Coilover decision fatigue - would love a recommendation

[Mike_ZN6]

I decided to go with the SS-1 on my car. They have performed great and they do not feel any harsher than stock. It is hard to argue with KW suspension for $1,500!

RCE is also local if you are in VA. They provide awesome support.

[jkamelo]

Originally Posted by Mike_ZN6

I decided to go with the SS-1 on my car. They have performed great and they do not feel any harsher than stock. It is hard to argue with KW suspension for $1,500!

RCE is also local if you are in VA. They provide awesome support.

Yep - at the end of the day, I decided to go with RCE over CSG solely because RCE is local. It was super close!

[jflogerzi]

You really can not go wrong with either choice imo. Enjoy

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[TommyW]

LOL at the girlfriend approval comments. Don’t marry these women, it will only get worse..

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by TommyW

LOL at the girlfriend approval comments. Don’t marry these women, it will only get worse..

Now you tell us!

[M0nk3y]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

ALL dampers, zero exceptions, need regular rebuilds to maintain peak performance.

Dampers work by controlling motion, by pushing oil through controlled passages. This oil wears out, and needs changing, just how your engine, transmission, and differential all need oil changes.

+1000

Not only the oil inside, shims which control the oil flow wear down and valving dynamics also will change as the shims wear. In addition, the shaft guide (which surrounds the shaft and seals the shock) wears down overtime due to McPherson front suspension and lateral load it sees. Add dirt and grime these seals break down, thus contaminating the oil and causing increased wear. Shaft plate on a lateral plane will increase when shaft guides wear down and need to be addressed as well.

$400/rebuild is cheap. My shocks cost $250/shock + Material + Shipping. It's expensive, but if you want to maintain performance out of the shock it's a maintenance interval item. No way around it

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Do shock manufacturers have a suggested service interval? Or even a chart of time/miles vs. degradation?

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Do shock manufacturers have a suggested service interval? Or even a chart of time/miles vs. degradation?

If you want to maintain peak track performance, most coilovers will need rebuilds every 25-50 race hours, or 15k miles.

A more relaxed interval is 30-60k miles.

Stock dampers degrade on track in less than 5 hours, and by 20 hours, are typically dead. The degredation is gradual, and is usually not noticed by less experienced drivers, but the moment they go from old stock dampers to a fresh set (found easily on facebook, etc., from folks who buy the car and immediately put on coilovers), they realize how degraded their old dampers are.

[M0nk3y]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Do shock manufacturers have a suggested service interval? Or even a chart of time/miles vs. degradation?

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

If you want to maintain peak track performance, most coilovers will need rebuilds every 25-50 race hours, or 15k miles.

A more relaxed interval is 30-60k miles.

Stock dampers degrade on track in less than 5 hours, and by 20 hours, are typically dead. The degredation is gradual, and is usually not noticed by less experienced drivers, but the moment they go from old stock dampers to a fresh set (found easily on facebook, etc., from folks who buy the car and immediately put on coilovers), they realize how degraded their old dampers are.

From my experience, my shocks (Motion Control 2-Way External Reservoir) were sent in at 15k miles. The front guide shafts were the biggest issue, and needed to be replaced. The shims were actually in excellent condition however which even surprised them. They said I "could" have extended maybe another season, but they agreed a rebuild was substantiated.

I run Eibach Spring dust boots which I think contributes to maintaining a good seal around the shock and restricting dust and dirt that may compromise the seals. I'll be due at the end of 2021 for another rebuild cycle.

[Racecomp Engineering]

It does depend on the shock as well.

Higher end motorsports shocks are typically designed to be rebuilt more frequently, in part due to lower friction being an important design criteria.

- Andrew

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Do shock manufacturers have a suggested service interval? Or even a chart of time/miles vs. degradation?

Yes.

Bilstein is going to be your longest life option, 100k street miles is pretty typical, iirc you certainly see them degrade before that (might've been spec miata guys getting rebuilds every season or two before they switched to Penske?), but they are not aggressive shocks as they come off the shelf targeting a more street compliant ride. They used to have a crazy warranty but I can't find it any more so they might have backed off on that.

Which, OP didn't want a race damper anyway.

Ohlins is ~20k street miles, and 10-20 race hours as mike said is pretty common. You can google that one as I found it in a pdf I won't link.

I found Feal reccommending 50k street miles or 1,000 track miles;
https://fealsuspension.com/coilover-services/


Too many factors to actually chart degradation effectively, the guy playing rally hero on a dirt backroad probably wears his dampers out faster then a track rat miata that's kept extremely clean and well inspected and is run on tracks with nice smooth pavement.