Looking for opinions on QA1's R Series front shock

[The Granny]

As the title says... I'm going from non-adjustable to SA shocks on all 4 corners, I recently got the rears from a member on the board and am now looking at which one to get for the front. I want to hear some opinions on QA1's R series front shock versus their regular SA shock. I know the R series has a fixed tight compression so would I, generally speaking from a drag racing perspective, benefit from this and only need to fine tune the rebound to control the rise of the front end/weight transfer?

I'd use these shocks primarily at the track, so if I know I'm just going to cruise in it I'll slap the shocks I have on it now back on. Thanks in advance guys

 

[marleyskater420]

Full Throttle Speed is having a sale right now... why not just go for the Viking front double adjustables, and have the best of both worlds?

Or if you feel snazzy..some Varishock double adjustables

 

[The Granny]

Full Throttle Speed is having a sale right now... why not just go for the Viking front double adjustables, and have the best of both worlds?

Or if you feel snazzy..some Varishock double adjustables

primarily because i still have the stock control arms. in the future I had already planned on getting some DA afco coil overs along with TRZ control arms, but their control arms are different for coil over and the standard shock. so I just wanted to get a nice SA Shock that'll be best for my goals for the time being and help me learn about the car in the process


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[marleyskater420]

primarily because i still have the stock control arms. in the future I had already planned on getting some DA afco coil overs along with TRZ control arms, but their control arms are different for coil over and the standard shock. so I just wanted to get a nice SA Shock that'll be best for my goals for the time being and help me learn about the car in the process


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The Viking and Varishocks both bolt up to the stock arms..

Coil overs are not that great for a drag car. The springs are shorter and have a higher spring rate, plus less potential energy in the spring (due to it being a shorter spring)...

Also- SC&C/SPC UCAs and LCAs can use stock shocks or coilovers in the same arms. You don't have to buy different arms to swap from shocks to coilovers...

So uh, if I was building a gnarly street car/drag car, I'd probably go with some solid double adjustable shocks so that I could use good drag springs as well and get great weight transfer...


....if only there was somewhere on this site that someone is doing a setup just like that....

 

[turbo nasty]

I have been running QA1 r single adju on the front of my GN for over 6 years and no issues. Driven from MN to KY/BG 3 times with them. I just tighten them up when going on trips so the rebound is better otherwise I keep them at their loosest or a click or two in. They work great IMO.

 

[The Granny]

The Viking and Varishocks both bolt up to the stock arms..

Coil overs are not that great for a drag car. The springs are shorter and have a higher spring rate, plus less potential energy in the spring (due to it being a shorter spring)...

Also- SC&C/SPC UCAs and LCAs can use stock shocks or coilovers in the same arms. You don't have to buy different arms to swap from shocks to coilovers...

So uh, if I was building a gnarly street car/drag car, I'd probably go with some solid double adjustable shocks so that I could use good drag springs as well and get great weight transfer...


....if only there was somewhere on this site that someone is doing a setup just like that....

Oh wow, I hadn't looked at any other control arms outside of TRZs I was under the impression that all the aftermarket tubular ones were different in design for stock style and coil overs. I'll spend some more time researching what's all out there before I make a decision then. also are you referring to your build? I'd love to check it out if you have a link

I have been running QA1 r single adju on the front of my GN for over 6 years and no issues. Driven from MN to KY/BG 3 times with them. I just tighten them up when going on trips so the rebound is better otherwise I keep them at their loosest or a click or two in. They work great IMO.

What kind of 60's have you pulled out?

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[turbo nasty]

Car has been on street duty since I've moved here, so can't give you a 60. But have launched on some prepped roads and it does good

 

[murphster]

I've hear the QA1s are very inconsistent, read up. I would get the Strange SA fronts. You really only need SA up front to control the rise if you set your suspension up correctly not to wheelie. DAs in the rear are more important for tuning launches on drag radials.

Coilovers aren't as easy to adjust as you would think for drag racing. Set the height in the front with correct springs and you are good to go. Get adjustable perches in the rear with 2.5" springs to fine tune rear height to match front. Done.

 

[The Granny]

I've hear the QA1s are very inconsistent, read up. I would get the Strange SA fronts. You really only need SA up front to control the rise if you set your suspension up correctly not to wheelie. DAs in the rear are more important for tuning launches on drag radials.

Coilovers aren't as easy to adjust as you would think for drag racing. Set the height in the front with correct springs and you are good to go. Get adjustable perches in the rear with 2.5" springs to fine tune rear height to match front. Done.

I was under the impression DA would be best for the front, since the rise and fall are both critical in tuning? Or is my understanding off? I'll be on full slicks when racing, never drag radials if that makes a difference in the choice between SA and DA for the rear.

Edit: Being that it will not be a track only car and driven on the street lightly/quite often, I'm starting to lean towards strange DA shocks for the front now.. I read up through quite a few threads on yellow bullet and saw what you were saying about QA1's being inconsistent also, thank you for the heads up on that!



.

 

[murphster]

For the fronts you really just want a tight compression and only adjust the extension. You don't want it bouncing down and unloading the suspension. On a crappy track you may want to loosen the extension some for more weight transfer. Front end travel comes into play also for that. If you don't have much front end travel you'll need a tighter extension to slow down the rise before it hits the limits and bounces down and unloads. With more travel it may not reach the limit quickly so you don't have to run as tight extension.

