First review (Vipair coil overs)

[Mamba52]

This will be short as I'm still trying to set them up to my liking.

1 The build quality looks amazing.
2 I drove my Viper today and the car feels more planted to the ground. Aprox 45 miles.
3 The car defiantly drives better then the stock shocks.
4 $1500 best bang for your $$$$$$

Now the down side.
1 Front sits very low. I do have the shorter front shocks and still adjusting.
2 If you still have the cross over exhaust this mod is not for you.

I now have a aluminum flywheel, short throw shifter, 355 gears, Vipair coil overs I love the way my car feels now!!!!!!

Thanks to John and Steve for all your help. This is the way the Gen 3/4 should have been.

If you want pics email me as I'm on my iPad.

 

[anton28]

Congrats sounds like a good buy!

 

[Green viper 1]

Can you not raise the front up, also did you take pics

 

[AbsolutHank]

I'm glad you're happy with the ride. I've literally had everything on my Vipers except Penskes (and now these of course). It's about time there is a reasonable option for people who prefer a lowered stance and firm ride.

 

[JAY]

Thanx Mamba for the info ! Keep us posted

 

[viper04]

Thanks for the feed back but how is the ride, compere to stock? I know you said the"car feels more planted to the ground"but is it softer, hard, ect?

 

[Mamba52]

You can adjust them hard or soft. I started in the middle and so far I like the ride. I have a new clutch,flywheel,and rear end so I'm tying to break them in. I can send some pics if someone can post them. I now have windows 8 on my lap top and never want to turn it on again!!!!

 

[Mamba52]

Can you not raise the front up, also did you take pics

Yes, and yes.

 

[agdetail]

If you still have the cross over exhaust this mod is not for you.

why?

 

[pumpgas]

How long did it take you to get yours? I ordered some almost a month ago from Steve (and was billed the day I ordered them) and they still have not arrived.....

 

[Green viper 1]

How long did it take you to get yours? I ordered some almost a month ago from Steve (and was billed the day I ordered them) and they still have not arrived.....[/QUOTE

Have you called Steve about your order he told me he was putting some shocks together to go out this week

 

[neilsfishing]

I now have windows 8 on my lap top and never want to turn it on again!!!!

I no where you are with that

 

[Mamba52]

If you still have the cross over exhaust this mod is not for you.

why?

The cross over dips down under the belly pan. You can do it but be prepared to be scraping over every speed bump. Just take a peek under there. Mine is now flat just like the 08/10 cars.

 

[ZZ SRT]

How long did it take you to get yours? I ordered some almost a month ago from Steve (and was billed the day I ordered them) and they still have not arrived.....

I wouldn't get too worried. I believe he has been assembling them by when they were ordered. To give you a reference, I have been waiting around 6 weeks and mine are scheduled to arrive Thursday. I'm sure yours will come up in the queue soon!

 

[Mamba52]

How long did it take you to get yours? I ordered some almost a month ago from Steve (and was billed the day I ordered them) and they still have not arrived.....[/QUOTE

Have you called Steve about your order he told me he was putting some shocks together to go out this week

He is alittle slow. But you won't be disappointed. Did you get the shorter front shocks. I have adjusted the front black ring up 1 5/8 from the bottom threads. I now have I finger gap in front and two in the rear. Now that I think about I should have ordered the stock hight front shock.

 

[Green viper 1]

He is alittle slow. But you won't be disappointed. Did you get the shorter front shocks. I have adjusted the front black ring up 1 5/8 from the bottom threads. I now have I finger gap in front and two in the rear. Now that I think about I should have ordered the stock hight front shock.

Are you out of adjustment on the front to raise it up anymore

 

[Mamba52]

Are you out of adjustment on the front to raise it up anymore

Half way there.

 

[Green viper 1]

Oh ok I have a set that he's building now and I don't want the front to be slammed but definitely want it lower than stock

 

[GTS-R 001]

How long did it take you to get yours? I ordered some almost a month ago from Steve (and was billed the day I ordered them) and they still have not arrived.....

Tom

Your rear coil-over kit ordered Feb 15th is shipping today!

Thanks

Steve

 

[GTS-R 001]

He is alittle slow. But you won't be disappointed. Did you get the shorter front shocks. I have adjusted the front black ring up 1 5/8 from the bottom threads. I now have I finger gap in front and two in the rear. Now that I think about I should have ordered the stock hight front shock.

Shawn,

If you set the nut right to the top you will be at about 3/4 inch lower than stock height and still have a fully functioning (with lots of travel) shock. Your shocks you have will operate perfectly when the nuts are at the top of their adjustment range. If you want to go even higher you can twist the nuts so you start compressing or pre-loading the spring and then you will start to approach stock ride height.

