Pretty simple question. I've heard they can get torn up a lot easier than steel shocks, end up needing frequent rebuilds, and sometimes be taken past the point of being rebuildable if they're driven on the streets, especially with high spring/damping rates. How feasible would they be on a car that is far from being a daily driver? Would appreciate input if anyone's experienced with them. Thanks.

 

I have all aluminum coilovers on my track car. They have maybe 4000 street miles and 4-5 sebring events on them. I haven't had a problem with them, but they don't see much street action. I run a relatively soft spring rate 8/6. They were real expensive and I'm not sure if they can be rebuilt.

 

Good to hear. I don't see much more than 1000 street miles per year going on these, but my spring rates will be about double yours in a 28xxlb car.

 

Are they a custom set-up, single or double adjustable?
I haven't seen many off the shelf all aluminum set-ups.
I had to special order mine directly from my manufacturer.

Are these going on the ls1 rx7?
FYI, From testing different spring rates, the softer the spring rate in the rear, allows the car to plant and get better traction. This allowed me to run narrower rear tires, therefor less rotating mass and lower unsprung weight.

 

They would probably only be custom in terms of the rates. The ones I'm looking at now are:
Zeal Super Function (aluminum, double adjustable)
Ohlins (aluminum, double or triple adjustable, parallel reservoir)
True Choice (steel, double adjustable)

If you're not familiar with TC, they build coilovers from Koni shocks, and are pretty much the #1 stop for Koni service, so I'm pretty sure I'd be able to opt for an aluminum shock setup for a little extra (I believe those would be the 30 series...?).

Yes, these would be for the FD. If getting the rest of things put together goes well over the break, I'd like to be buying the coilovers in Januaryish. I'm familiar with the debate for running a slightly higher spring rate in the front, and may end up going slightly softer in the rear. I don't *think* I'll have traction issues with my currently planned setup. I'm leaning towards a 16/14, which has been successful for others.

 

The internals of aluminum bodied shocks should be plated, or sleeved, but if not, then they might use softer o-rings or "piston rings" really no internal metal part should come in contact with the shock body and the rest of the seals ride on the piston rod which should be plated steel and pretty bulletproof. so yes, they might need more often services, but simply because you'll loose damping over time. not due to leakage. now if you try to run them beyond their service life when leakage has occurred then you may put yourself in a position where the housing needs replacing. since you do not have a strut based car, you don't have to worry about the shock body being a rotating support of the suspension, and longer life can be expected.

In addition, we spec out the same Koni Coilovers in House that you can get from True Choice.

one nice thing, is True choice is Licensed Koni Rebuild center so they don't recommend other brands, however based on budget there are several other provider of shock that can be sourced through racing channels that are "End user" serviceable. and don't require a return to their manufacturer (or authorized shop) for rebuild.

Give me a call and we can set somthing up I can use any damper you choose. Koni, Bilstein, AFCO, Pro, etc. I don't have any loyality to a single brand, as it's all based on Performance/budget. but I like to use AFCO as a guideline, nice affordable No mystery they make all the Parts availble to the end user for rebuild and even the dampers if need replacing are only $170/each. we will have to do some calculations on where you want the car to sit. but If you are sold on koni, no problem. also I have a connection in bilstein and have allready been able to source some of the harder to find racing dampers often only found in their euro catalog.

 

Yeah, I knew there wasn't any metal-on-metal, but from what I understood, the softer aluminum would warp sooner than steel under high pressure (hence, high heat) conditions, but I had gotten some mixed info on how soon this was going to be, but from what I understand, high spring rates and appropriate valving on the street would be a catalyst to propagate these sorts of failures.

I may be by sometime this month or next to sit down and go over my options. If I were to do a "from scratch" coilover, like you or True Choice offers, I would likely stick with Koni, or maybe Penske. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Ohlin just use Penske shocks, maybe modified?

 

they are similar, but not the same. but both are end user serviceable. as for "warping" I'm not familiar with that since if anything the aluminum will run cooler, and street driving is usually not hard enough to heat them up significantly. Now if it's a strut there are other concerns but for a shock you'll be fine.

 

Sounds good, then. Thanks! Hopefully I'll be making it by sometime in early January to go over options.