[moosestang]

Figures the upper bolt is smaller diameter than the lower one. Lower bolt is 12mm, upper looks like 10.

shock fits good, it's definitely harder to compress than the stock shocks. My only concern would be the new shocks being slightly longer with a shorter lowering spring.

Upper mount is indeed 32mm, the spacer that come with the shock work fine on the lower mount, a little tight getting the second one in.

 

[moosestang]

ordered some 12mm to 10mm reducer bushings for the upper mount.

 

[moosestang]

The stock length shocks have enough travel toward collapse that the shocks never bottom before something else hits...first the bump stops then the tires hitting the liners. The merit of the Koni's is that the dampening is adjustable, and that they are of high quality. I'm sure more shock manufacturers will start to offer replacements soon.

I'm bringing this back to life, because I believe my shocks are bottoming out. I replaced the factory bumpstop with an energy suspension bumpstop and would get a sharp jolt when hitting a steep rise in the road while turning. Either the factory shocks do not have the travel you think or my springs were bottoming out. I measured the shocks at ride height and it looks like they are at 11.5 inches, which only leaves 1 inch or travel. This would only give .5 inches of travel with the stock shocks.

I put the stock bumpstops back in along with the energy suspension bumpstops. I cut the stock down to the plastic, the plastic is hollow, so I would have about 1 inch of travel before the bumpstops hit each other. this has cured the hard jolt that feels like metal hitting metal, but of course the ride is more bumpy, because the bumpstops are now hitting. People running stock shocks with Neu-f springs must be bottoming out the shocks all the time.

I kinda wish the Neu-f springs were a little stiffer. Does anyone know if the Koni shocks are shorter than stock?

I'm going to take out the springs and see which hits first, the shocks bottoming out or the tires hitting the inner fenders, my moneys on shocks.

 

[moosestang]

stock shocks are 10 inches compressed, for anyone looking for that info in the future. Looks like that extra .5 inches makes a difference. It still rides good the way i have it set up, but I'd like a shock that is around 9 inches compressed.

 

[moosestang]

I'm no longer posting new threads in this forum, but I felt I should update this one. The kyb's I had weren't short enough and I didn't really like the koni's, not enough compression damping. I think the koni's would work better with a stiffer spring.

So I took another shot with some kyb's for a 84-87 corvette! These shocks are stiffer than any i've tried and I like the ride with the neuspeed springs. They are 9.6 inches compressed and 14.33 extended, so I gained almost 1/2 inch or travel over stock or the Konis. I was expecting a harsh ride, but it's much better than I expected. I had to cut the washers off the stock top bolt, the bushing sleeves are longer on these shocks, so I needed the extra thread depth and I had to shim both upper and lower bushings with 16-12mm for the bottom and 12mm-10mm for the top. Still it was only $80 for everthing on amazon.com. If anyone wants to try these, they are kyb KG5564. You could also cut the upper bushing sleever shorter, but I didn't want to modify the shock until I was sure I liked them. They also double as a sway bar, yes they are stiff. this pic is at ride height. I took out the upper and lower spring isolators.

 

[lower byhalia]

Excellent find, as I refuse to invest mucho dinero in my rearend also.
Where (exactly) did you source the specific reducer bushings?
Thanks much.

 

[moosestang]

Excellent find, as I refuse to invest mucho dinero in my rearend also.
Where (exactly) did you source the specific reducer bushings?
Thanks much.

These are the ones I used for the lower mount, only ones I could find that went from 16mm down to 12mm. I used 2 on each lower shock mount and they worked great. A little expensive I thought, but they shipped them free and priority mail in 2 days from TX, so half of the cost must be shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXGTZQU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are a lot of different length 12mm-10mm bearing sleeves. I believe I used the 15mm ones here.

http://www.amazon.com/Length-Silver...ie=UTF8&qid=1412342412&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=12mm+x+10mm+plain+sleeve+bearing

 

[moosestang]

Excellent find, as I refuse to invest mucho dinero in my rearend also.
Where (exactly) did you source the specific reducer bushings?
Thanks much.

do you have a sway bar on your car? I all ready had the ST suspension sway bar installed when I put these shocks on, but after putting the KG5564 shocks on it cut what sway i did have in half. It stays so flat in corners now, it's nuts. I doubt these shocks are optimal for my setup, but they are cheap and ride very good for being so stiff.