That is the beauty of the -1 size, for those that intend to lower their car, -1 to -3 inches they are the perfect coil-over, when you start lowering a car with the stock size shocks, like KW's Motons, MCS, Penskes, you start running out of travel on the shock, which is fine for the race track but on the street we every once in a while hit a bump or a *** hole and that is when we need the shock to be able to move more than an inch before metal hits metal.

For those that want a fully adjustable coilover at stock ride eheight, and still have the ability to go down and inch or and inch and a half, my stock size coil-overs will work fine.

 

[GTS-R 001]

I wouldn't get too worried. I believe he has been assembling them by when they were ordered. To give you a reference, I have been waiting around 6 weeks and mine are scheduled to arrive Thursday. I'm sure yours will come up in the queue soon!

Zach,

Let me know when they arrive and if you need any help, feel free to call my cell anytime.



Rest assured guys, when you order your coilovers , I order them, they get built to order and I co-ordinate and assemble these with a combination of parts that come in from 4 different suppliers. All the coilovers that shipped out this week were ones that I ordered in January and I have had them in my hands for only a couple of days while I take all the raw components and custom build the coil-overs to order.

Thanks for the orders, all your business is greatly appreciated and anyone that is looking for a good economical coilover solution, call today and order yours, I am stocking up!

Thanks

Steve

 

[viper04]

Intersting feed back so far. Steve have a group buy, LOL!!

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

See comments below in bold.

Shawn,

If you set the nut right to the top you will be at about 3/4 inch lower than stock height and still have a fully functioning (with lots of travel) shock. Your shocks you have will operate perfectly when the nuts are at the top of their adjustment range. If you want to go even higher you can twist the nuts so you start compressing or pre-loading the spring and then you will start to approach stock ride height.

That is the beauty of the -1 size, for those that intend to lower their car, -1 to -3 inches they are the perfect coil-over, when you start lowering a car with the stock size shocks, like KW's Motons, MCS, Penskes, you start running out of travel on the shock, which is fine for the race track but on the street we every once in a while hit a bump or a *** hole and that is when we need the shock to be able to move more than an inch before metal hits metal.




"when you start lowering a car with the stock size shocks, like KW's Motons, MCS, Penskes, you start running out of travel on the shock, which is fine for the race track but on the street we every once in a while hit a bump or a *** hole and that is when we need the shock to be able to move more than an inch before metal hits metal."

This statement for the MCS and old Motons at least, is not true... You can lower the car to the point of it dragging on everything before you come anywhere near running out of travel AND I have never seen or heard of one of our shocks bottoming out. The great thing about the MCS is that the shock is actually responsive throughout the entire stroke regardless of height, other lesser shocks are not, they have a "range" they work in and then get progressively less effective.




"If you want to go even higher you can twist the nuts so you start compressing or pre-loading the spring and then you will start to approach stock ride height."
How does "preloading and compressing the already "topped out" spring raise the car any higher? If the spring is being compressed and "preloaded" then the stroke of the shock is maxed out and on the upward motion and the shock will "top out" (opposite of bottoming out obviously) causing other issues.

I'm not trying to do anything but explain the mechanics, I'm sure Steve's shocks are probably fine for what he is selling them to do.



For those that want a fully adjustable coilover at stock ride eheight, and still have the ability to go down and inch or and inch and a half, my stock size coil-overs will work fine.

 

[kenphjr]

where are the shocks set at ,right out of the box?Highest setting -lowest or somewhere in between-Did you adjust them before you put them on and then they were too low or were they to low before you did anything other than install them?-Mine should be arriving next Monday and I would like to only start with the 3/4 of an inch below stock-Do I have to do anything first or just install them as is?

 

[GTS-R 001]

where are the shocks set at ,right out of the box?Highest setting -lowest or somewhere in between-Did you adjust them before you put them on and then they were too low or were they to low before you did anything other than install them?-Mine should be arriving next Monday and I would like to only start with the 3/4 of an inch below stock-Do I have to do anything first or just install them as is?

Ken,

with your coilovers just run the adjuster nuts up to be at the bottom of the springs, This will put your car at about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch lower than stock ride height. Then if you want it lower just turn the 2 nuts to the left until you have the height you like. I am presetting the coilovers as best I can and I am setting the rebound and dampening to a sporty setting but you can adjust to suit your driving likes and dislikes.

thanks

Steve

 

[GTS-R 001]

See comments below in bold.

"when you start lowering a car with the stock size shocks, like KW's Motons, MCS, Penskes, you start running out of travel on the shock, which is fine for the race track but on the street we every once in a while hit a bump or a *** hole and that is when we need the shock to be able to move more than an inch before metal hits metal."

