TobyZ28

I wrote hotchkis lately asking for their opinion on what shocks would be a good match for the Hotchkis springs i bought. They're reply was only one sentance "Blistein's should work fine". I wasn't too impressed with the response :/

Anyhow, would everyone agree that blistein HD's would be a good match for these springs? does anyone else have this combo?

I understand strano revalves are an option, but I don't want to pay an extra 150$ if the difference is very little. Daily driver car, that gets driven fairly hard in and out of the city, so I guess i'm looking for a balance of comfort and performance..

Any opinions sam? anyone else?

TobyZ28

Ttt

ZaneO

You'll get varying responses on this. Bilstein says that the HD shocks are not suitable for lowering springs. They were developed for stock spring rates and height. Putting them on with lowering springs will cause them to wear prematurely.

Many people use them with lowering springs and don't complain, but it has to do with many factors.

Bud M

That's the setup I have. I think its good for the street. Not low enough to be a problem.
Another possibility would be SLP Bilsteins. They have stiffer valving than regular HD Bilsteins. TByrne has them for $379 IIRC.

Sam Strano

Let's look at the responses you got, and what we know. Then you decide:

1. Hotchkis gives you a form-letter response, that not only isn't impressive, but tells you nothing.

2. Bilstein says flat out that HD's are not suitable for lowering springs.

3. Valving has a lot less to do with travel than the rate of the spring. Though both are factors. Shocks are spring dampers. A shock valved to damp a stock or near stock rate isn't doing to deal with stiffer springs as well as they should.

4. Some folks run HD's on lowering springs, and like them. But what are they comparing to? In comparison to the stock shocks almost anything would be an improvement. And a number of those people have gotten better shocks later and realized what there were missing. That's hard to get people to do since most don't understand shocks well enough to know why they'd see a difference, and not many are willing to spend twice. If you do it right the first time you don't need to spend twice. The epitome of spend a little now and save a lot later.

5. SLP shocks: SLP uses standard HD's on the rear, no change. Up front, they add rebound which is good, but also take compression damping away which is bad. And they, IMHO, don't add quite enough rebound either. Because their shocks are valved for (drum roll.....) THEIR springs which are lighter than most lowering springs, as well as not as short so you have more travel left for a softer shock to do work it. Lower the car more or with more rate, let alone both and you are back to damping that's not right for the job. They are also all the same, where mine are valved for your combination. So we don't have to say "good enough"

Does that help?