no, you're right. this'll be a one time shot for me, and if they DO need revalving now would surely be the time as my current stuff is working just fine ( which makes me wonder if this is my HABIT MOD BRAIN making me do this? ) or really that the setup will dramatically transform the car from where it is, which is highly competent as it sits. you guys'd have to take my word for it but it HAS seen its time at willow with far less done than i have to it.

but i'm hearing ya 100% and your thoughts are mine except you know more, and i appreciate it and the advice. i'm thinkin, just not drinkin'.. ( yet )

also john seems to have these unlimited lol resources of help, time, parts, and i suppose bread? and i dont. i will not/can not experiment with differing spring rates on/off etc etc. i gotta pay for that sh*t albeit at a bud rate. its still dough out of pocket to experiment.. and again, this is for hill climbing/canyons only. so less adjustment and tweaking is needed.

ima figger this thing out though. thanks really. ( add) pricing out the gt3 lcas now, and haven't even bugged john..,. yet! lol

 

I like the adjustability of the coils and went through this dilemma recently and decided to go all in with such. A good set of shocks are not far off from the price of coils.

 

Mark
If your front struts are similar to mine they are not rebuildable as they are sealed units, the rears can be rebuilt.
I believe the GT3 struts/shocks can be rebuilt.

 

Thanks yes I know my current mo30 can't but believe the gt3's can as you say. I have to search around maybe the place 32 ,mentions can rebuild.
It would be the smarter thing to do rather than all the effort to install decent but "used" parts of unknown provenance and condition. Good point.

 

I am interested in if H&R booted Bilstein because they got sick of all the warranty claims. I have read both ways that the new Koni Shocks are Twin-Tube and Mono-Tube. I would be interested in them if they are Twin-Tube but otherwise for the street I will be sticking with Springs + Shocks.

 

This is news to me, where have you read about Bilstein warranty claims, please elaborate.
You would expect a small percentage of failures in almost anything man made, nothing is perfect.

 

+1...Having used a lot of Bilstein products; quality products and warranty is easy to deal with...

 

+2...That's strange...If anything I've heard the opposite in that Bilstein (and H&R for that matter) is actually known for being great at backing their warranty and customer service.

For what it's worth, I have sent a couple emails to H&R with questions I had regarding warranty, repairs,specs, etc and I was pleasantly surprised that they answered all my emails really quickly (within hours).

Some of the info I got directly from them: the H&R Streets have a 2 year warranty and after that they will sell the original owner individual replacement shocks/struts if you provide proof of purchase. They gave me the spring rates as well as the actual range of adjustment that the shocks were approved for (just an example reply from them):

"Front axle height adjustment:
Distance from middle of the strut fixation screw to the upper edge of the lower spring seat: 110-120mm

Rear height adjustment:
Distance from middle of the strut fixation screw to the upper edge of the lower spring seat: 230-245mm

This is the tested and approved range which results in a lowering of approx. 20-50mm (.78" to 1.96")."

The fact that they were able and willing to answer all my questions even technical ones is one of the reasons I have pretty much made up my mind to go with the H&R's. I'm pretty sure Bilstein offers the same type of support. At least that is what I've read

 

I wasn't saying H&R is hard to difficult to deal with when it comes to warranty claims.

I was simply suggesting that warranty claims add to operating cost. Clearly, they are not loving that so much with the move to a 2 year warranty which is absolutely garbage. The last pair I purchased back in 2010 still had limited lifetime for the original owner. So, not sure if 2 years is the new policy or not since its about impossible to find the suspension warranty information on H&R site.

 

i agree, and even f it WERE based on pwdrs recommendations of them for "street" setup its really hard to see going wrong with the h&r's. bilsteins are sacrosanct and even oem for that matter so either will be fine. the 50mm drop is right where i'd wanna be. i suspect 40mm is all i'd be able to get from gt3 coils and that considered fairly low, esp for any street driven car! need to look at their ride height specs. i sure dont want to get any higher... well...

 

Fishey, ok, I get what you are saying I think you are correct about the warranty, I do believe they used to have a limited lifetime warranty. I wasn't really able to find the info on their website either so that is why I asked H&R directly (this was literally just a couple days ago). My understanding is that currently it's a 2 year warranty and that they will sell individual replacement dampers to original purchaser after the 2years. I read mixed things regarding the lifetime warranty and if I got it correctly even the lifetime warranty was against manufacturer defects only not wear and tear. But I understand your point that of course a lifetime would be better than 2 years.

Anyway, so this discussion caused me to take a look at the Bilstein PSS10 warranty just because I am really deciding between both of these kits Looks like the PSS10 does in fact still have a lifetime warranty. Is the 10 levels of adjustment plus limited lifetime warranty worth about a 1 grand difference....hmmmm...decisions.

The lifetime warranty does not cover wear and tear so not sure how that will work if 10 years from now you blow a shock?? Going back to the original point though it looks like Bilstein is still offering a lifetime warranty on their kits, so that's good news. Info here: http://www.bilsteinus.com/products/s...vice/warranty/

 

i dont think any warranty is going to cover the issue one might attempt to have them honor one for. simply a worn out damper/shock.

 

I agree, I think 2 years should be enough time to know if you got a defective set which seems like the only way you'd get a free replacement/repair anyway

 

Well its all done, PSS10's, Tarret drop links (f & r) and rear LCA thrust solid bushings are in.
Had a short drive and all seems really good, no knocking or unusual noises. Installer had them at set at 6 rear and 4 front but I felt they were a bit soft and I clicked them to 8 & 6 which seems to be just right for my driving style. Changing the settings was quite easy.

I am a little disappointed with Tarret as their front drop links were way too long and had to have them modified. My indy said he wasted a lot of time and in the end he had to cut them down by 30mm and re tapped them to the correct size. Not sure what happened here, maybe they sent me the wrong ones.

Having a full track day this Sunday and might set them a bit firmer for the track, it will be interesting to see how it all goes but car use is mainly daily driving and some spirited driving through the hills on weekends.

So far car feels very planted but quite compliant over harsh bumps.

I'll give them a better review in due course.

I just want to thank everyone's input (especially powdrhound & Timcloud) in helping out with advice and steering me in the right direction, its very much appreciated.

Anyway here is the new lower stance, about 15mm lower than ROW.



and the drop links with the vice marks to tap them

 

Pleasure Jimbo