[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by eddiesbrother

I was curious also about the pro touring shock from JRI (http://www.jrishocks.com/shop/street...ouring-shocks/)
Are these similar to a coilover set up?

Are the bilstein b6 HD shocks suitable? What spring's would be acceptable for this type of shock?

what kind of spring rate is recommended for my application?fronts?rears? It's a daily driver but I'm looking to take it to the canyons every now and again, and with enough work and time some road course racing, and I'm looking for faster corner entering speeds

Any coil/spring brands anybody would recommend taking a look at?

Are tubular control arms initially necessary? Will I be able to mount an aftermarket shock(JRI/bilstein/etc) to the factory box arms? I'm looking to swap for aftermarket control arm's eventually, I would like to know if it's required from the get-go. Any recommended control arms?

Any recommended sway bars?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hey Eddie ... err ... Eddie's Brother ...

I find the best place to start is clarifying your goals & objectives ... then prioritizing them. Listing what you want from your finished project is key to helping you maintain focus on the end result as you make decisions. Prioritizing these goals & objectives is CRITICAL ... as some will conflict ... and all of them combined may cost more than your budget ... so you may have to give up one or more. Best to give up your lower priorities & achieve your higher priorities.

What I meant earlier about conflicting is ... that all the goals we often have are just not realistic. It reminds me of the joke about wanting a car that goes 200 mph, gets 50 mpg & only costs $200 a month to own. Any of those three are possible, but all three together are not realistic. Often times, in making ProTouring car building/improvement decisions style & performance conflict.

Some common conflict examples are:
A. You may want the slammed in the weeds look but it takes away available suspension travel which negatively affects cornering ability.
B. You may love a style of 20" wheels, but they're heavy, and that extra weight reduces grip.
C. You dig how the 14.25" rotors look behind the big 18"+ wheels but the extra 5-6# or rotating weight hurts performance.
D. You like the look of 335 tires in the rear & 275s in the front, but that 22% more rear grip makes the car handle unbalanced & push mid-corner.
E. You may initially want the best handling possible to kick butt at autocross & track days, but that requires rod ends & bearings everywhere ... and you realize that means a little more NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) affecting the ride quality when you take your Gal out for a ride.

I find a person's capabilities come into play too. You may have ABC for talent & tools ... and have a friend of neighbor who has an uncle that knows a guy that does XYZ. What can you do yourself? What do you "want" to do yourself? What needs to be outsourced?

And then of course there is money, time & resources. You have $x,xxx budget to spend, but doing everything you want costs $xx,xxx ... so what gives ... style or performance. Time & effort is a key deciding factor. We only have so much time & effort we can put into our cars & ever get them done. When a guy says he really wants his car to handle ... but won't put in the time & effort to measure his car's geometry ... but will sand & prep bodywork for months ... that is a prioritizing decision.

There is no right answer for everyone, as we all have different goals, objectives & priorities of those. That's the way it should be. I believe everyone should build their car the way THEY want it. But the place to start for each of us is getting CLARITY.

Clarity on:
A. Goals & objectives
B. Priorities
C. Budget & resources

So my suggestion is start at the beginning & get clarity on those. If you share that with us online, I think we'll all be able to help you better. I apologize if I've wasted your time & you're already clear on all of this. But it's not clear to us reading your thread, so you would just need to communicate that to us on here.

Otherwise, at this point, I wouldn't worry about what rate of springs & bars to get just yet. That will come at the end of decision process. After you're clear on A-B-C above ... I'd suggest getting clear on who you want work with. The two common directions for ProTouring guys are to work with a shop that knows their stuff to provide you whatever brand of products you end up choosing ... or going direct and dealing with the manufacturers. There are pros & cons both ways.

If you're not going to install stuff or do any of the fab work yourself ... the shop route may make more sense. Or if you want someone objective ... to the degree that is possible ... to guide you on the pros & cons of each brand & individual product, again the shop route may make most sense. A lot of my clients go through me for this & my tech services. After I have worked with them on their suspension geometry, steering, brakes, etc, I know their car very well & it's easy for me to recommend the best product for their goals.

If you like to do you own research, comparisons, figure out the pros & cons of each brand & product on your own & get factory support, going direct may make more sense. If you're buying a complete package from one company & don't need anything else, it may make sense to go direct. Again ... no right or wrong answer for all of us. Each of us have different ways we like to handle these decisions & purchases.

As far as which suspension company is best? There is no one correct answer. Ask 10 guys & you'll 14 opinions.

For bolt-on ProTouring suspension stuff, I carry 21 brands but typically prefer & recommend Speedtech, Ridetech, No Limit, Maier, DSE, Chassiworks & UMI ... each for different reasons & for different types of customers. For shocks, I think I carry 12 brands but typically only recommend three ... JRI, Ridetech & ARS.

Let me know when you post your goals & objectives in a prioritized fashion & I'll come back on and offer my 2¢.