This statement for the MCS and old Motons at least, is not true... You can lower the car to the point of it dragging on everything before you come anywhere near running out of travel AND I have never seen or heard of one of our shocks bottoming out. The great thing about the MCS is that the shock is actually responsive throughout the entire stroke regardless of height, other lesser shocks are not, they have a "range" they work in and then get progressively less effective.


Mark,

Below I have a photo that shows the range of motion that most of the coilovers on the market today have, I do not have KW V3's or Penskes in it but it is a good representation

left to right

KW Moton MCS my -1, my reg size, factory with my coilover kit



As you can see most all the Coilovers available for Gen 2/3/4/5 Vipers have a travel range of between 4.0 to 4.25 inches,

Now, when you bolt the coilovers onto the car, the first inch or so of travel is "eaten up" by the weight of the car as all these use LINEAR springs, when you lower the car the spring compresses approx 1 inch 3400lb car, 50/50 FR to back = 100 lbs /2 = 850 lbs per inch, 800 lb springs = lowers by 1 inch due to the weight of the car!

Now the car is at stock ride height (EXCEPT for my -1 Coilovers where the car is now, 1 INCH lower than stock because the coilovers are physically 1 inch shorter.) and all the ranges on ALL the coilovers is now left to approx 3 inches, with the car at STOCK RIDE HEIGHT

Now we lower the car 2 inches, with all the coilovers except my -1 coilovers we now have approx 1 inch of travel range left, 4 -1 (to get to stock height) -2 to lower 2 inches = 1 inch of travel left.

EXCEPT for my -1 coilovers which in order to have the car 2 inches lower than stock we now need to only lower this coilover 1 inch lower and this coilover now has 2 inches of travel range left, 1 full inch more than ALL the others.

Now imagine we hit a bumper or *** hole in the road that compresses the spring by 1 inch, all the coilover hit top of coilover to inside of spring cap, simple physics, and since these are linear springs it only takes a bump that causes 800 lbs of force for the rear or 500 lbs of force for the front (assuming that you are using 800 RR and 500FR springs)

ALL the shocks bottom out except my -1 coilovers as they had 2" of travel left, they only compress 1 inch and still have 1 inch of travel left!

And yes, coilovers with an external reservoir do have a higher range, but they come at a cost difference of , lets say.........
a nice set of wheels.

And YES coilovers that have reservoirs bottom out, I have had Penskes and Motons and KW's on many of my cars and I have felt the MULE KICK in the BACK when the rear suspension bottomed out on my SRT with Penskes on it, and that was just hitting a big rolling bump on the highway here in Norcal.

 

[GTS-R 001]

See comments below in bold.

MArk,,


"If you want to go even higher you can twist the nuts so you start compressing or pre-loading the spring and then you will start to approach stock ride height."
How does "preloading and compressing the already "topped out" spring raise the car any higher? If the spring is being compressed and "preloaded" then the stroke of the shock is maxed out and on the upward motion and the shock will "top out" (opposite of bottoming out obviously) causing other issues.

I'm not trying to do anything but explain the mechanics, I'm sure Steve's shocks are probably fine for what he is selling them to do.


The stock Viper coilovers are all preloaded, the fronts by 650+ lbs, the stock springs are 3 inches longer than the area they fit into and they are 225 lb or so linear springs

The rears are 425-450 lbs springs and they are 1.5+ inches too long for where they fit into so the rear is preloaded by 650-700 lbs, as long as when you lower the car onto the coil over you are not pre-loading beyond the weight of the car lowering onto the coil over then you will not be maxing out the shock, if that was the case, DODGE has been doing it wrong since 1992!


By preloading the spring you are raising the car, see pic of my car when I expermented with this concept with 500/800 lbs springs on stock ride height coilovers

Same car with the adjuster nuts lowers 2 inches, same coilovers




With Linear springs as you compress them you are "storing energy", if you compress the spring by 1 inch with an 8 inch 800 lb spring (compressed to 7 inches long), you can put 800 lbs on that coilover and it will not compress, if you tighten that spring another inch to be 6 inches long, then you can put 1600 lbs on that one coilover/spring and it will not compress, so if you tighten your "nuts" so that your 8 inch springs are all 7 inches then you can literally make your car higher than stock as in the above photo and still not be putting any more stress on a coilover than what Dodge does stock with their preloaded coilovers

 

[ACRucrazy]

I ask, if people are going to quote others with replies, quote them properly so we can understand what is being answered. If you don't get it right the first time, use the edit button

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

See comments below in bold.

"when you start lowering a car with the stock size shocks, like KW's Motons, MCS, Penskes, you start running out of travel on the shock, which is fine for the race track but on the street we every once in a while hit a bump or a *** hole and that is when we need the shock to be able to move more than an inch before metal hits metal."

