qa1 shocks?

[fv58]

Hello,my brother got qa1 frt shocks with his formula first he bought i was just wondering if anybody has used these for formula first if so any idea on valving to start with.The car is jim smalleys old car caracal d,we are istalling inboard frt shocks and i want to make sure these will be an okay start as the more expensive shocks are out of his buget thanks in advance

[samiam520]

I tried the Proma-Star double adjustable on my FST and they did not work for me. They were to stiff and could not be re-valved.

[fv58]

The shocks we have are the small body shocks that are adjustable,you have to revalve them with shims of different sizes at the bottom of piston shft very easy to do,i just don't know if these will be okay as they are not gas charged,my concern is the shock being consitant during a race.any feedback would be great.dave

[samiam520]

FV58

Using gas to pressurize the fluid column inside the shock body inhibits cavitation, which is the foaming of the shock fluid that occurs near the piston as it passes through the fluid. Most racing shocks are a twin tube design and have a pressurized chamber.
I am not sure if your shocks are a twin tube or mono tube design. On a FV or FST I have seen non pressured shocks that perform OK, however, pressure is better. I have watched my shocks on the dyno and it is amazing how the performance will drop without the pressure.

Good Luck

[fv58]

they are a twin tube design,there is gas bag inside the outside chamber,the inner tube houses the piston and valves, i guess we will try them and see,if not we will go with a different shock thanks for the help.

[Bill Bonow]

Use the shocks you have to get the car going (on the track). Shock tuning is one of those fun things you do to improve performance. It's not manditory to do proir to the first race

[problemchild]

FV58,

If they are not gas-charged then they may need to be closer to vertical, than horizontal, to work, nevermind work well.

[samiam520]

I couldn't agree more with Bill, they should be fine for getting to the track and doing some initial evaluation. I like the fact that they are re-valveable and I would encourage you to experiment with different compression and rebound valving. Another thing to consider is you mentioned that you are mounting them inboard. Try to get the motion ratio of the shock to 1:1 with the wheel. in other words, if the wheel moves up 1" then the shock should move 1" This will make the shock work more efficiently.