How do I re-valve struts?

[ArokASE88LXi]

I've been looking a lot lately at lowering the 86 and so far i'm attracted to the low spring rate of something like the neuspeeds or the H&R's. i've never re-valved a strut and was wondering if someone could explain it with a little more detail.

[Joay]

You don't. You send them back to the manufacturer along with lots of money and they do it. You'd need a lot of specialized equipment to do it yourself.

[MessyHonda]

or you can buy some bilstein and get them revalved

[markmdz89hatch]

as Joay said, that's better left to a professional. Many shocks have a fully welded body which, in most cases, are as good as garbage once they're blown, or once you go with too-stiff springs on them.

Messy mentioned the Billsteins. That's a good route to consider, but be prepared to fork over a heavy coin for that. ...but at the moment, unless you go with the K-Sports or D2 coilover setups, that's your only option.

[ArokASE88LXi]

Ahh yes perhaps i should have read the first post of the first stickied thread huh? ha ha :nuts:

I guess i just thought it was something that could be done without too much hassle. The guys on my racing team used to re-build and valve the penske's on our pro truck. but now i see that those are designed to be re-built and such.

ya i've been looking at the bilsteins i've always regarded bilsteins as being rather exceptional. And the Koni's from what I gathered are not manufactured anymore I would need to buy them used then have them re-valved is this correct? from what i've found from searching and the afformentioned sticky thread the bilsteins bought and re-valved are around $850-$950 for all four which is definetely gonna wait lol but i'm still in the planning stage for my 86 so i've got time.

could you elaborate on the D2 coil-over setup such as where to buy and your own opinions on how well they perform? and mark i've read a lot of your posts on the spring rate versus the capaility of the shock and i was very impressed and learned quite a bit from it (i never really knew about the different spring rates for the springs as well as the shocks). I'm the type that will sit and pour over different specs like that for hours tryin to find a perfect combination. Anyway my goal for the future is about 2" drop cause i live on about a mile of dirt road before the highway and don't wanna go too low. but i wanna have a really well handling system that's not real stiff such as the loosest lowering springs and really great shocks like the bilsteins.

thanks for the answers!!

[Joay]

Koni Reds are adjustable and AFAIK they don't need to be revalved for any springs you can currently buy. But like you said they're discontinued. Better deal to just get some coilovers now that they're making them again.

[w261w261]

If you live on a gravel road, I'd go with less than a 2" drop. You'll pay for that amount in increased harshness, IMO.

I have revalved Bilsteins/Eibachs. Check message #9 on this thread:
http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49931&highlight=bilstein . Or, search Bilstein and there's a million posts. The important thing though, is to match the damping of the shock with the rate of the spring. That's why I say don't reinvent the wheel...do what others have done here and you'll be happier.

[markmdz89hatch]

Koni Reds are adjustable and AFAIK they don't need to be revalved for any springs you can currently buy. But like you said they're discontinued. Better deal to just get some coilovers now that they're making them again.

Except for the B&G's and the GroundControl sleeve c/o's.

[ArokASE88LXi]

Except for the B&G's and the GroundControl sleeve c/o's.

Ya i bought some coil-overs off ebay awhile back for like $40 lol when they came i took one look at them and they're still sitting in my attic. the front spring is half of stock size. it looks pretty cheap to me but it may be worth a try if i get bored who knows. did you mean they're making coil-overs for our cars again? is there a better coil-over kit i could get? I've got some pretty new Gr2's all around on it now so it might not be too hard on em. as for the gravel road it's only a mile long and i can drive slow and easy till i get to the hwy (maybe if i can stop my right foot from spasming on the damn accelerator!)

[markmdz89hatch]

The only aftermarket spring I would be comfortable running with a GR-2 is the Eibach SP's in the rear only. And even then, I'd only do it if I didn't have any money to buy a better setup.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can still get no-name brand c/o's on ebay pretty cheap, and I know you can still get the G/C setup. Aside from that, the K-Sport/D2's have been significantly improving their quality in recent years, so I would consider them as well. At least you have a better idea that you're getting a properly matched pair of shocks and springs.

The main problem I've seen with the el-cheapo ebay brand sleeve style c/o's is their spring rate. Unlike what I originally expected, these springs are STIFF as hell. Last time I checked, the DZ's (dropzones) were somewhere around 600+ lbs in the front and something high for the rear as well. ...only thing that concerns me with them (aside from having to pay out the ass for a shock revalving because there's no option out there that can handle that rate from the factory) is the quality of the aluminum (or other metals) they're using. Can they stand up to the beating of a daily driven, or raced setup.

[ArokASE88LXi]

Ya i'll look into the ksport/d2 setup i'm not looking to change anything just yet i'm still in the planning stage i just want to make sure i get a good combination as you said.

Mark your pm's are full so heres what i said about those shocks you wanted....

Sure I'm all for it. Just let me know what you want for 'em and if you're willing to sit on 'em for a few because funds are pretty tight for me right now, especially with trying to get the car running for the meet in less than 2 months.[/QUOTE]


Dude i'll give them to ya for the shipping cost if there's a chance of using them to get us some more aftermarket support then well great! You want the springs too? i don't have a spring compressor that'll work for these but i can be inventive and getting them off would cut down on shipping cost so whatever you need let me know. and i can sit on them quite awhile so don't worry about that!

[markmdz89hatch]

ok, PM box is all set now. I just can't keep that damn thing from filling up.

While we're learning that the KSport/D2 setups are actually pretty damn good now, and we lack any other full c/o options right now, I *think* we may have another option in a bit. If you wanted to go with traditional shock/spring setup, you have many other options regarding stiffness and valving (with the coordination of Billstein of course).

[Joay]

FWIW, revalved Bilsteins + Neuspeed springs are stiff as hell and don't bounce one bit. If you've got the cheese I'd recommend that even before D2 or KSport, if adjustability isn't a big deal to you.