adjusting 1LE suspension
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From: Idaho
adjusting 1LE suspension
I was wondering if anyone knows if the shocks on a 1998 1LE camaro can be tuned for drag racing. I know its a road race option, but my local drag track is opening soon and I wanted to take my camaro to see what it will run. Any suggestions? Thanks
Keith
Keith
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 576
From: Missouri
Re: adjusting 1LE suspension
You can adjust them to be better for drag racing but I don't think they have the range of adjustment that a drag shock would have.
Koni North america has a website and I read some info on their drag shocks. If you sent them an email, they might suggest some settings.
Sam Strano will likely know what would work.
My guess is the following.
Front, full soft on rebound. That is counter clockwise on the top adjuster with the holes in it. This will allow the nose to lift easier to tranfer weight to the back axle. Compression you may want to set pretty high to keep the front end up. I am guessing here but 5-7 clicks clockwise from full soft. You might want to run full hard.
Rear, I think you want the rear to compress easily so I would suggest full soft on compression. That is the lower adjustment fully counter clockwise.
Rebound is a little tricker and I am guessing. I have heard of people running large sway bars in the rear to help plant the rear end. Rebound acts like a larger sway bar in the short term. I would set the rebound to full hard on the rear. This should keep the rear end down after it takes a set from the intial accleration, and act to keep the rear axle flat like a larger rear sway bar. The white koni **** is marked which way is firm.
The car will corner very badly with these settings, so be careful when you drive to the track. Or adjust the shocks at the track. You should record the current settings you have if you like them. Figure out how far you are from full hard or full soft on your current setup and write it down.
The goal is weight transfer from front to back, the stiffer rear 1LE springs and larger front sway bar are not helping with this. If you are going to drag the car alot, you may want to change some suspension. The shock settings should help but that 1LE setup is intended for roadracing.
My .02
Z28
Koni North america has a website and I read some info on their drag shocks. If you sent them an email, they might suggest some settings.
Sam Strano will likely know what would work.
My guess is the following.
Front, full soft on rebound. That is counter clockwise on the top adjuster with the holes in it. This will allow the nose to lift easier to tranfer weight to the back axle. Compression you may want to set pretty high to keep the front end up. I am guessing here but 5-7 clicks clockwise from full soft. You might want to run full hard.
Rear, I think you want the rear to compress easily so I would suggest full soft on compression. That is the lower adjustment fully counter clockwise.
Rebound is a little tricker and I am guessing. I have heard of people running large sway bars in the rear to help plant the rear end. Rebound acts like a larger sway bar in the short term. I would set the rebound to full hard on the rear. This should keep the rear end down after it takes a set from the intial accleration, and act to keep the rear axle flat like a larger rear sway bar. The white koni **** is marked which way is firm.
The car will corner very badly with these settings, so be careful when you drive to the track. Or adjust the shocks at the track. You should record the current settings you have if you like them. Figure out how far you are from full hard or full soft on your current setup and write it down.
The goal is weight transfer from front to back, the stiffer rear 1LE springs and larger front sway bar are not helping with this. If you are going to drag the car alot, you may want to change some suspension. The shock settings should help but that 1LE setup is intended for roadracing.
My .02
Z28
Last edited by Z28barnett; Mar 29, 2005 at 06:15 PM.
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