Gen II suspension options

[Dizzel]

Hello all,

I'm a new owner of a 2000 ACR. My car needs new struts and I've been combing several different places and have found several different options. I decided that, for now, I'm looking for a full coilover replacement. I wanted to post what I had found and the general opinions that went with them so that others in the future would hopefully have a one stop post to let them know what the community felt about the different options. Hopefully some of you even have more solutions then I have found. I'll try to update this top post to reflect the new info. If you own or have tried any of these I list, please leave a comment about what you thought about them. The more info, the better. Just keep it civil. I don't think your suspension is "bad" or that you are cheap or ignorant. This is just a collection of, poorly, gathered information and opinions. The top will just be about the options. The bottom will explain more of my situation if you care to help. I'll also update that with what I decide to do an how I feel about it after an adjustment period. I hope you find this useful!

Aldan Eagle 066:
http://www.viperpartsrack.com/viper-.../custom-shocks
These are considered the most cheap. I have yet to read any thread that endorses these. Most people don't like them and will tell you to avoid them. If you had a good experience with these, please let me know.

BC Racing Z-07-RB
https://shop.bcracing-na.com/product...20256231325784
These have a mixed opinion. Some people see them as cheap, others seem to really like them. They seem to be fine if you are just looking to cruise. These should be considered the bare minimum.

KW VARIANT 2 COILOVER KIT:
https://www.kwsuspensions.com/produc...-15227004.html
These are considered expensive but worth it. One of the two top tier options for this car.

Motion Control Suspension:
https://motioncontrolsuspension.com/...tions-pricing/
Yes, I know that page kinda sucks, I didn't make it. These are the other top tier suspension for Gen IIs. I've read many posts about people who like these. The only two problems seem to be pricing and choosing which type to get. Most people seem to agree on the 2 Way. Only get more adjustments if you know what they do and track your car.

Rebuild/New:
I currently don't have any info yet on these. If/When I get responses on their availability I'll update this section.

Unknown:
https://www.viperpartsusa.com/produc...ble-1996-2002/
I don't know who makes these and as a result I haven't been able to find any reviews. They say they use Hyperco Springs but do not mention the strut. If anyone knows who makes these or have tried them, please let me know. They are pretty expensive for no-name coils.

My tale of woe:
When I bought my car it had roughly 47,400 miles on it. I then drove it 7 hours(5 of which were in the rain and quite terrifying) from Florida to South Carolina. On this drive the car was extremely bouncy. On the highway when I would cross a bridge, the initial lip would cause massive longitudinal oscillations. Like stuff in the trunk was catching air. Then getting off the bridge would not be as bad, but not nice either. It made the car feel very unsteady and not conducive for long drives. I get home and start my research. My car, being an ACR, has the Koni's on it and I found a fair amount of posts where people were complaining about the rear springs being too stiff. Normally to be directly followed be someone else posting about how the car is meant to be driven on the track and you don't know what you're talking about. So I sucked it up and drove the car around for two weeks. It was so bouncy that I was embarrassed to be seen jumping all over for the smallest bumps. To make matters worse, my wife has Miata that is slammed on some BCs. It's less bouncy! So I decided to get some new coilovers. Before I came to a decision I had to change the coolant out for some antifreeze. As I was jacking the car up, about a half cup of fluid suddenly dropped down from beside the front left tire. Great. I get the car up on the lift and sure enough, the left front strut just barfed out all of its fluid. The remaining struts all had the greasy look of 21 year old seals slowly seeping out small amounts of fluid. I needed new struts. I have read many different opinions about putting different spring rates on different struts but haven't talked to any experts. Since I couldn't find any solid info I decided to go with a coilover that had been engineered for the car. Having said that, I don't really feel great about the options I have found for the car. Right now I am thinking about just getting my suspension rebuilt or buying a new set of stock struts. I can't say how I feel about that since I never had a chance to drive a stock set of ACR struts that weren't dying. Are they too stiff? Are the Springs too stiff? I don't know. Any advice would be appreciated. For now I'll contact Koni and see if a rebuild is even an option. Hopefully someone has found something that is helpful for me and others and I can post it in an easy to find place. Thanks for the help!

[GTS Dean]

Early ACRs had Koni 2812's and they were very good shocks. Later ones had Dynamic shocks that were heavily oversprung and prone to seal failure. It could be that your shocks are simply adjusted full soft, or full stiff. They could have lost their nitrogen charge and ruined the internals thru fluid cavitation. It would be wise to pull all the wheels off and inspect each corner to determine brand, current adjustment settings, fluid leakage, or visible damage before you shit-can them.