 

[lower byhalia]

lWell first off, forget about the shocks I mentioned from ebay earlier in this thread. TOO soft.
I have the Big Red Bar setup that will be upgraded to the CPR 28mm Bar.
Looking forward to the shocks.

 

[moosestang]

I think with both upper and lower spring isolators removed, I'm at 2.5 inches in the back. so anyone wanting to lower the rear of their car .5 inches, just take out the isolators.

 

[chop]

youre amazing. thanks for doing this research. im going to do the same thing. i just sourced nissan maxima rear springs for my 500e. they are almost the same exact dimensions as the 500e stock rear spring (dam near exact inside and outside diameter), just slightly shorter in free length and a higher spring rate (to account for the 500e's extra weight). hopefully this gives us 500e guys a slightly lower ride

 

[RNDDUDE]

youre amazing. thanks for doing this research. im going to do the same thing. i just sourced nissan maxima rear springs for my 500e. they are almost the same exact dimensions as the 500e stock rear spring (dam near exact inside and outside diameter), just slightly shorter in free length and a higher spring rate (to account for the 500e's extra weight). hopefully this gives us 500e guys a slightly lower ride

Definitely let us know about this, pictures would be nice, too. Running the cut down stock rear springs is the one thing I wish I could find a better solution too, as the cut ends do not seat very accurately with the isolators on either end.

 

[chop]

Definitely let us know about this, pictures would be nice, too. Running the cut down stock rear springs is the one thing I wish I could find a better solution too, as the cut ends do not seat very accurately with the isolators on either end.

will do! if it works out, its a cheap set of springs too. only cost me 75bucks shipped...now the waiting game

 

[moosestang]

Definitely let us know about this, pictures would be nice, too. Running the cut down stock rear springs is the one thing I wish I could find a better solution too, as the cut ends do not seat very accurately with the isolators on either end.

Remove the isolators!

Chop, if you install the corvette shocks, let us know what you think. I think they are great for a lowered fiat, keeps me from bottoming out on the bumpstops and still rides good. sharp bumps can be harsh, but everything else is pretty decent ride wise. Be sure to cut some material of the upper mount and don't get it hot or it could melt the bushing.

 

[chop]

Remove the isolators!

Chop, if you install the corvette shocks, let us know what you think. I think they are great for a lowered fiat, keeps me from bottoming out on the bumpstops and still rides good. sharp bumps can be harsh, but everything else is pretty decent ride wise. Be sure to cut some material of the upper mount and don't get it hot or it could melt the bushing.

cut material off hte upper mount of the shock right? im guessing you didnt take pics of this part

 

[moosestang]

cut material off hte upper mount of the shock right? im guessing you didnt take pics of this part

The upper bushing sleeve is 42mm, stock is 32mm. I didn't cut mine shorter, instead I cut the two washers off the upper mount bolt so it would go futher into the hole. I had planned to go back and cut a few millimeters off each side of the sleeve, but never did.

 

[chop]

The upper bushing sleeve is 42mm, stock is 32mm. I didn't cut mine shorter, instead I cut the two washers off the upper mount bolt so it would go futher into the hole. I had planned to go back and cut a few millimeters off each side of the sleeve, but never did.

ah thanks for the pointer. since mine is a lease, im not gonna cut anything off the upper mount. and the shocks are cheap enough for me to just go ahead and cut the bushing sleeve instead. woo, cant wait

 

[lower byhalia]

I have the shocks Moosestang suggested also.
I did cut one level of my Norcal bumpstops.
VERY pleased on my Pop using these shocks with the 2.5 Madness on rear.

 

[moosestang]

I have the shocks Moosestang suggested also.
I did cut one level of my Norcal bumpstops.
VERY pleased on my Pop using these shocks with the 2.5 Madness on rear.

I cut 2 levels off the prothane bump stops I have and on the biggest dip on the interstate, it's a huge/deep drepression from some sort of road construction, it still doesn't hit the bump stops, but the tires do rub the inner fenders a little after removing the spring isolators. before these shocks it would hit the bumpstops hard!

 

[chop]

these shocks are awesome. stiffened up the rear so much. thanks again moosetang. i did the same as you and just cut the washers off the top shock bolt since i was lazy heh. the **** 12-10mm sleeve bearings took forever to come from HK though. just a warning for those who go this route. think it took 11 days from ordering to arrive