irs lowering questions??

Not necessary to do front shocks. But I would recommend to do the rear shocks to keep the springs trapped. Yes you will need a rear camber kit or the inside edges will wear out very prematurely.

 

do all your shocks. makes a great difference. You'll notice it in braking distance of all things.

I did all the springs (superlows) and shocks (koni adjustable) in my VN V6 with adjustable strut tops, haven't done the rest yet, but it's made it into a new car. Handles like a dream.

Good luck
Sam

 

ive had king super lows in mine for over a year on stock shockies on 18s havnt scrubbed out on anything and i havnt got a chamber kit i wish i did it munchs ur tyres hard i would recommend getting one thats the next on my list

 

Camber kits are a definite must on IRS cars. Your back tyres will hate you otherwise. You won't scrub nearly as much with IRS as when you hit a bump your tyre tops go inwards at the rear. Live axle - whole rear axle slides across to one side = guard rub.

 

lets face it, the IRS on the pre VE commodores is pretty crap. does not suit lowering very well, even with offset bushes installed. but using shorter stroke shocks is pretty important as mentioned it will affect the weight transfer in the car under heavy braking and cornering. if its worth doing, its worth doing right

 

Nice to see someone else cares about doing things right!! Only reason I haven't done the rest of my VN's suspension (beyond springs shocks and strut tops) is that I can't afford to yet! Bushes, heavy duty sway bar and links, rear trailing arms, panhard rod, strut brace. All on the way when I can start spending money on it again!

 

do all the shocks aswell i just got my shorter front struts in yesterday makes heaps difference not as harsh on bumps, handles better, the ride feels softer but more solid at the front end with them around corners . i should of done it from the start.

 

You definitely notice the difference hey! My VR SS is still on stock shocks with lowered Lovells springs. I bought it that way and when I can afford the parts, it'll have the same gear as the VN only with ultras all round instead of superlows. Strut tops, strut brace, heavy duty sway bar and links, bushes, panhard rod, the whole deal. I like to know I've made my cars a good deal safer than they were originally in terms of handling. It's just a nice feeling

 

I keep stuffing my bearing plates and ive been told to rectify this issue i should get some short travel struts. Ive spent over 2K on my suspension so far and it doesnt seem to end. handles nicely but. Havent heard much about short travel struts so the more info i can get the better.

 

I had monroe sensa trac inserts in my old vg ute and they were quite good.

 

Sensatracs on lowered suspension isn't the best combination. The two stage valving is ineffective when lowered because it sits in the stiffer part of the range all the time. Optima do shortened shocks for IRS, $75 each. Fronts struts are recommended to change as well to improve handling, but shortened struts aren't needed.

 

look on the monroe website i got the gt gas for lowered cars (shorter) for the front and back. its better to have shorter shocks all round make the ride smoother.

 

i tohught u said u had shorter struts. struts and shocks are different arent they?

yes i have shortened shocks.

 

Shortened shocks/struts are recommended to trap the springs, not to improve handling. Any new shock will ride better than what was in there, regardless whether they are shortened or not. On the front it doesn't really matter because the spring cannot fall out anyway.

 

i thought the front shocks are called struts arent they anyhow, there all shorter. my old fronts used to bottom out and make banging nosies on big bumps all good now.

the shaft sits lower into the shock so theres less travel to absorb the shock with normal height struts. so its better to get lowered ones.

 

They are all called shock absorbers because that is what they do. But the assembly on the front is called a McPherson strut.

The fronts probably banged because they were stuffed, not because they were standard. I have said many times before that a standard height shock or strut will not affect compression of suspension because the suspension cannot compress further than the springs total compressed height. If the spring compressed so that every coil touched, the shock would still have a bit of travel. The only reason short shocks are used is to trap the spring and stop it from falling out. People experience a better ride when fitting shorter shocks because they are new. Put new standard length shocks on and they will experience the same improvement. Shorter travel shocks are a safety issue, not a handling one.