Has anyone used the Spax adjustable shock absorbers? And if so what are your thoughts? I had them on an Opel years ago and loved them, adjustable compression and rebound, searching around the options for adjustable shocks are limited. Are the Koni's even available any more?
http://www.spaxdirect.com/index.php?cPath=75
SD
externally adjustable shock absorbers
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shepherd
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externally adjustable shock absorbers
Last edited by shepherd on Sun Sep 28, 2014 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Piledriver
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
Heard of them? Yes.
They are not KONI or Bilstein level quality, but given the prices, not expected.
If you ignore the photos on the website, they do seem top have T1 and T3 F/R specific units, at a great price if they are truly adjustable.
If they are 2 way adjustable, I'd strongly consider them for that price.
I'd be shocked if they were...
EDIT: Looking a bit more carefully at their catalog, and online, unless you are in the UK (probably EU OK) forget SPAX.
At least in the US, there appear to be zero SPAX "dealers" per se ....there are some marque/model specific boutiques that may stock ONLY the ones for their cars, that may or (likely) will not provide support for you, but ~nobody generally stocks SPAX shocks AFAICT this side of the pond, for better or worse.
They are not KONI or Bilstein level quality, but given the prices, not expected.
If you ignore the photos on the website, they do seem top have T1 and T3 F/R specific units, at a great price if they are truly adjustable.
If they are 2 way adjustable, I'd strongly consider them for that price.
I'd be shocked if they were...
EDIT: Looking a bit more carefully at their catalog, and online, unless you are in the UK (probably EU OK) forget SPAX.
At least in the US, there appear to be zero SPAX "dealers" per se ....there are some marque/model specific boutiques that may stock ONLY the ones for their cars, that may or (likely) will not provide support for you, but ~nobody generally stocks SPAX shocks AFAICT this side of the pond, for better or worse.
Addendum to Newtons first law:
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
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shepherd
- Posts: 101
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
As I recall, the compression and rebound are both adjusted by the same knob; you can not adjust one independently of the other. Not ideal, but not terrible either. It's certainly better than just choosing between whatever is available and hoping you can work with it. As far as dealers in NA, when has that ever stopped anyone? A few years ago I had some mercedes Unimogs, and almost everything had to be sourced from the EU. There are some businesses that exist solely to ship stuff out of county, when suppliers or sellers lack the resources. At this point I'm just curious...
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
What kind of driving are you doing with them?
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Piledriver
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
I'm curious too, but at ~double the price of std (and extremely good) Bilsteins...
...is there a Bilstein 5100 that would fit?
Those are dual adjustable, and IIRC can even be custom valved for a reasonable fee.
...is there a Bilstein 5100 that would fit?
Those are dual adjustable, and IIRC can even be custom valved for a reasonable fee.
Addendum to Newtons first law:
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
zero vehicles on jackstands, square gets a fresh 090 and 1911, cabby gets a blower.
EZ3.6 Vanagon after that.(mounted, needs everything finished) then Creamsicle.
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Ol'fogasaurus
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- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:17 pm
Re: Spax shock absorbers
Thinking about it last night, I'm not sure but I think there have been/are still some shocks made here in the states that have the same knob idea for changing the shocks values. I forget what the name of the shock it (they are white with red bellows usually) now but if I am remembering correctly, it is one of the shock brands the Monroe (?) ought years ago that are aimed more at trucks. I could be wrong as Monroe owning the brand but I seem to remember the brand I am thinking of may have had that option in one of their lines of shock.
Lee
edit: Rancho adjustable shocks is what I was thinking of. http://rancho-suspension.blogspot.com/2 ... s-and.html
Lee
edit: Rancho adjustable shocks is what I was thinking of. http://rancho-suspension.blogspot.com/2 ... s-and.html
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shepherd
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
Lee, the Rancho's are what I have on the back of my truck, and they work well for loaded/ unloaded condition adjustments.
My car is a 62 that has just gotten a 2161 and built transmission, it had been set up as a street/ occasional strip car. I am currently going through it trying to figure out how to make it handle better. I have tried the GR2 and KYB Whites and like neither. The GR2 is too soft, and the Gas Adjust are punishing. Something in between would be nice..
My car is a 62 that has just gotten a 2161 and built transmission, it had been set up as a street/ occasional strip car. I am currently going through it trying to figure out how to make it handle better. I have tried the GR2 and KYB Whites and like neither. The GR2 is too soft, and the Gas Adjust are punishing. Something in between would be nice..
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
I have a friend who sells Rancho's and... he sells them.
Reading the +/- sites on the web is interesting as it seems to be an either love or hate thing. Like KYBs you often see Ranchos in stacks of two or three on some cars which tells me that there is something missing.