This statement for the MCS and old Motons at least, is not true... You can lower the car to the point of it dragging on everything before you come anywhere near running out of travel AND I have never seen or heard of one of our shocks bottoming out. The great thing about the MCS is that the shock is actually responsive throughout the entire stroke regardless of height, other lesser shocks are not, they have a "range" they work in and then get progressively less effective.


Mark,

Below I have a photo that shows the range of motion that most of teh coilovers on the market today have, I do not have KW V3's or Penskes in it but it is a good representation

left to right

KW Moton MCS my -1, my reg size, factory with my coilover kit



As you can see most all the Coilovers available for Gen 2/3/4/5 Vipers have a travel range of between 4.0 to 4.25 inches,

Now, when you bolt the coilovers onto the car, the first inch or so of travel is "eaten up" by the weight of the car as all these use LINEAR springs, when you lower the car the spring compresses approx 1 inch 3400lb car, 50/50 FR to back = 100 lbs /2 = 850 lbs per inch, 800 lb springs = lowers by 1 inch due to the weight of the car!

Now the car is at stock ride height (EXCEPT for my -1 Coilovers where the car is now, 1 INCH lower than stock because the coilovers are physically 1 inch shorter.) and all the ranges on ALL the coilovers is now left to approx 3 inches, with the car at STOCK RIDE HEIGHT

Now we lower the car 2 inches, with all the coilovers except my -1 coilovers we now have approx 1 inch of travel range left, 4 -1 (to get to stock height) -2 to lower 2 inches = 1 inch of travel left.

EXCEPT for my -1 coilovers which in order to have the car 2 inches lower than stock we now need to only lower this coilover 1 inch lower and this coilover now has 2 inches of travel range left, 1 full inch more than ALL the others.

Now imagine we hit a bumper or *** hole in the road that compresses the spring by 1 inch, all the coilover hit top of coilover to inside of spring cap, simple physics, and since these are linear springs it only takes a bump that causes 800 lbs of force for the rear or 500 lbs of force for the front (assuming that you are using 800 RR and 500FR springs)

ALL the shocks bottom out except my -1 coilovers as they had 2" of travel left, they only compress 1 inch and still have 1 inch of travel left!

And yes, coilovers with an external reservoir do have a higher range, but they come at a cost difference of , lets say.........
a nice set of wheels.

And YES coilovers that have reservoirs bottom out, I have had Penskes and Motons and KW's on many of my cars and I have felt the MULE KICK in the BACK when the rear suspension bottomed out on my SRT with Penskes on it, and that was just hitting a big rolling bump on the highway here in Norcal.


I think if you measured your shocks above (the same as the rest) you will see that they have almost 1" less available travel then the MCS or Motons so they would have similar usable travel at the 2" lower ride height settings you speak of. I for one have never had one bottom out so you have that on me, but I also know that the amount of lowering till it hurts the handling is less then the 2" you are trying to get for esthetic's which I don't do I guess.

The amount of available "lift" provided by the nitrogen pressure in the MCS is what helps keep the shocks taunt and prevent them from bottoming out, even the new Non remote MCS we are working on will have this feature. I think if you ran a MCS with too little nitrogen and 2" lower over rough pavement then yes you may bottom it, but that is NOT the correct way to set it up.

See comments below in bold.

MArk,,


"If you want to go even higher you can twist the nuts so you start compressing or pre-loading the spring and then you will start to approach stock ride height."
How does "preloading and compressing the already "topped out" spring raise the car any higher? If the spring is being compressed and "preloaded" then the stroke of the shock is maxed out and on the upward motion and the shock will "top out" (opposite of bottoming out obviously) causing other issues.

I'm not trying to do anything but explain the mechanics, I'm sure Steve's shocks are probably fine for what he is selling them to do.


The stock Viper coilovers are all preloaded, the fronts by 650+ lbs, the stock springs are 3 inches longer than the area they fit into and they are 225 lb or so linear springs

The rears are 425-450 lbs springs and they are 1.5+ inches too long for where they fit into so the rear is preloaded by 650-700 lbs, as long as when you lower the car onto the coil over you are not pre-loading beyond the weight of the car lowering onto the coil over then you will not be maxing out the shock, if that was the case, DODGE has been doing it wrong since 1992!

The factory uses the longer springs because they don't use a helper spring like the MCS, and the "effective" rates are 1/2 of what we use so yes they have a longer spring installed. The available rate of the spring in the car is still the

2003-2006 SRT-10:
Front: 200 lb/in
Rear: 500 lb/in

And 2008 SRT-10:
Front: 210 lb/in
Rear: 525 lb/in

So no the factory is not doing it wrong.

The shorter springs we use also benefit in the fact they weigh less then 1/2 what the stock do so that is a good thing too.

 

[Green viper 1]

Well said Steve, and true at the same time