Green Lantern feels the Very Cool "Breeze"

[Erik W. Treves]

So in the quest for the best all around street machine that is a point and shoot weapon that can also be used to go to Walmart I knew I needed to go to the next step. I have been (as always) speaking with Wayne about how I wanted to improve the handling of the GL and we/I opted for spring upgrade two years ago...went 600#'s in the front and 450#'s in the back. The balance is fantastic! For the first year and even the long ride up to LCS and back 8 hours...not bad. Lately however, with my back being damaged from helicopter flying in the Army, I have been again speaking with Wayne about other options....I was leaning towards the Konis..he asked if I had considered trying the Breeze setup...I honestly hadn't. Well the weather has been so nice, I have been driving the GL every day to work and on other quick stops here and there. Already passed 1400 mile since the rebuild of the motor and closing in on 10,000 miles!...well my BACK is not happy...SO........ TA DA!...... here are the Double Adjustable Rears Wayne sent me! I still have to buy the fronts (in a couple of weeks). They look awesome. To bad I have to hide them behind the wheel. Here is one all assembled...not final. Just put together to ensure I understood the directions..which are quite good Mark! Thanks Wayne and Mark! (my back thanks you more) .....course...."oh great" more knobs to adjust....lol...guess I will start in the middle and go from there...

Ya think the Green Lantern will put some stress on these puppies?? The shaft is SO thick, I have no doubt it will just laugh at the all the curved mountain roads and 689 RWTQ it will see

[5.8Cobra]

Nice setup at a nice price as well. As with all of Marks parts. Keep us posted on ride quality. By the way, did you beef up the 3 link mounts to handle all that torque?

Mike

[David Hodgkins]

Wow, that looks REALLY nice. LOVE the adjusters! So much easier than the Koni's

[Erik W. Treves]

Originally Posted by 5.8Cobra

Nice setup at a nice price as well. As with all of Marks parts. Keep us posted on ride quality. By the way, did you beef up the 3 link mounts to handle all that torque?

Mike

you bet...I made a custom frame mount support and added a VPM banana bracket support. I also spot welded the banana bracket to the rear end and added some more tacks to the axle tubes...should be ok....I hope

[QSL]

i am wondering if those springs will still be seated when you set ride height? Thats what i hate about the stock shocks. i think thats scary. Let us know. they do look good. I really like the external adjustment.

[cobracruz]

Ok, I'm drooling...
So did you keep the same spring rates? Also, what were the original shocks? I've been looking at these for a while. My Ride is smooth, but way too much roll on a tight road track.
Please, keep us updated!

[CraigS]

I am looking forward to you post about tuning them. I have the DA Konis and the bump is a real pain to change. I am envious of your ease of adjustment.

[Lex]

I see those are 300# rears. What rates are you going to run on the front?

[Erik W. Treves]

the spring rates in the back were 450# and 600# Front on Bilstiens.

Going to 300# and 500# on QA1. I wanted to change one end at a time so I could do some learning.

[Chepsk8]

I'm also curious on where your settings will end up - compression and rebound.

A new set of shocks are on my short list since I still have the gold Pro-Shocks on. I know I can further improve my car with some new shocks. I also have the 650F/450 rear set up, and right now the ride is very stiff. I am sure new shocks with the proper settings will help.

[Erik W. Treves]

I was looking at the QA1 website... I am going to start with 8 clicks on both rebound and compression and go from there.

Shocks with two adjuster knobs:

Drag Racing: 12-16 clicks compression and 0-4 clicks rebound

Other Applications: 2-8 clicks compression and rebound for nice ride and handling;
8-12 clicks for firm ride and improved handling;
13+ clicks for more aggressive handling

[Erik W. Treves]

ok..part 1 of 2 complete! QA1's installed!

First and most important. The ride is much better!! Right now I have the rebound and compression set at 8-clicks...will probably leave it that way for right now. Played around with the car in the parking lot and the car felt good....really need to corner weight the car..but need to get the front shocks first. For now my back feels better.

The install was pretty straight forward as were the directions.

Some notes...

the right shock adjusters I faced inboard, however, because of the 3-link bracket I had to face the left shock adjusters outboard. I thought it was going to be an issue but I can still reach and twist the adjusters without jacking the car up or taking the wheel off...very neat!

THe springs, to me, could be a bit longer. I run my rear ride height at 4 1/2 -4 3/4. THe collars are at the very top of the thread. I set the car up at almost 4 7/8 for now, expecting the springs will relax some.

All in all....VERY happy!!! I have a feeling when I install the fronts it is going to be AMAZING!

Thanks Wayne yet again for excellent advice and Mark for providing such a nice product!

some pics of the install

Wheel off



support the rear axle ( a little rubber stuck to the aluminum from the burnout box )



pull the old shock and compare



install new kicka$$ shock



here is a shot of the shock at full droop...notice that the collar is right on the spring



you can see the adjusters here for the right...no problem



and left...tight...but still no problem

[Bob Taylor]

neat ! c onsidering your back , you can also swap the heim ends for bushed ends. Bob

[Erik W. Treves]

Well, probably not neccessary...but I ordered these... 11 bucks for a piece of mind...they only 3/4 inch tall

[Chepsk8]

Erik,

On a parallel note:

Can you describe your rear brake line routing and what flexible lines you used? I still have the "T" on the rear axle, and am looking at doing something like yours when I replace the shocks. And, yes, still the rubber lined on the rear calipers. They HAVE to go!

[Erik W. Treves]

my "T" is on the drive's side vertical 2 x 3 and from there goes right above the axle on the frame. nothing on the axle itself. I bought the ends at Pegasus Racing. I thnk I ended up with 20 or 24 inch lines...really depends on where you exit. you can kinda see them here.