Thx for the followups. I since heard from a Cavalier guru who says the shocks are not interchangeable between pre- and post-95 models (known as the J-body cars in GM lingo). He said Koni stopped making adjustable shocks for the pre-95 cars about 5 years ago. BUT he said owners of such cars have figured out they can use Koni yellows made for older Saab 900s. So maybe those shocks will work on our cars, too. Hmmm...the plot thickens!

 

So does my daughter. I did too long time ago.

 

Bilstein - KYB - Rancho - Monroe - Edelbrock Automotive Truck Shocks and Struts - Shockwarehouse.com


MA811 Monroe Airshocks Pair - Shockwarehouse.com

 

According to my application book the 79-93 Saab900s have an upper M10 stem but the lower bushing is 12 mm, not 10 mm so a sleeve would be required.84-92 Cav rear shocks are shown with 13 to 22" travel while Saabs are 11 to 17". MA811's show 13 to 22" travel.Fits are about the same.

 

That's very close to the GM A-body (68-73? LeMans, Chevelle, Cutlass) FRONT shocks that I'm running. I need to see what end treatment is on those size-wise, but the general layout is the same. My single-adjustable QA1's are pretty flexible from a configuration standpoint, and they work well, too.

HF

 

Wow! How are those A-body shocks working for you?

 

I think I need to clarify a bit... I'm running those GM A-body shocks on my Plymouth A-body, not the Fit. The GM and Plymouth shocks are similar, except that the GM parts are shorter, with different loop/pin sizes. I needed a shorter shock for my lowered Plymouth Valiant, and the GM parts fit the bill nearly perfectly - AFTER I changed the upper pin isolator and the lower bushing sleeve. The QA1 shocks are almost completely modular, so you can swap parts around pretty easily, once you get the basic dimensions you need. That's what made me think they MIGHT work OK on the Fit, but I haven't tried them yet.

How do they work? GREAT! The shocks on my Valiant are single-adjustable, tweaking compression and rebound at the same time with one knob. My front springs are about 330#/in, so I need to set the shocks on 7 clicks up from full soft for a nice ride. My Valiant weighs roughly 50% more than the Fit, so the Fit might only need to be on 3 or 4 clicks up from full soft in the rear. It would be nice to have the same # of clicks of adjustment on a shock more realistically valved for the Fit from the start. I'll give QA1 a call and see what they can do. These shocks are fully rebuildable, so it should be cake.

HF

 

Today we had the chance to fully wring out the stock Fit suspension front with the MA811 airlifts rear and it is great.
VIR is a reincarnation of a track built in the 50's with a hiatus between 1970 and about 2000. It is a great track with enough elevation changes and variable corners to test any vehicle, particularly the uphill esses and the roller coaster downhill.
My Fit as setup as before mentioned had no trouble with tearing thru all the corners under full, if inadequate, power. Even if you weren't expecting to carry heavy loads I recommend the air lifts.
The Fit was almost neutral in all sections and always flew exactly where it was pointed.
For anyone who wants to see what a lap at vir like is you can go to "hyundai sundae at VIR" on you tube to watch No, you won't see Fit straightaway speed but you will corners..
you should also know my Fit is shod with 205/40x17 Nitto tires on 42 mm offset wheels, making the track about an inch wider than stock. Shocks set at 40 psig with empty trunk.Would like to played with psig but didn't have a chance.
Even better, mpg for 40 miles to the track, 20 minutes on track, and 40 miles back still yielded 32.4 mpg. (using sport mode with manual shifting.

Latest runs at VIR still show my Fit is unable to break 100 on either straight. I have to shift at about 6000rpm from 3rd to 4th and there's not quite enough room left to get much over 95 (96 best). Using Hawk pads lets me delay braking almost to 1 but that doesn't help. The nice thibng is how well the Monroe AirLifts let the FIT carve corners: the uphill esses are taken all out and speeds get up to 80+ at the top, very good for 109 hp. Anyone with heavy loaded rear should have these MA811
shocks.
About that manual shifted soport mode: Honda needs to change the paddle actuation. Like most competition drivers I shuffle steer meaning my hands generally stay on their side of the steering wheel, shuffling the wheel back and forth for maximum contact and control of the wheel. Hondas paddles turn with the steering wheel and that makes chasing the paddles tough, especially remembering where the upshift and downshift paddles are. There is too much hand and steering wheel movement for the paddle system. Honda needs to have a half-ring on each side of but independent of the wheel that actuates the shifts. The right side half-ring for upshifts and the left side half-ring for downshifts. That way the shifting mode is always at hand. Now they aren't and I may have found a new fastest hands game contender. We'll look to see how our shop can do that. cheers.
And again, for the 45 mile trip there, an hour's running, and trip back still netted 30.5 mpg.
Not bad for 2020 car.

