Affordable coilovers?

[Superjoe]

I've only found a $2,000 set of coilovers so far. Anybody know of any close to $1000? I wanted to get the Hotchkis 1" springs and the bilstein shocks, which comes to about $700. Unfortunately its not ride-height adjustable and I swore to myself that I would not have a non adjustable suspension setup again. Any input would be awesome, thanks! Oh, it's a '00 Trans Am WS6 by the way.

[Injuneer]

One option would be the QA1/HAL shocks. Their 12-way adjustables for the 4th Gen front offer ride height adjustment. Spohn make a coil-over kit for the rear incorporating these shocks. I don't think the QA1's are anywhere near the Bilsteins for street use, but they are good for drag use.

http://www.spohn.net/category.cfm?categoryid=1203

[soCalTA]

What if any are the advantages of coilovers vs the stock setup? Also how long are springs and shocks usually good for? I have Bils and Hotchkis that have to be at least six to eight years old.

[Superjoe]

Well, springs lifespan is probably more in the range of ten to fifteen years, but realistically they don't really wear out. They can start to creep after a while which is where they start to permanently take on the shape that they are at, i.e. compressed in your car. How long it takes for this to happen depends on the quality of the steel that the spring is made of, and how much it can be compressed before it reaches it's creep threshold.

Shocks on the other hand are a different story. Assuming the valves are in good shape (not leaking underneath the car), they should be fine. A general way to check the quality of the shocks is to get to about five miles an hour in a parking lot and apply heavy braking force to stop the car (hard enough to get the nose to dive). If the nose continues to bob up and down after you stop, they should be replaced. If it quickly settles into position they're probably fine.

[soCalTA]

ok .. good info ..thanks ....

[NorthernSS]

Check out www.shox.com They were the place I was going to get my ground control from, but I backed out at the last minute due to cost. But I should have done it. They carry alot of different products and have very competetive pricing. I talked to them a couple of times and they were very helpfull and very easy to deal with. Email for a quote, because they gave me a better price than they had listed on their website. Here's mostly some of the stuff they carry:
http://www.shox.com/appguide/shoxsho...ctsdisplay.php

[joshp14]

Ground Control makes an excellent Coil over kit...

http://www.ground-control.com/

WS6store.com sells them. It doesn't include shocks so you can get whichever shocks you want and specify which shocks you will be using when ordering.

[Injuneer]

The Spohn kit includes a reinforcing plate for the sheet metal that the upper rear shock mount attaches to. This needs to be welded in. He claims that part of the body is not designed to carry the full weight of the rear of the car, as it will have to do with the spring on the shock. Indications are that other brand kits without the reinforcing plates have experienced failures of the body sheet metal at the top mounting point, under heavy loads.