So_Cali

Hi all,

I recently purchased some Steeda Sport lowering springs. It's about that time to replace the shocks and struts on my car so I figure I'd kill 2 birds with one stone and do both. My question here, I don't want/need to spend the extra money on performance shocks (KONI, etc...) I like the ride of my OEM motorcrafts so would it be OK to replace my shocks/struts with them?

Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA

Derf00

The feel of your ride with OEM Struts/Shocks at stock ride height will be different than the feel of your ride with OEM struts/shocks at a lowered height.

OEM struts/shocks are valved (calibrated) to work with the OEM ride height. 1-1.25 inches in drop shouldn't be too big of a deal so your ride feel may not change too much if you stick with the OEM struts/shocks, just don't be surprised if you do feel a difference.

So_Cali

I'm guessing it won't be as ... "floaty" i guess is the word? I figure it wouldn't be the same as stock, what I DON'T want is the harshness of a stiffer shock/strut, I'm not looking for that as my car is mainly street/highway driven.

With that, I've already purchased camber bolts. Should I upgrade strut mounts or can i get away with the stock ones?

2011V6Nicole

its gonna be harsher with oem shocks and struts....when I first lowered my car I only did the springs and kept the factory shocks/struts....that was a mistake. I recently got a set of koni shocks/struts and it made the ride alot better....its still stiff but it isn't nearly as bouncy/harsh as it was when the oem shocks were still on there. I would vote for the upgrade.

So_Cali

I was talking about replacing them all at once, both installing the springs and a new set of OEM shocks/struts.

I went through the same thing on my 06' when I installed my Pro-kit, I had left the OEM shocks on and instantly regretted it. I figure the OEMs had already been adjusted to the OEM spring rate leading to the harsh ride. Since this'll be a brand new set of OEM shocks going on, I wonder if I'll have the same result.

UPRSharad

I would recommend the Strange 10-way adjustable shocks and struts so you can dial them in to your liking. They aren't very expensive. (Only $460/set at UPR Products)

jRaskell

In all likelihood, it will be the same result. The harshness is more a result of the shocks not be adequate to damp the additional springrate of the lowering springs. The end result is you spend more time on the bump stops which is the real source of harsh rides (until you get into seriously high spring rates).

For the record, I don't find my suspension even remotely harsh. I would simply describe it as firm and stable. And I'm on Ultralites.

Then again, my opinion of the OEM shocks is that they are absolute garbage for any sort of performance vehicle.

Norm Peterson

Hitting the bump stops is only partly due to the shocks/struts not having sufficient bump damping. The rest of it is that many "lowering springs" don't fully make up for their lower ride height with enough spring rate.

Harshness is somewhat more involved, and has a lot to do with the internal valving of the shocks and struts in question. Two different shocks can offer similar handling and ride quality over good pavement, with one of them being much harsher over broken pavement, concrete expansion joints, and similar sharp changes in pavement contour.

It's the rebound side where any sensation of "floatiness" comes from. Here, the rebound damping is not sufficient to control the higher spring rate, so the car tends to "overshoot" in the upward direction further with the new and stiffer springs than it did with the softer OE springs.

This is a "percent of critical damping" matter, where any given amount of shock damping drops to a lower %critical damping when it is forced to work with a stiffer spring. Depending on the car and the springs in question, a lower % critical damping can produce a softer ride, though with less spring control. That's assuming that there's still enough damping to prevent at least some of the bump stop contact . . . or any topping out of the suspension either.


Hope that helps.


Norm

Sam Strano

The absolute worst for harshness are worn OEM dampers, followed by not so worn OEM dampers.

Koni STR.T's are pretty cost effective, have decent rebound damping (better than Bilstein IMHO) and a lifetime warranty. It would be wise to consider upgrading those, especially if the car has any miles on it for the long term.

Shocks and struts are dampers. They aren't springs. Crappy shocks can ride really badly, even new ones because they are valved poorly. Which is the same thing that makes older shocks not ride so well, the valving isn't good. Mostly on the compression side to deal with the unsprung weight. The lack of rebound damping just results in a floaty, kind of vague feel.

808muscle

I have the Strange 10 way adjustables. Great ride and very easy to adjust.