[Dizzel]

GTS Dean,
Excellent advice! I have already noted some fluid leakage. I have noticed a complete lack of information in the owners manual about how to adjust the shocks. From below I see a perch ring for the spring followed by a locking ring right under it. With the wheel off I assume I will find a knob to adjust the damping. Is this correct? I haven't found any info on how to do any other type of adjustment on these shocks. Based on what you have said I'm currently leaning on trying to be these Koni's repaired.

[GTS Dean]

Click on 2812 model for adjustment guide: https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthA...stment-Guides/

[fuzzystig]

I was in a similar boat - albeit on a non-ACR Gen 2, with the blue Koni’s - and went with the MCS option. I had called a few shops to get quotes for rebuilding the stock struts, and it’s totally feasible (one shop in Sonoma CA quoted me somewhere near $100 per shock) and would probably be a good option if you want to keep the car stock (and since you have the fancy Koni’s from the ACR!)

I went with the MCS 1WNR since i plan to track the car a good bit, and had heard great things about running high spring rates with these dampers. I’m super happy with them! The car is 90% street this last year, and even in the Bay Area i don’t have any major complaints. It’ll get a little skittish and bouncy on the worst backroads we have here, but besides that it’s awesome. Even drove it out to Houston and back, and found it to be comfortable the whole way! I wasn’t expecting the comfort of a normal car, but I’m very happy with what i got.

[TAG1080]

I had some issues with my Koni's as well and had them rebuilt by an Indycar Engineer here in town. He has dealt with 2812's many times in the past and was able to source parts I needed (seals, bushings) and give me a little lesson on them.

If you are looking to rebuild them, let me know as I am sure he would take on the work. If not, I might be willing to buy yours in their current condition.

[river rat]

what's your plan for the car? I don't track mine, so I went with the BC coilovers with swift springs on my 00 GTS. I think it rides better than stock.

[Fatboy 18]

I just bought a set of 2812 Koni shocks with Hyper coil springs for the rear of my car, looking for a front pair now......

[Dizzel]

Thanks for all the great info! I'm sorry I started this thread and then ghosted everybody. I have an ongoing family emergency that has just been taking up all my energy. Anyway...

Right now I'm leaning towards keeping my Konis and getting them rebuilt. The car will mainly be street driven until I get used to it enough to try and push it on a road course. I've honesty never handled anything like what the Viper is capable and so without more experience and instruction that won't be for awhile. I thought about getting softer springs but don't want to take away any of the ACR-ness. I reached out to Koni and they said they don't rebuild them anymore but offered these two shops as authorized rebuilders:

https://performanceshock.com/index.p...oducts_id=1155

And

https://propartsusa.com/pages/shock-services

I have reached out to the first shop to see what they say. They also test springs so I'm currently kind of leaning that way to give the whole 21 year old system a run down. The second shop list rebuilds of the 2812s as $200 a strut plus parts.

GTS Dean- Thanks for the adjustment link. I'm embarrassed to say I did look on their site and couldn't find anything myself. Internet fail. You still want those pictures when I get them?

TAG1080- I saw in a much older post where you recommended Indycar Engineer and just assumed that they didn't exist anymore. They don't come up on Google, do they have a website?

[Viperenvy]

Great purchase!

Give me a call 248-705-1245.

Let's talk the only purpose built Gen II.

[LegionofDoom]

Also did MCS 1WNRs, have been very happy. Replaced bushings with polyurethane at the same time - car is much more composed over bumps despite being lower and running higher rates. I'm in the bay area too, it's little harsh on some of the nasty expansion joints around here, but backroads are much better whether smooth or bumpy. Previously, the rear axle skipped over any kind of high frequency roughness, and sometimes felt a little slow to settle into smooth sweepers. I'm sure bushings are a big part of improving driver confidence, but both upgrades worthwhile in my experience.

Fuzzystig, see you up at Alice's sometime

[fuzzystig]

Also did MCS 1WNRs, have been very happy. Replaced bushings with polyurethane at the same time - car is much more composed over bumps despite being lower and running higher rates. I'm in the bay area too, it's little harsh on some of the nasty expansion joints around here, but backroads are much better whether smooth or bumpy. Previously, the rear axle skipped over any kind of high frequency roughness, and sometimes felt a little slow to settle into smooth sweepers. I'm sure bushings are a big part of improving driver confidence, but both upgrades worthwhile in my experience.

Fuzzystig, see you up at Alice's sometime

Good to hear. I’m hoping to finish up my poly bushing install this week - car’s been on the lift for too long waiting on missing parts from the kit! We’ll see you up there!

