What about my [edited] question below, Ian:

"Is there anything closer to 1000-450 [in the shorter length]?

Thanks

 

not that i was able to find.....but 1000-450 was too soft anyway...im running the things at setting "1" ie.1200-500 right now and they could use a bit more damping to keep that rear end planted better.

the front with the surrent 1700-500 setting "1" is doing very nice on the super crappy NYC streets.

 

update....the front shocks set on "1" give a very plush ride, on "2" they caused some wallowing over large soft bumps and dips,......well for the first time in a while i took the truck out on the highway with a buddy who wanted to experience the brakes .....so i got up to about 125 and let me tell you i couldnt have slowed down soon enough, the front end did NOT feel stable AT ALL.....she was very floaty and it was scary to say the least........still these are super comfy and handle fairly good at LEGAL speeds......over 100 and i want some bilsteins.......

Also the metric rod ends i have are too coarse a thread for the ends of my new shorter koni's so i will have to mount them in the traditional fashion and probably remove my socal extenders.

I think the 1700nm rebound on the front is good but the 450-500nm bump resistance is absolutley too soft for highspeed runs. My next step is to order the bilstein lightning specific shocks (supposedley firmer than factory and softer than hps1000) and see how they work out.

I forsee myself ending up with bilsteins in front and my short koni's out back.

the variables in all of this are.

twist in spring boosters up front effectivley solidifying the bottom coilof each spring, and the 2 bottom leafs removed from each rear spring, which I must say have so far worked great (traction and weight transfer off the line are much improved over the hotchkis and cornering is made up for by the hellwig rear swaybar, I will be putting spring clamps and/or hellwig helps on to boost the rear springrate a tad.

oh yea my buddy was shocked when he noticed the front AND REAR brakes BOTH went into abs activation upon lead footing the brake pedal, he swore up and down he never felt his rear brakes do that except on wet leaves or oily wet parking lots.......goes to show how wimpy the rear single piston clampers are.

 

Ian- Thanks for continuing to update us.

I myself am sold on the stock '04 Bilsteins. I had a chance to drive my truck WFO on some great roads this past weekend, and the stock dampers were awesome. I encountered everthing from tight swichbacks to top of 3rd gear sweepers, and I couldn't have asked for more in a shock.

Stock is not a very exciting choice, but it's the right one. Oh yeah, it's amazing how hard the truck rockets out of corners with 16 PSIG of twin-screw lovin'!!

 

well hopefully the bilsteins' direct from bilstein are the ticket for me, as nobody has tried them yet I might as well. the konis however do have a bit more supple of a ride than the stockers, as i get to drive my buddies L with a totally stock suspension when I want to clean my pallet so to speak like sniffing coffee beans at the perfume counter....

is it a whipple? if so..... "I WANT TO TOUCH THE WHIPPLE"

 

As always, excellent observations Ian. Do you think a higher setting on the Konis will give you similar damping than the Bilstein sports? I experience a similar experience with my QA-1s set quite low at over 100mph. I felt the little hairs in the back of my neck raise...

 

A higher setting on the front koni's seems to do the opposite of what it is supposed to, it makes the wallowing worse the hiogher you turn them up, since the bump is not adjusted the higher rebound seems to cause issues. Although I doubt the bilsteins will provide more comfort due to their higher bump resistance they should prove to be more stable at high speed, probably the reason svt spec'd them in the first place.

Another problem with our trucks is the limited travel we have available for the shocks to operate in up front, the valving needs to be just right to be able to control the springs in such a small range of motion, I feel the koni's have a bit of deadzone before the valving kicks in, hence the wallowing no matter the setting.

Apparently Bilstein has very little of this dead "play" in their shocks, thus you feel every little bump instead of the shock having an inch or so of supersoftness before it kicks in.

i'm over $500 into koni shocks and now will need to dump another $300-400 in the Bilsteins, but it's all in the name of science.

the koni's would be my #1 choice if i never went over 100MPH on imperfect roads though. so for anyone who wants a very comfy ride with very decent control and only goes over 100mph on a dragstrip then the Koni's are for you.

 

Interesting. So the Konis don't adjust both bump and rebound. You're right, this can't work on such a limited travel suspension.

I checked Bilstein's application list on their site and they only list the HD and not the SP. You're sure they have the SP? The HD is probably the same as stock.

To help get a little more travel from the front suspension, I ordered this bump stop from energy suspension. Same height as stock but will be more progressive due to the stepped design. I figure it will allow an extra 0.5" more travel. That's may not sound like much but its nearly 50% more travel and the absorption will be more progressive. Product # is 9.9101
http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/bsp2.html

I will check what density poly they have used for it. They have high, med and low. Med would be perfect.

TB

 

will that be too tall? i am using the 9.9102 with ruslow springs and no isolaters, and i have hit the stops a few times on big bumps

 

Suspension is back up to stock spec with stock springs drop spindles and stock isolator. My net achieved drop is 2.5" at 16.5" from center of wheel to bottom of fender. Which is exactly where I want it.

You must mean that you have made contact with the inner fender?

A better choice for you might be 9.9116.

 

TB I am using the 9.9101 bump stops, and i trimmed them a bit as they were too long. As for bilstein they are the HD, but the same shock for a regular f-150 is listed as sport, I talked to bilstein and they claimed they are still a bit stiffer than what ford uses for the L. we shall see.

 

Ian, what is the density of that stop? Is it still pliable?

I talked to Bistein at Sema back in 2003. At that time, they listed the SP for the Lightning and were about to introduce it. Apparently, someone at Bilstein made the decision not to produce it and it was removed from their listing. You are right, the Bilstein HD will be a little firmer than the stock Bs.

For a minimal fee (not sure what it is) they will custom valve it for you. I would tell them to valve them like what the SP was supposed to be for the Lightning. If my Qs give me any more grief, thats what I'm doing.

TB

 

On what basis is anyone saying that our front wheel travel is small? Compared to what? A monster truck? We have more wheel travel than just about any sports car, and a fairly standard motion ration, and shocks work fine on them.

 

With or without spring rubbers?

I am shooting for 17 even. I've ordered some cheapie spring rubbers (real rubber, nut urethane) and hope that a couple of them will raise the front 1/2".

 

Without.

That's with the original stock springs that may have settled a little, stock isolator and spindle.

Not sure if you will get 1/2". Are those the BSR rear spring rubbers?