2016 SRT - Suspension Options

diablovox

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What are my options for a medium comfort suspension on my SRT (didn't come with the bilstein system like the GTS). I don't plan to track it, need something balanced.

The previous owner lowered the car among other idiotic things and then sold the car in a few months, i think he realized he's been a *******.

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Steve M

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If it was my car, I'd look closely at MCS 1-way (rebound only) adjustable shocks with something like 500 lbs/in front and 800 lbs/in rear spring rates. I've been running MCS 2-way (compression + rebound) adjustable shocks for ~9 years on my '08, and I've been quite pleased with them, but it was a bit of a pain to mount the external reservoirs - you won't have to deal with that with the 1-way adjustables. You'll still also be able to adjust the ride height, so you can crank it right back up to the OEM 4x4 ride height if you so desire.

It won't be as cheap as something like what BC Racing offers, but I tend to go a little higher end on shocks since they have such a dramatic impact on ride quality and overall comfort & stability.
 

MoparMap

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I have the MCS singles on my 04 and do think they are a very nice quality shock, but I also think they are a definitely a harsher ride than you would get with stock. Even cranked down they are moderately aggressive, though that might be more a function of the spring rates than the damping. I have actually debating upgrading to the dual adjustable because I think you could get a better compromise out of them for the street with setting compression down to absorb the bumps, but keeping the rebound a bit higher so the wheel settles back down more slowly.
 
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diablovox

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I have the MCS singles on my 04 and do think they are a very nice quality shock, but I also think they are a definitely a harsher ride than you would get with stock. Even cranked down they are moderately aggressive, though that might be more a function of the spring rates than the damping. I have actually debating upgrading to the dual adjustable because I think you could get a better compromise out of them for the street with setting compression down to absorb the bumps, but keeping the rebound a bit higher so the wheel settles back down more slowly.
Would something like this do the trick? https://shop.bcracing-na.com/products/13-dodge-viper?variant=20256233717848
 
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diablovox

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If it was my car, I'd look closely at MCS 1-way (rebound only) adjustable shocks with something like 500 lbs/in front and 800 lbs/in rear spring rates. I've been running MCS 2-way (compression + rebound) adjustable shocks for ~9 years on my '08, and I've been quite pleased with them, but it was a bit of a pain to mount the external reservoirs - you won't have to deal with that with the 1-way adjustables. You'll still also be able to adjust the ride height, so you can crank it right back up to the OEM 4x4 ride height if you so desire.

It won't be as cheap as something like what BC Racing offers, but I tend to go a little higher end on shocks since they have such a dramatic impact on ride quality and overall comfort & stability.
what are those higher end brands?
 

MoparMap

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what are those higher end brands?
I think they might have the same issue as the singles I have in that the rebound and adjustment change at the same time with every click. I believe Prefix offers these in their upgrade package though, so guessing they must be at least somewhat decent shocks.
 

Steve M

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I have the MCS singles on my 04 and do think they are a very nice quality shock, but I also think they are a definitely a harsher ride than you would get with stock. Even cranked down they are moderately aggressive, though that might be more a function of the spring rates than the damping. I have actually debating upgrading to the dual adjustable because I think you could get a better compromise out of them for the street with setting compression down to absorb the bumps, but keeping the rebound a bit higher so the wheel settles back down more slowly.
You'll certainly buy yourself more adjustability, but it may not be in a range that matters to you for overall comfort on the street.

There are two additional thing you can adjust with the 2-ways over the 1-ways:

1. Compression
2. Canister pressures

For comfort (street driving), I generally run the compression settings at full soft or 1-click up from full soft. It only goes stiffer from there - one click makes a very noticeable difference. If full soft doesn't quite cut it, you can lower the canister pressures, but there's only so much that will do from my experience. FWIW, I've found that the factory fill of 175 psi seems to be the sweet spot for street driving, so again, there really isn't as much adjustability as you might hope. As always, your mileage may vary.

And just so folks are aware, adjusting the canister pressure requires some additional equipment, and it isn't cheap - something along the lines of this:


You might be able to piece together something that's a little more affordable, but it will require some legwork. The biggest issue I've found is refilling the small nitrogen tank that comes in that kit (which is essentially a relabeled paintball marker tank, albeit a non-standard size). Any welding supply store will have nitrogen, but most won't have any clue how to fill the smaller tank. FYI, the Power Tank kit linked above includes the required adapter to fill it from any larger mother bottle with a standard size outlet valve (a CGA580 if I'm not mistaken). Those that can or will do it will look for the hydrostatic test date on the Power Tank bottle - once it goes out of hydro (5 years for aluminum tanks), you'll have to find a place to recertify it. Until then, they won't touch it. Paintball shops can do this, but most will likely outsource it to someone that regularly deals with fire extinguishers in your local area. I can assure you, it is a royal PITA, so much so that I ended up just buying my own small-ish (20 cu. ft.) nitrogen mother tank so I could do it myself and then just exchange the larger tanks when needed (and the welding supply company takes care of any hydro testing requirements on the larger tank). That was another ~$200, and is probably even more now.

You really do need a refill kit of some sort, because the extra lines and fittings that go along with the external canisters slowly leak over time, so it becomes a regular maintenance item (usually once per year/driving season).

That's a lot of words, so if you take away anything from my drivel, make it this:

Buyer beware, and try before you buy if at all possible to make sure that additional adjustability is worth it and will do what you need.
 
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MoparMap

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Very handy writeup, thanks! Even the singles are supposed to be rebuilt every so often based on what MCS has told me, though I've had mine on the car for years now and haven't yet bothered. I'm guessing I could probably soften the spring rates a tad if I really wanted a nicer ride, but have never bothered messing with it as I'm just kind of used to it at this point. I have smaller helper springs on the car to help take up some gap, so I'm fairly sure I'd have the travel to go with a lighter spring rate, though I'm not sure if the shock would be as well tuned for it or not with the valving I got.
 

Steve M

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Yeah, I'm probably past due for a rebuild, but they still seem to be working quite well, which is why I haven't bothered.

I have 500/800 lb/in front/rear spring rates. If you do get yours rebuilt, you can probably also get them re-valved for lighter springs, but I'd have no idea what adjustments you'd need to make, and what effect it would have overall.

I feel like what I have is a pretty good sweet spot - they are firm enough to keep my lowered car from bottoming out everywhere, but not too harsh. Not great for drag racing though...:confused:
 

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