fitting koni inserts to gm struts guide vn/vz

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Ok guys so we are making them from gm struts, few questions these are the two options that koni is giving me?

 

Also noticed the pedders are actually shorter in the body should I be replicating this thanks

 

 

 

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

1439’s are what I use.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Thanks once again kind sir…

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

ok so building coilovers from gm struts anyone interested in me writing it up and pics?

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Out of interest this is why I went away from the pedders coilovers

 

Look at the mounting point its only welded on the front face. I had seen them cracking here from load. Another issue is the tube thickness…  2mm and where its threaded 1mm tube no good as well.

 

pedder vs gm(monroe)

 

 

The genuine holden  struts are 4mm tube the whole thing.  The bracing is full wrap around with folds for strength. So you have two compunding issues with the pedders thin tube and badly designed bracing for the mounting points putting too much load on the one spot thats already thin..

 

 

Holden bracing

 

 

• This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by  sands vs.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by  sands vs.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

So then thats why we are starting from scratch making coilovers from gm struts.

[SurfwagonParticipant HSV Z Senator LS2 View build HERE Member since: July 24, 2015 Posts: 25]

Clever thinking Sands.

Those Pedders look so flimsy in comparison.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Cheers Mate, we try to look at things from a durability and engineering perspective. Ill post up pics as we make them .

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Here’s a set we prepared earlier  :XD:

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Man they look awesome nice job mate.

 

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

sands vs wrote:

Man they look awesome nice job mate.

Thanks Sands, I’m happy how they came out, what Pedders seemed to forget the strut bodies are a structural member in a McStrut front end and aren’t just shock absorbers….

[benkParticipant Sydney View build HERE Member since: August 23, 2015 Posts: 85]

Anonymous wrote:

Here’s a set we prepared earlier

Looks great! Are they height adjustable into the base or just welded into it?

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Lowers are just stock Holden Ben, just added a sleeve kit and the Koni inserts.

[Dan811Participant SE Melbourne02 Monaro M6 LS1 View build HERE Member since: March 4, 2015 Posts: 124]

I recently put pedderx XA coilovers on the Monaro (vt-vz design), and whilst i am skeptical about their choice of spring rate, i did notice that the mounts were still quite strong, very different from the ones in your first picture???

They must have changed their design, as the ones i bought had a relatively thick mount section (they call it a clevis), it must have been at least 2-3mm thick, maybe not 4 but still thick enough.

I’ll also note that pedders as a company were useless to deal with, they had very little product knowledge and their alignment was crap. But the coilover as a unit seemed much stronger than the eBay specials i saw.

 

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Yeah the original coil over was made by pedders themselves. The reason why they have no knowledge is that they dont make them anymore. Not that I have ever been thrilled with their tech support anyway.

 

 

The ones you have are a decent design nothing like my early ones.  Your best bet would be to contact bc racing they(pedders) just buy them from them and pass them off as theirs.  You could just change springs to a better pound that suits you

 

 

There is an australian distrubutor

 

http://www.bc-racing.com.au/catalogsearch/result/?q=commodore

• This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by  sands vs.

[Dan811Participant SE Melbourne02 Monaro M6 LS1 View build HERE Member since: March 4, 2015 Posts: 124]

awesome thanks for that mate, i’ve been looking into changing the springs out.

The truth is i’m still running standard swaybars, (next on my list) and after taking them up numerous mountain roads, the hardest i’ve run them is 10 on the rear and 7 on the front (out of 30 settings) and it still can be upset by bumps. You might be tempted to use anything up to 20 on a smooth racetrack. Even with all set on 1 the ride is a little jiggly on the road, and on 20 it’s pretty unbearable. What on earth you would ever use 30 for is beyond me.

Putting stiffer swaybars will compound the problem, which is why I haven’t gone down that road as yet. You’d think there’d be spring options available, but pedders just shrug their shoulders… Morons…

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Softer shock settings and stiffer bars is the way to go, bars won’t add a lot to the vertical rate..

When Sands said about the 4mm he wasn’t talking about the Clevis he meant the Shock Tubes.

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Just put a whiteline sway bar on mine makes a huge difference……

[Dan811Participant SE Melbourne02 Monaro M6 LS1 View build HERE Member since: March 4, 2015 Posts: 124]

Anonymous wrote:

Softer shock settings and stiffer bars is the way to go, bars won’t add a lot to the vertical rate..  

I think this is the best way to go, it’s hard compromising at the moment.

Stiffening the rear helps turn-in and keeps the balance pretty neutral, stiffening the front and rear together helps with body roll. But when the rear in particular is stiffer than 5-6, It becomes a bit skittish getting power down out of corners.

As a note to anyone reading this, this is what i would do next time: put koni strut inserts into your existing struts, use factory FE2 springs (unless you want to go lower, it’s your prerogative, but FE2 is a pretty decent balance between comfortable and sharp), and adjustable sway bars. Then use sway bar setttings to adjust front and rear balance with your shock settings.

I wish i’d done that the first time around….

[sands vsParticipant vs commodore View build HERE Member since: March 1, 2015 Posts: 619]

Its funny you say that I just raised mine from superlow to low best thing I have ever done. Ill do the konis soon .The way to car, drives and rides is transformed. The other thing most people don’t consider is the effect it has on suspension geometry when they drop them too far and actual available travel.

 

 

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