Anyone here replace their shock/struts yet?

[32ValveRom]

Hey guys, I've been considering purchasing some new shock/struts for my 99 cobra. I was just wondering if there was anything extra I should know before I make my purchase. I'm actually trying to sacrifice ride quality for better ETs. Is there a particular brand I should be looking at?

 

[evil281]

some type of 5 or 10 way adjustables for track, maybe tockico or belstien are good brands

 

[PULMEOVR]

Also interested! Not to hijack, but could somebody recommend shocks/struts for my current suspension set-up?

 

[bhuff30]

There are a couple of different directions in this thread. Looks like the OP is looking for drag shocks/struts and the others are thinking about performance struts for the corners.

In my experience, the adjustable struts are generally too firm for drag racing, even on the softest setting. They are designed for the corners after all. It is fairly common to run very worn out struts in the front for drag racing, which are generally looser and will let the front end rise more when you launch. The downside is front end bounce. Hence, the 70/30 and 90/10 struts were invented to allow the front end to rise and stay up. To me, it looks like any of the major brands are good. A 70/30 would be much more street friendly, while the 90/10 might feel floaty and scary on the street.

The back isn't quite so important. It is common to see a 50/50 shock, but I'm not sure what's special about it. Keep in mind that you generally want a more firm rear suspension setup to plant the power, so a performance cornering shock may work well too.

However, I would argue that the best investment for ET is a set of sticky tires. Get some mickeys and be done with it until you want better than a 1.6-1.7 60' time. After all, the best rear suspension in the world is USELESS on regular street tires.

As for a performance cornering shock, probably the best you can get is Belstein or Koni. I ran Tokicos because they were much more reasonably priced and still a very good shock.

 

[StangYellow]

While you are in there, invest in some decent strut bushings for the top. They will be around 30 bucks, and it will help you from pulling it all apart 2wice.

 

[joshheat25]

I bought Tociko plain jane shocks and struts off of Stangsuspension.com for like 280 or something. They are nice shocks and struts... Anything was better than the ones I had on the car. It had 100K on it when I replaced them.

 

[Midnight2V]

+1 for plain jane Tokicos at all four corners. No loss in ride quality, very noticable improvement in handling. For me, they were a big boost for Autocross and SCCA.

They are non-adjustable, but the struts do change your front suspension geometry slightly due to being a different length. Make sure you get an alignment immediately after your install so you don't wear your tires out. If you have a non stock overall tire height you may need a set of caster/camber plates to put it back in spec.

 

[evil281]

i vote for the plain jane tockicos too, i love mine, ride great

 

[32ValveRom]

+1 for plain jane Tokicos at all four corners. No loss in ride quality, very noticable improvement in handling. For me, they were a big boost for Autocross and SCCA.

They are non-adjustable, but the struts do change your front suspension geometry slightly due to being a different length. Make sure you get an alignment immediately after your install so you don't wear your tires out. If you have a non stock overall tire height you may need a set of caster/camber plates to put it back in spec.

Yeah, actually my uncle told me to get an alignment after I put them in. I still have the stock tire size.

 

[32ValveRom]

i vote for the plain jane tockicos too, i love mine, ride great

I was just wondering how much you spent on your Tokicos.

 

[bhuff30]

The non-adjustable Tokicos are simply the 5 way adjustable tokicos permantely valved for setting '3'. I'd say they are a great value. I've been running the 5 way adjustable illumina for a long while. I found in normal driving, I would often set it to 1, and when I got to the track, 5. Definately, 3 is a nice compromise between ride quality and handling. These days, they are pretty much shot, so I run them on 5 and the front end is still a bit bouncy. Can't complain for 80k+ HARD miles.

Also, you *should* not need an alignment after changing struts. Even if the strut body is shorter, it will not significantly change the ride height or geometry. However, the 2 large attachment bolts to the spindles do allow a small bit of play which might change things slightly. Bottom line, an alignment isn't mandatory after changing struts, but it's not a bad idea to have the alignment checked every so often.

 

[evil281]

I was just wondering how much you spent on your Tokicos.

well i had my eibach prokit, tockicos, labor and alignment and tax exempt for 900 bucks

dont know what the breakdown on parts and labor was sorryPosted via Mobile Device

 

[isjoining]

tokico HP user here as well, great shocks/struts for the money. I spent $278 shipped for all 4 from brenspeed

 

[32ValveRom]

Cool, I'm gonna do that then