[Dizzel]

Another update:

I have both rear struts removed. One is definitely blown and the other may have died a slow death. I ran out of time to remove the fronts. I have also noticed that both the front and back sway bar end links on both sides are super bad. So now I'm on the look out for some replacements. I'd like to find OEM ones but so far I've only been able to get them from third party sellers and $700 seems a bit high to me. That's more then the rebuild of the struts will cost(per corner.) Speaking of which...

I heard back from Performance Shock, Inc. (PSi) about rebuilding the 2812s. They quoted me $328 per strut assuming the internal hard parts of the strut were not damaged. If they are, then I would need to pay for parts. They did warn me that if they find significant scoring to the body of the strut, internally or externally, that they wouldn't be able to fix that since Koni no longer makes the bodies and that they would need to be replaced with a different manufacturer. So, do I feel lucky, punk?

[dave6666]

I use the MOOG sway bar links on my 2001. About $90 for all 4. I've installed them on several Gen 2s.

MOOG K750518 Stabilizer Bar End Link / Bushing $ 15.01
MOOG K750254 Stabilizer Bar End Link / Bushing $ 26.79

[Dizzel]

MOOG is so tempting. All four for the cost of one OEM. Tough to beat.

[usmcfieldmp]

I also have the MOOG end links on my car. With something as simple as an end link, I wouldn't even think twice about going non-OEM. MOOG is a pretty good aftermarket brand, as well.

I was in a similar boat - albeit on a non-ACR Gen 2, with the blue Koni’s - and went with the MCS option. I had called a few shops to get quotes for rebuilding the stock struts, and it’s totally feasible (one shop in Sonoma CA quoted me somewhere near $100 per shock) and would probably be a good option if you want to keep the car stock (and since you have the fancy Koni’s from the ACR!)

Interesting. I was under the impression that the Blue Koni's were not rebuildable (due to a welded body, iirc). Someone on here told me that.

I have two sets of them in my garage... so if there were rebuildable, that would be a definite plus for me.

[Fatboy 18]

I also have the MOOG end links on my car. With something as simple as an end link, I wouldn't even think twice about going non-OEM. MOOG is a pretty good aftermarket brand, as well.



Interesting. I was under the impression that the Blue Koni's were not rebuildable (due to a welded body, iirc). Someone on here told me that.

I have two sets of them in my garage... so if there were re-buildable, that would be a definite plus for me.

You are correct, the stock blue Konis are not re-buildable, Dizzel is talking about the 1998 Koni ACR 2812 Shocks, these were fitted for one year only. then the ACR went to the Dynamic shocks.

[usmcfieldmp]

You are correct, the stock blue Konis are not re-buildable, Dizzel is talking about the 1998 Koni ACR 2812 Shocks, these were fitted for one year only. then the ACR went to the Dynamic shocks.

Right, I knew about the ACR shocks being rebuildable - both Koni and Dynamic sets. 'fuzzystig' mentioned the blue Koni's though and having quotes for a rebuild. I'm guessing the shop heard 'Koni' and 'rebuild' and just assumed they'd be able to do it.

I've seen people say that the Dynamics aren't capable of being rebuilt either and I know that to be false. So I'm just trying to be sure before I throw out some old dampers, lol.

[nrs1]

Right, I knew about the ACR shocks being rebuildable - both Koni and Dynamic sets. 'fuzzystig' mentioned the blue Koni's though and having quotes for a rebuild. I'm guessing the shop heard 'Koni' and 'rebuild' and just assumed they'd be able to do it.

I've seen people say that the Dynamics aren't capable of being rebuilt either and I know that to be false. So I'm just trying to be sure before I throw out some old dampers, lol.

I've had my OEM 97 blue Konis rebuilt/revalved and dyno'd via connection through Parts Rack/JonB. They worked great before I moved on to MCS's from SPT/Dan Cragin.

[fuzzystig]

Right, I knew about the ACR shocks being rebuildable - both Koni and Dynamic sets. 'fuzzystig' mentioned the blue Koni's though and having quotes for a rebuild. I'm guessing the shop heard 'Koni' and 'rebuild' and just assumed they'd be able to do it.

I've seen people say that the Dynamics aren't capable of being rebuilt either and I know that to be false. So I'm just trying to be sure before I throw out some old dampers, lol.

Huh interesting. I guess that is the way with this stuff - one person says you can, another you can’t. Very possible, like you said, they just assumed you could. I’m not sure - but I can tell you the MCS’s work great!

[usmcfieldmp]

I've had my OEM 97 blue Konis rebuilt/revalved and dyno'd via connection through Parts Rack/JonB. They worked great before I moved on to MCS's from SPT/Dan Cragin.

Thanks, good to know. I'll have to reach out to Jon B then.