 

Fascinating. What PSI were you running?

Also, a question to anyone who knows: What defines the upper and lower rear suspension travel limits? I don't see any bumpstops under there...

 

Wow, very smooth driving! Doesn't look like there were many cars on the track, either - only one car in view, and he didn't pop up until the end of the video. Best of all, you passed them on the straight... Fit Power!

BTW, other than the wheels/tires, is your suspension otherwise stock? I'm guessing you've still got the original springs in?

HF

 

Just wanted to confirm the fact that 95+ (3rd gen cavi's) do not use the same suspension as the pre 95.

If your looking for more info about 2nd gen suspension check out v6Z24.com (or .org, I forgot)

 

Nice run, Mahout. I'm envious. I've heard VIR is a great track.

In the vid, I heard some tire squeal coming out of tight corners. Was that the inside front tire lifting a little, or were you understeering?

 

Darkstar,
since you are VW tech you can maybe answer my question.
I am going by memory from years ago about my friend's Mk1 and MK2 Golfs. Fronts were struts, just like a Fit and rears were dampers with separate spring, just like a Fit.
Can you do some measuring to see if we can use VW Koni set up on a Fit?
If holes for the hub assembly are lining up and if they do it at the right angle to match. On the back if bolt openings on the damper are the same and if not how much off are they. Maybe we can add washers or metal tubing.
I am just afraid that my friend's Koni's were not externally adjustable. I am not sure anymore.
Thanks,
Ivan

 

The video is of a Hyundai Azera, 268 hp worth, and the car passed is an MR2. 268 hp ouruns 200 hp on the straight any day. The Fit takes so long to cover the front or back straight you have time to read a book. The Azera gets 148; the Fit 97.
The tire squeal came from both sides. The rear video has blue smoke off both front wheels thanks to the electronic limited slip.

 

AH, and here I was thinking it was a view from a Fit, and was saying to myself, "gee, it looks like the Fit really does generate some velocity on the track..." Ah, well.

I've heard about driving instructors working with H-Stock guys and wishing they had brought a sandwich along for the drive. Nice...

HF

 

I've added well over 400lbs into the back of my car on several occasions with my Tein Basics and they handle the weight very well and actually ride smoother with 200+lbs in the back. Only draw back I've found was the rear springs have less travel and can bottom out if you hit a big enough bump. Then again a small hatch isn't supposed to be carrying 300+lbs in the back at all times.

 

Just for my own information, I pulled one of my rear shocks this afternoon to take some measurements. Here they are in a nutshell, to use when you hit those shock catalogs:

Length (center of lower loop to bottom of upper washer):
extended = 20-13/16"
compressed = 17" (@ internal bump stop)

Ends:
Lower loop = 0.409" ID, 1.565" OD
Upper stud = 0.381" @ threads
Upper sleeve = 0.554" dia
Upper washer = 1.910" dia

There is a rubber bushing that mounts to the body and isolates the shock on the upper end. The sleeve on the upper end of the shock slips through that bushing, and a nut/washer on the top end compresses on the bushing. You have to use a 5mm Allen wrench on the top to hold the stud while you break the nut loose. On the bottom end, it's just a single 14mm bolt that clamps the loop between the ears of the shock mount. Really a piece of cake to remove.

Now to see what looks like it will fit those dimensions...

FWIW, I called the QA1 tech line about revalving their shocks to provide a better range of adjustment for a lighter car than my Valiant. They said that the double-adjustable shocks wouldn't need to be revalved like the single-adjustables might, so that would be my pick at least. The SA's would probalby just leave a bunch of adjustment unused. Here's one option from QA1 that appears to be in the ballpark - DTC1915P at Summit Racing. $300 for a true double-adjudtable shock that's rebuildable. Might still need to play with end treatments to get them just right, but I bet it wouldn't take much.

HF

 

HEMI, does it look like the shock defines the suspension's travel limits, or are there separate bumpstops?

 

richard612,
I honestly didn't think to look for an external bump stop, but it sure felt like there was one internal to the shock. I'd go look now, but my car is stuffed up under the carport waiting on a hail storm to develop... For such a long shock, it doesn't have much travel - the shock I mentioned above has 4" more travel for the same overall length. That could be a real issue, unless there are some external bump stops that can mount on the shock. I think many struts have something similar.

HF

 

Thanks... One of my concerns is that a too-long shock could permit spring ejection or promote brake-line stress at extreme rebound. I guess one could learn about this easily enough by unbolting the rear shocks and lifting the rear-end of the car while observing everything under there.