shocks question

[dutch]

I am not happy with my shock set up, and it`s very well possible I did stupid things here.... 
A few years ago fellow member RB2929 gave me a brand new set of edelbrock ias rear shocks for my cuda...    Being on a tight ( read NO) budget, I was super happy with the shocks. However ,I was not able to get the matching front shocks so I decided to use a set of Koni`s up front. These are adjustable, but I haven`t touched them adjustment wise.
The difference front to rear is like day and night. I love the feel of the koni`s although I think I will try to adjust them to a stiffer level.
The edelbrocks feel terrible. I love a firm feeling shock, but the rear of the car feels so hard, it`s bouncing even in small dents and bumps in the road surface. It`s almost like the only spring travel comes from the tires. What`s the deal here? All I read about the eddy`s is how great they feel. I can see the advantage of huge roll reduction in corners but I can`t see why anyone would like them for non race use. 
My car has leafsprings and poly bushings. I know the car was super soft without shocks so no springs hung up in any way.  Could this problem occur using softer shocks up front? ( I know it`s far from ideal, but it is what it is right now... )  or am I missing something here?
Anyone on here using the eddy`s?  I would hate to get me some other shock and find out I made a stupid mistake of some sort   

[Chryco Psycho]

SO you have no adjustability on the rear shocks?
 the front being soft can cause the front to take most of the movement like a spring board so stiffening the front may help but it may just be a bad mismatch

[dutch]

edelbrock calls it auto-adjustable... so No.... 
That makes sense. I will set the koni`s to max stiffness, see what that does to the rear and go from there. 

[brads70]

You could also play with air pressure somewhat?  Are you certain the pinion snubber is not contacting ?  If you have a rear sway bar try un hooking it.

[dutch]

Now we`re getting somewhere with this puppy....    adjusting the front shocks to the max made a big difference    It still is a tad harsh in the rear, but feels way more balanced.  A 177.38 % improvement for sure    It corners great too ,but I will add the koni`s for the rear to next seasons wishlist.    thanks!   
man ,I love this car   

[Chryco Psycho]

cool 

[brads70]

Nice! Great also to hear your driving it lots!

[Mopar Mitch]

I have RED Konis... set full stiff front, ~2/3 stiff rear... have adjusted them repeatedly for competition autocross.. until i got satisfied... ok for street, as well..   tire pressures make a big difference... play with them to find your bst liking.   Tire sudewall profiles also make a difference... 60, 50, 45, 40, 35 series...  again...  fond your best results and satisfaction..

[dutch]

I will fiddle with pressure and see what happens. Too bad there`s nothing to adjust on these rear shocks. Looking forward to getting koni`s for the rear as well but for now I`m happy it stopped bouncing all over the place 

[Mopar Mitch]

If you're willing to spend for the best, consider the double-adjustable QA1 (or Strange double adjustables)... those will be my replacements for the red Konis someday.... these double adjstables costs ~$250 each shock (~$1000 for 4)... and worth it from a hi-level of suspension tuning... consider it to be an investment for many years ahead so you can continuously fine-tune the handling.

[dutch]

I think the Koni`s will be " top notch " enough for me.  IMO not very realistic to spend that much on shocks when the rest of the car is pretty much stock and I am not racing or pushing handling to the limit.  Sure I will keep upgrading stuff but as long as I`m running 15" 60`s with no frame stiffening, it`s money thrown away...   plus, I`d like to get me some fuel every now and then to have fun   
I guess it`s always looking for a compromise...what do you want, what do you need to get there and how much can you spend on that.  For me, if it was all about handling, I would have bought a Porsche in the first place.  ps, your challenger loos awesome 

[CudamanTom]

continuously fine-tune the handling.

 

I would expect $1000 worth of shocks  to fine-tune themselves. 

I too will stay with fine-tune my rear-end in the drivers seat and spend the difference on other goodies I really need. 

[Mopar Mitch]

For best handling results, in a quick summary, start with mods at the outer corners of the car and work inwards....  Tires, shocks, suspension,...let the engine/drivetrain be the last place to spend $$$.

Also, the "nut-behind-the-wheel" (driver) needs lots of attention to make the efforts well worth it.

 

[Jamiez]

I love my QA1 shocks.  I put singles on the rear of the challenger.  I like them so much I put doubles on the front.  The adjustability is great as I can get the the ride to feel the way I want it.  But if I decide to do something more aggressive with it, I can dial them in to what I want.

Now that I am redoing my charger, the shocks are going to be QA1s on all 4 corners.

They are pricey, but realistically with the miles I put on the cars...the shocks are basically lifetime.

[brads70]

I would expect $1000 worth of shocks  to fine-tune themselves. 

I too will stay with fine-tune my rear-end in the drivers seat and spend the difference on other goodies I really need. 

You can spend that and more just on one shock if you have the funds. Its all in what you want your car to do well.  Some drag race ,some just  cruise, some are 1:1 scale diecasts and some are into handling. It's all good!  I think it's pretty cool how more and more in the Mopar camp are interested in handling and modifying their cars to do so. I have a bit of a background in circle track racing and have applied some of what I've learned to my car . I also have learned  from and look up to guys like Mitch, Dan Weishaar and HP2 .