T-bar on the lower link. On the other hand I think the Chicane kit from Speedtech/Ridetech might be an option.

Sorry for bringing this back from the dead but Ridetech does now offer a t-bar lower pivot ("trunion") and it's an extra plate that replaces the spherical eye. For your setup, the part number is 90002361. They also offer a t-bar for wider bolt spacing that is a different number. If you go with this trunion lower bar mount and the stud top mount, the Ridetech coilovers will bolt right into your car, no fab needed.

[CliffS]

Sorry for bringing this back from the dead but Ridetech does now offer a t-bar lower pivot ("trunion") and it's an extra plate that replaces the spherical eye. For your setup, the part number is 90002361. They also offer a t-bar for wider bolt spacing that is a different number. If you go with this trunion lower bar mount and the stud top mount, the Ridetech coilovers will bolt right into your car, no fab needed.

Thanks Frojoe