The rest of the world refers to what we call shocks as dampeners which is really what shocks are supposed to do, dampen the action of the springs and sudden/extreme body/suspension movements. On my short wheel based glass buggy I have used both the grey and white colored KYB shocks and Monroe/NAPA shocks and for everyday use they are probably satisfactory as long as you don't push them too hard.
After an incident on the dunes I finally got with the program and tore my buggy down to the pan, built a body lift (which also stiffened up the outer perimeter of the pan), substituted a BJ beam with adjusters for the stock beam and went to Bilstein 6100 shocks (the 7100 shocks have a reservoir as I remember). After the change to the car I had another almost identical incident in almost the same location and this time the shocks did not let me down on the stops (in the rear) or collapse the front shocks to where they became the stops in the front. No sore back this time.
For normal driving on pavement (1/4 to 1/2 mile of pavement driving) I don't notice a difference between the old KYBs/Monroe combination and the Bilstein shocks. On the sand in rough, torn up areas I start to feel some of the differences with the drops and raises in the sand being a little stiffer but not harsh but it is on the long rides on top of whoops going from the top of on to the top of the next one is where the differences do show;
(turn the sound down as there is a lot of pick-up background noise and squeaky urethane bushing noise)
you do stay in contact with what you are riding on. Also in the long, unexpected slides down the face of a dune the suspension does not bang down but the shock let it come down in a controlled manner so that I haven't hit the stops at full speed. I couldn't have done this before the shock change.
I have heard others talk about Koni's in a similar manner but I have no personal dealings with them so I can't say much more than this.
As shocks get to be more heavy duty they don't have to ride stiffer and to me that is the key. On one episode of Extreme 4 X 4 they had a Bilstein guy out on the rough area and he tuned the shocks on their toy which from what was said made a bid difference: http://www.spike.com/episodes/is38y0/po ... n-3-ep-155
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaXY7oZhI5A This is funny!
Reading the +/- sites on the web is interesting as it seems to be an either love or hate thing. Like KYBs you often see Ranchos in stacks of two or three on some cars which tells me that there is something missing.
The rest of the world refers to what we call shocks as dampeners which is really what shocks are supposed to do, dampen the action of the springs and sudden/extreme body/suspension movements. On my short wheel based glass buggy I have used both the grey and white colored KYB shocks and Monroe/NAPA shocks and for everyday use they are probably satisfactory as long as you don't push them too hard.
After an incident on the dunes I finally got with the program and tore my buggy down to the pan, built a body lift (which also stiffened up the outer perimeter of the pan), substituted a BJ beam with adjusters for the stock beam and went to Bilstein 6100 shocks (the 7100 shocks have a reservoir as I remember). After the change to the car I had another almost identical incident in almost the same location and this time the shocks did not let me down on the stops (in the rear) or collapse the front shocks to where they became the stops in the front. No sore back this time.
For normal driving on pavement (1/4 to 1/2 mile of pavement driving) I don't notice a difference between the old KYBs/Monroe combination and the Bilstein shocks. On the sand in rough, torn up areas I start to feel some of the differences with the drops and raises in the sand being a little stiffer but not harsh but it is on the long rides on top of whoops going from the top of on to the top of the next one is where the differences do show;
(turn the sound down as there is a lot of pick-up background noise and squeaky urethane bushing noise)
you do stay in contact with what you are riding on. Also in the long, unexpected slides down the face of a dune the suspension does not bang down but the shock let it come down in a controlled manner so that I haven't hit the stops at full speed. I couldn't have done this before the shock change.
I have heard others talk about Koni's in a similar manner but I have no personal dealings with them so I can't say much more than this.
As shocks get to be more heavy duty they don't have to ride stiffer and to me that is the key. On one episode of Extreme 4 X 4 they had a Bilstein guy out on the rough area and he tuned the shocks on their toy which from what was said made a bid difference: http://www.spike.com/episodes/is38y0/po ... n-3-ep-155
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaXY7oZhI5A This is funny!
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84im
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:25 am
Re: Spax shock absorbers
I have Konis on my 356 replica and I love them. I just looked at the Koni NA site and noticed their shocks that fit a Beetle are on sale. I wish they were this price when I bought mine!
http://www.koni-na.com/cat_search.cfm?m ... ksy1r80fCe
http://www.koni-na.com/cat_search.cfm?m ... ksy1r80fCe
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Ol'fogasaurus
- Posts: 17881
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
Going back over what I wrote: I think my comment on Koni's was said wrong or could be taken wrong. I have heard good things about them but never have used/driven/personal experience with them. I hadn't had any experience with Bilstein shocks before either but so far, I am fairly well impressed with them.
Lee
Lee
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Steve Arndt
- Posts: 7420
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
I bought my koni red specials nos new for 100 bucks. Is that price 84IM posted for 1 or a pair of shocks?
They are plush and nice even on the third/hardest click setting. 100 times nicer than bilstein. I tried both.
