2001 Chevrolet Camaro Shock & Brake Upgrade - Street Car, Track Car: Part I

These single-adjustable Konis have two C-clip grooves. You can set a spring perch on either the upper or lower grooves, but for lowering springs like Strano's you always want to use the upper groove (pictured).

The spring perch indexer is installed, as is the large flat washer that gives the upper shock mount a flat surface.

The shock mount is slipped on.

Now is a good time to adjust the Konis with an Allen wrench. Visible are the plus and minus signs. Using the key, Sam swings the adjuster all the way to the right, and then adjusts it back to his proprietary settings.

Sam slips his new front spring on and reinstalls the shock mount. Strano Performance has really done its homework on this spring set. They are a proprietary alloy that is 35 percent lighter than comparable spring steel, and offer a 550 lb/in linear rate up front, and a 100-150 lb/in dual rate in the rear. In comparison, a stock Z28's rates are 292 front, 114 rear, and a 1LE's rates are 360 front, 130-180 progressive rear. You can see that Sam has indexed the spring pigtail to sit in the indexer correctly, and he has adjusted the coils so they don't cover the shock adjustment window once installed.

The Strano/Koni assembly is slipped back into the wheelwell, and the upper A-arm is put on.

The upper studs pass through the shock tower and are retained with nuts.

The two nuts and bolts go in on the bottom and are tightened; final reassembly happens in the reverse order.