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94 shock question

T

tom94vette

Guest
Hey all,

My 94 rides extremely harsh over bumps. sometimes I think its going to fall apart. I have the tires inflated to 31 lbs. The manual says 30. I have 44000 miles on my car.

My question is..is it time to change the shocks or do they make a softer shock i can put on. I dont have the FX3 suspension.

Thanks

Tom
 
shocks

try the bounce test on your front end stand over the wheel and bounce it acouple of times from the hood when u let go it should go down and up once and then stop.If it continues to bounce time to change shocks also do visual inspection and check for gas leaking out if the look wet replace them .
 
Shocking question!

Tom, Are you the original owner? Is it a Z07 optioned car?

I'm thinking someone may have swapped the stock shocks for some stiffer Bilstien's for autocrossing or something and left them on the car when they sold it.

Stock shocks were the yellow Bilstien's also, but a softer valving was used.

If you take your wheel off, you may be able to see a serial number on the bottom end of the shock tube. If you call Bilstien directly, they may be able to tell you what valving you have, and if it is the stock shock.

I cannot find the phone number to Bilstein right now, but, one of there tech guys has e-mail at the following address:
hindorff_b@bilstein.com his name is Bill Hindorff
might want to give that a try

If your car has the Z07 package, it should be quite stiff.

good luck,

P.S.- I'm looking for some stiffer shocks for my 96, same fit as a 94.
 
Tom,do you have run flats on your 94? I had them on my 95 they rode rough.Replaced them it was like a different car. Chuck
 
Good point chuck.

My GSC's ran rough, changed to Firestone Firehawks and the ride was noticably more comfortable.
 
Fastglass is right on that count. I replaced the GSCs with Firehawks and noticed smoother, quieter, better handling.

I have question on the air pressure though. On my92 the sticker in the door says 35lbs all the way around. On a 94 it says 30lbs? I don't understand that. The 94 came with GSCs too. Why the discrepency on the tire pressure?
Graham
 
Strange.....

Hi all.....New to the neighborhood.

My 1992 vette (convt.) has 30psi front/30 psi rear on the door sticker. Any thoughts out there on the discrepency?
 
I'm kind of curious. In regards to the discrepancy in tire pressures, are any of the cars Z07 equipped?
 
nope, I have the "soft ride" (how did that happen???) option. I wish I had the stiffer suspension.
 
I can field that one...

A "run flat" is a type of tire that was designed to not go flat even if it has no air. In other words, you can keep running on it even if it has been punctured, hence "run flat." With those tires, Chevy did not have to put spare tires in the cars. The down side is that they are a bit heavier, and have stiff sidewalls. The sidewalls help achieve the ability to run with no air, but also makes for a harsher ride.

-mIke
 
Thanks mike for the clarification. I running stock goodyears though. However, I found out that TPIS makes a revalved shock that is supposed to provide better handling AND a smoother ride. I soaks up the small bumps but is more firm around corners. So they say. but for 139.00 for 4 its worth a shot. I'll let you know how they work after i get them and put them on.

tom
 
tom94vette said:
for 139.00 for 4 its worth a shot. I'll let you know how they work after i get them and put them on.

tom

$139.00 for four shocks is a bargin price! (on a Corvette anyway)
Sounds like "digressive valving technology" in the re-valved shocks. Please let us know how it turns out if you do get these installed.

Bilstiens shocks are around $80/each
QA1 / HAL's adjustables are $140/each
Penske shocks, "if you have to ask, you can't afford them"

Good luck,
 
Penske shocks?? Are you talking coil-overs, or is that a whole new level of finance?

I put new Bilstiens (stock replacements) on a couple months ago. They helped, but I still want to firm up my ride more. Maybe we should swap shocks and springs. :D
 
Topless,

I can't imagine why anyone would want to firm up the suspension even more stiff than it already is. In fact, my suspension is so stiff that it makes my car handle worse.

When I'm deep into a fast turn and my rear hits bumps, the rear of my car chatters and causes my car to lose surface contact and slides out. If the suspension was softer, it would soak those bumps up and keep the tires on the pavement.

Extremely stiff suspension is only good on completely smooth surfaces and not ideal for streat use. I race motorcycles and find the same to be true with them.

On the track my bike gets its suspension set very stiff, but on the street I can adjust my suspension to soften it up. Bikes have fully adjustable suspension for preload, rebound and compression damping. If its set too stiff on the street, the bikes tires will lose contact with the pavement on bumps and cause the bike to slide. The same goes with my vette.

On the street, softer suspension is better. I'll let you know how the TPIS shocks work after I install them.

Tom
 
Well.

Actually, I get a lot of bounce out of mine. "whoopdy-doos" on the freeway run my suspension from top to bottom. Instead of soaking up the bumps, it is like being on a trampoline. I have scraped the bottom on the freeway doing 80, not a comforting feeling. (Scared the snot out of the mini van behind me that night when the sparks shot out from under me!) I just feel like sometimes I am cruising in a baby buggy. The new Bilsteins helped, but it still bounces more than I would like.

-Mike
 
Wow, its really that bad Mike?? Hmmm, I wonder if maybe your springs are shot. When I'm on the highway doing 80+ and I hit dips like that it feels as if my car comes right up off the ground. I know I've definetely been airborne once or twice. No woops at all, and I have just the regular standard suspension package. I'm certainly no expert at corvette suspension but I'd have those springs checked out.

Tom
 
Z07 ??

Tom,

Are you sure you don't have the "Z07" package on your 94??
This package has the stiffer SPRINGS than the standard FE3.
There is a 3 letter code on one of the spring ends of each spring. the stiffer one should be "FSK" on the front and "NYU" on the rear.
Standard "soft ride" codes would be "FSS" or "FSR" on front spring and "NYR" or "RCA" on the rear.

There is also a long GM part number located there (about 8 digits long). My GM parts book only goes up to 1993 right now.

Seems to me that having too stiff of a spring would make the end of the car want to skip out over rough pavement. Kinda dance across it.

I agree with "topless", I also want a stiffer ride. I have been researching and looking for these stiffer springs at swap meets and junk yards with no luck yet.

Hope the new shocks help some.
 
A thought

Tom, has your vette been lowered? I just finished lowering mine last night. It seems to have taken a bit of the bounce out of it. I am having it re-aligned today, so I will report more on the ride difference this weekend.

I have thought about new springs....maybe in the spring. (no pun intended)
 
Mike,

No, my vette is as stock as they come, accept for the stereo. Maybe it's just all the damn road construction causing bumps and holes. I dunno, anyway the TPIS shocks are supposed to be "custom" valved to your particular year vette, each year being valved differently (supposedly) and TPIS says that they actually shaved off time on their autocross with these shocks.

We'll see.

Tom
 

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