They are plush and nice even on the third/hardest click setting. 100 times nicer than bilstein. I tried both.
Steve
My Baja Build
My Baja Build
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buildabiggerboxer
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z7e2tb3fp5g2z ... 3.23-1.jpg
These are the gas spax shock, and the commonly available stock replacement direct bolt on shock, they are 14 click adjustable on rebound only, not two way, they were the control shock for the beetle race series here in UK. they are budget priced but the quality and durability is so good they last indefinitely, I carry 25 year old shocks as spares and they work as originally supplied, it's only the adjusters that go AWOL and get a bit vaque in operation, but hey, I play with mine all the time and from track to track, so no probs with street use, if you can find some stateside at a good price, you won't go wrong, over here we can have them revalved and dyno'd checked for equal balance across the axle, and more besides according to race scrutinisers! Spax also do high spec race shocks right up to formula car specs, great for us Brits, but Generally, sticking to the wisdom from the guys^^^^ above that have local knowledge of conditions and product availability stateside would be my advice as to what's available, and the price range of course, probably Konies would be cheaper than Spax due to volume importation.
Mine are relocated, and in this position at the outboard end of the diagonal arm need to be run soft at about half the original shock location valve settings due to the decreased leverage acting on the shock, the original hard settings used with the re located shock threw the handling into the drift car over steer league, they have been moved for diffusor/clearance purposes and with a planed move to coil overs on the cards when cash flow allows. The top shock mounts are now tied into the roll cage, again, ready for increased coil over loads....
These are the gas spax shock, and the commonly available stock replacement direct bolt on shock, they are 14 click adjustable on rebound only, not two way, they were the control shock for the beetle race series here in UK. they are budget priced but the quality and durability is so good they last indefinitely, I carry 25 year old shocks as spares and they work as originally supplied, it's only the adjusters that go AWOL and get a bit vaque in operation, but hey, I play with mine all the time and from track to track, so no probs with street use, if you can find some stateside at a good price, you won't go wrong, over here we can have them revalved and dyno'd checked for equal balance across the axle, and more besides according to race scrutinisers! Spax also do high spec race shocks right up to formula car specs, great for us Brits, but Generally, sticking to the wisdom from the guys^^^^ above that have local knowledge of conditions and product availability stateside would be my advice as to what's available, and the price range of course, probably Konies would be cheaper than Spax due to volume importation.
Mine are relocated, and in this position at the outboard end of the diagonal arm need to be run soft at about half the original shock location valve settings due to the decreased leverage acting on the shock, the original hard settings used with the re located shock threw the handling into the drift car over steer league, they have been moved for diffusor/clearance purposes and with a planed move to coil overs on the cards when cash flow allows. The top shock mounts are now tied into the roll cage, again, ready for increased coil over loads....
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shepherd
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:30 am
Re: Spax shock absorbers
That is good info Buildabiggerboxer, thanks. I found a good deal on the red Koni's for the front, but in the rear I have a torque bar from the upper shock mounts to the frame horns. Unbolting this jungle gym to remove and adjust the shocks seems sort of masochistic. The externally adjustable shocks look to be the hot ticket. From the spas website they say the compression and rebound are both adjustable, maybe they have changed since you bought them? I am going to figure out the cost to ship a pair of rears to the US, and will follow up.. SD
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buildabiggerboxer
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
Hi mate, the unit price and number of adjusters will give it away, I see one adjuster, and they seem to use generic illustrations for all models, I suspect the advert wording is a touch generic also lol. Their competition dampers are quality but the price is too, I'm not nit picking, but you get what you pay for, BUT, there is nothing wrong with single point adjusters if that's what they turn out to be, and they may well have a different product range for their overseas operations, but i have quite an inventory of shocks, including Leda double adjust, but I come back to the Spax single point because they are fast to work with, I'm firmly in the less is more camp, complexity and weight only keeps folk in the workshop while the simple guys get trackside! what did us old boys do before 5 bar braces? Well we did it in less intrusive ways, it only takes some tack welds and replacing the rubber mounting in the rear wheel arch chassis bracket with a steel spacer plate to tie the upper shock mounts down solid, it weighs and costs nothin 
..
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shepherd
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Re: Spax shock absorbers
To follow up a bit, The Spax I was quoted adjust compression and rebound with the same knob. The Spax G038/1 for the rear would have been $360 for a pair shipped here! I had a few people steer me towards the GAZ brand shocks, as they have an externally adjustable line of dampers also. Their GT5-2301 is has similar adjustment, 1 knob for compression and rebound, and I have found them for $200 delivered. I am waiting for some additional specs (how many adjustments?, rebuildable?), but will probably try a pair as the online feedback is pretty solid. I just put the Koni's on the front of the car and can't wait to take it for a hard ride.