Thread: choosing correct coilovers

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How do you choose the correct coilover for a perticular car? By total vehicle weight? Please help.

Have the car weighed or weigh it your self for a total weight, then weigh the front end, then the rearend( both with you in the car). Once you have the figures then you'll need to figure out ride height you want to achieve for shock length...then it becomes a matter of whether you want a soft ride or performance ride which is dependent upon spring #rate/length for both front and rear.
I experimented with different spring rates on my Cobra roadster @ 2250 # overall weight, using QA-1 adjustable shocks front and rear, running a sbf . I finally went with 400# 8" fronts and 600# 8" rears. The car rode "hard" with this setup on the street but handled like a dream on the track....and gave the proper "look".
Hope this helps... once you know the weights, ride height a search on-line or contact with the tech dept. of the shock you plan on running will really help

Shock angle changes the spring rate, too. Here's a chart from Speedway that might help you.

Dave that is a great chart. I have been through speedways paper catalog and never saw that before. I always wondered how to figure the shock angle into the equation. I am assuming the same formula would apply to the damping rate of shocks.

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

Dave that is a great chart. I have been through speedways paper catalog and never saw that before. I always wondered how to figure the shock angle into the equation. I am assuming the same formula would apply to the damping rate of shocks.

Don't know if it's the same amount of dampening change vs. shock angle....I do use it for a guide on non-coilover rear ends when selecting shocks, seems to work fairly well on shocks, too.