If your suspension is set up correctly you won't have much front end rise. If its set up poorly and you wheelie hard then you want a tight compression so it doesn't slam down hard. Either way, you'll just mostly leave the compression tight and control the rise with the extension. That's why the SA fronts usually work pretty good.

For a slick, you can use the DA rears to control how hard you hit the tire. You don't hit it nearly as hard as a radial where they need to be dead hooked. So you can tighten up the extension and soften the compression on a rear DA shock compared to a radial. With a radial you run a looser extension and tighter compression so that it hits hard and stays there.

As far as the drag radials, you'll usually run faster on them once you get it set up properly. I'll never run slicks again.

 

[The Granny]

For the fronts you really just want a tight compression and only adjust the extension. You don't want it bouncing down and unloading the suspension. On a crappy track you may want to loosen the extension some for more weight transfer. Front end travel comes into play also for that.

If your suspension is set up correctly you won't have much front end rise. If its set up poorly and you wheelie hard then you want a tight compression so it doesn't slam down hard. Either way, you'll just mostly leave the compression tight and control the rise with the extension. That's why the SA fronts usually work pretty good.

For a slick, you can use the DA rears to control how hard you hit the tire. You don't hit it nearly as hard as a radial where they need to be dead hooked. So you can tighten up the extension and soften the compression on a rear DA shock compared to a radial. With a radial you run a looser extension and tighter compression so that it hits hard and stays there.

As far as the drag radials, you'll usually run faster on them once you get it set up properly. I'll never run slicks again.

I hear what you're saying in your first two paragraphs, that's kinda what I already had an understanding of. I see why you're saying SA's in the front will usually work out fine too now. But on a SA shock like Stranges, if they're only adjustable one way doesn't that mean that if you tighten the extension you'll be compromising (or loosening) the compression on the shock? That's why initially I was geared towards the QA1's r series shock, since they have a fixed tight compression.

I read on summit that afco's SA shock also feature a fixed tight compression with a seemingly infinite number of adjustments on the extension side of the equation since there aren't any clicks to be made, just a clean sweep. So would this be ideal over strange's SA shock?

Or am I looking too far into it, and the adjustments that'll be needed on the extension part of a SA shock to control the front end rise will be so minuscule in relation to the compression that it won't unload the tires? I really wish my car was ready to go out to the track that way I can get an idea of what it needs first hand .As far as a radial, I haven't tried one out but I do plan on getting the entire suspension on the car set up correctly and look forward to trying it and seeing what kind of results I can get on a radial versus a slick, it'd be interesting to see first hand for sure.

 

[murphster]

Usually the higher quality SA shocks have a fixed tight compression like you've already seen. Strange SA is fine.

Controlling the extension is important on the front because if you hit the limit to quick it will bounce back down quick and unload the suspension. This is common.

That's why the real fix is to adjust the IC and the rear suspension setup so that the front won't want to rise up so much.

 

[The Granny]

Usually the higher quality SA shocks have a fixed tight compression like you've already seen. Strange SA is fine.

Controlling the extension is important on the front because if you hit the limit to quick it will bounce back down quick and unload the suspension. This is common.

That's why the real fix is to adjust the IC and the rear suspension setup so that the front won't want to rise up so much.

I just read on stranges site that their SA has 10 different rebound settings, but nothing about compression so I'm assuming their's also has a fixed compression? I'll call them this evening to find out for sure, their SA shocks are now at the top of the list from everything you've said. I plan on getting a wolfe bar, TRZ front arms, and a baseline suspensions RCA kit at the same time I get these shocks so when it's all on I think it'll be squared away. I'll be on a 28x10.5 tire too

 

[murphster]

Look at the TRZ anti roll bar too.

I have the TRZ pro upper front arms in addition to the lowers. Be aware that a normal downpipe might not clear these and may have to be modified. So might want to stick with the regular upper arms or use a different company for uppers. The uppers have arcs in them to give you more front end travel but can also hit the downpipe.

 

[The Granny]

Look at the TRZ anti roll bar too.

I have the TRZ pro upper front arms in addition to the lowers. Be aware that a normal downpipe might not clear these and may have to be modified. So might want to stick with the regular upper arms or use a different company for uppers. The uppers have arcs in them to give you more front end travel but can also hit the downpipe.

Is that what you have? The TRZ anti roll bar? It looks a lot like the wolfe one. If the downpipe doesn't fit then I've got a few things I can try to do to get it to work

 

[murphster]

That's what I have, yes. Because its a double bar you will probably have less clearance with rear exhaust and will have to make some new bends. Its a pretty light bar too. Pacecarta has a Wolfe on one car and a TRZ on another car, maybe he will pipe up on his opinion. I believe he routed 2.5" dual exhaust through the TRZ bar. I have turndowns.

 

[434nova]

I used qa1r coilovers on a 69 chevy nova. They work good, i have no complaints. I also used autofab control arms they are really good quality. The arms also have rods ends instead of bushings. I don't know how if they will clear the downpipe. If I do swap front control arms it will be for the autofab. There arms are designed to work with the qa1 coilovers over kits.

On my nova I went 9.80s 60ft was 1.43, rear shocks were junk rancho 9000 shocks.