KONY YELLOWS are here

[Jenner]

On what I've read here before I wouldn't trust the by or Megan racing ones on a road course. I'm sure they hold up just fine if you don't beat them up too much.

[cdb95z28]

If I am buying coilovers so I can exploit my car on the track, I am buying a quality piece. RideTechs have gotten high reviews, have a great warranty and bang for the buck, they would be my first choice with Pfadt second.

[MiSTER]

I have the lightweight Padt coilers now and had the Koni Yellows been available at the time I would have gotten the Konis. That or if I had the money Penske. Ridetech worked with Fox Racing and is basically Fox inside of the Ridetechs. Koni, Penske, Bilstein and Fox all have years of pedigree vs Pfadt who I had initial hiccups with additional services I prepaid for and they stumbled on fulfilling, then went belly up when I needed replacement parts and had to outsource from other vendors. Doing a search revealed others having issues after Padt went belly up and had to go to outside vendors for resolution as well. Koni, Bilstein and Penske have MANY authorized shops more than capable of rebuild and revalve services. It would take a lot for them to go belly up and even if they did, plenty of shops who can work on them and they use a lot of common seals and valving parts available outside of Koni, Bilstein and Penske. Pfadt sported too many unique parts only Pfadt would have to deal with. Even though Padt is supposedly coming back, with issues with simple service requests I had prepaid for and took numerous tries before they fulfilled to what we agreed, I wouldn't trust them to do a simple, basic service let alone a revalve. If Ridetech ever went belly up like Pfadt did, which I really don't see happening, Fox Racing would be able to do service and revalve.

While BC and Megan are good for the street I'd still take a set of Konis yellows and a good set of springs over them. There were just too many BC and Megan owners having random issues within a year. I've had Konis from the early 90's that have only required basic servicing to bring back to out of box performance.

Sorry for the rant. Every time I see the name Pfadt, it kind of brings back the frustrating conversations with them...

[MiSTER]

Originally Posted by L99CAMA2011

I had the 1LE struts and they honestly don't feel of quality and the oil contents made the struts feel cheap, made that sound like the oil would easily foam up with heavy use. The Z28 pieces aren't available unless bought with the whole suspension kit so these fit in where some may not need coilovers but want better than 1LE performance. Gen 4 Camaro owners I met told me they liked Koni Yellows a lot on track plus they have levels of adjustments , 3 I think. If the z28 pieces are available as just shocks and struts let me know.

Also, not sure if DSSV are rebuildable if an issues comes up. You'd probably have to replace the whole unit which is about $450-$650 depending on the vendor and you can get them by themselves without a VIN. I've had years old Konis reserviced with a revalve for about $125.

[cdb95z28]

Originally Posted by MiSTER

I have the lightweight Padt coilers now and had the Koni Yellows been available at the time I would have gotten the Konis. That or if I had the money Penske. Ridetech worked with Fox Racing and is basically Fox inside of the Ridetechs. Koni, Penske, Bilstein and Fox all have years of pedigree vs Pfadt who I had initial hiccups with additional services I prepaid for and they stumbled on fulfilling, then went belly up when I needed replacement parts and had to outsource from other vendors. Doing a search revealed others having issues after Padt went belly up and had to go to outside vendors for resolution as well. Koni, Bilstein and Penske have MANY authorized shops more than capable of rebuild and revalve services. It would take a lot for them to go belly up and even if they did, plenty of shops who can work on them and they use a lot of common seals and valving parts available outside of Koni, Bilstein and Penske. Pfadt sported too many unique parts only Pfadt would have to deal with. Even though Padt is supposedly coming back, with issues with simple service requests I had prepaid for and took numerous tries before they fulfilled to what we agreed, I wouldn't trust them to do a simple, basic service let alone a revalve. If Ridetech ever went belly up like Pfadt did, which I really don't see happening, Fox Racing would be able to do service and revalve.

While BC and Megan are good for the street I'd still take a set of Konis yellows and a good set of springs over them. There were just too many BC and Megan owners having random issues within a year. I've had Konis from the early 90's that have only required basic servicing to bring back to out of box performance.

Sorry for the rant. Every time I see the name Pfadt, it kind of brings back the frustrating conversations with them...

I did not view your well thought out and rational statement as a rant. Excellent view on it all. I would buy the RideTechs, Konis and Penskes alone based on a huge part of there long and solid business. No doubt Pfadt has some repairs to be made to their rep.

I had an adjuster break on one of my '95's Konis. They replaced it no questions asked. They are a solid company.

And I completely believe that sometimes you have to pay for quality.

I just need to decide whether I want to spend another grand for the RideTechs vs Apex/Pfadts and Konis

[X25]

Keep in mind, Z/28 suspension package is $3439 shipped, but besides the shocks and springs, it also has all major control arms F/R as well as sway bars. If you don't need to change ride height for some reason (I don't), it's a great alternative! In a way, you just buy the kit and call the suspension mods/adjustments done (besides perhaps cradle bushing?).

[MiSTER]

Yeah Z/28 package is a great package. With Koni coming out with the Yellow dampers with springs, sway bars matched to your year (no need to buy the additional control arms unless you want to change to outboard mounted rear bar) and bushing kit can still be about a $1000-$1500 less than the Z/28 kit. Nice to have more options as opposed to when the 5th Gen first rolled out...

[JusticePete]

There is no comparison in the operation of the DSSV valving to a Koni yellow. Compare a Koni Yellow to 1LE struts. RideTech selected Fox as a partner because of the quality or the product and the availability of repair parts and service.

Why anyone would upgrade in inboard rear sway and not replace it?

[JDG1LE]

Looks like they are on sale right now, you can get all 4 for $682 shipped.

[L99CAMA2011]

Originally Posted by JDG1LE

Looks like they are on sale right now, you can get all 4 for $682 shipped.

Are you sure, they are like $200+ each. Yellows not the Orange ones.

[JDG1LE]

Originally Posted by L99CAMA2011

Are you sure, they are like $200+ each. Yellows not the Orange ones.

Check the link in the OP from Tirerack, $186 for the fronts and $155 for the rears.

[L99CAMA2011]

Originally Posted by JusticePete

There is no comparison in the operation of the DSSV valving to a Koni yellow. Compare a Koni Yellow to 1LE struts. RideTech selected Fox as a partner because of the quality or the product and the availability of repair parts and service.

Why anyone would upgrade in inboard rear sway and not replace it?

I agree. I think many miss how important valving is to the game. DSSV to me is top for the price. I personally see Koni Yellow a step above the 1LE pieces. As far as these coilovers go I had many brands and honestly almost all of them missed the boat and I think aside from the DSE and Moreno supplied Penske option I see the DSSV as the 3rd best option for preformance and won't be surprised if they can still hang with those brands. However I also am not a fan of the linear spring on the rear of our cars either. I personally like the Beehive cone style Z28 rear spring because of the 45 degree angle the rear shock leans at, the stock spring supports our full weight Camaro in the rear better than any rear coilover with less than a 750lb linear spring. Been there done that. This is why I would use the Knuckle drop rear with the suspension adjusted higher as to have the rear positioned at a more 60 degree angle. This would put less side load on the rear spring and shock piston and less likely to result in leak.

[JDG1LE]

Has anyone tried just using the Z28 struts in place of their 1LE struts? Without buying the entire Z28 kit, they are about $700 each.

[cdb95z28]

I'm not sure one can buy just the Z/28 struts alone and as stated in the above post by L99CAMA2011, valving is important. Since the Z/28 spring/strut assembly is significantly stiffer to the 1LE spring (or even other drop springs for that matter), that may be a bad mismatch.