The chassis that I'm using for my '66 rebuild had CE 3 Way Adjustable front shocks. The left shock is junk, practically folded in half. I thought i'd just replace it, but the local Speed Merchants (surprisingly few, despite 1.7 million population) don't carry the same # in stock (nor anything else anybody might actually want).

If I have to order through Summit, Jeg's, etc... I might as well find out if they're actually worth a dam*. The front suspension is stock big block (2" lowered springs). The car is primarily street, very, very, fast, offensively driven, especially susceptible to rapid straightline acceleration applications. Ocassionally I even go to the strip (usually just to be asked to leave prematurely).

What has everybody found preferable; Steetable; Adjustable; Performance?

I have run the competition engineering shocks for 10 years in my car. I ran them when the car was in the 11's on the street and even now. Now I have them set at 90/10 and they work fine. When they were on the street I set them at 80/20 and had no problem driving it.

QA1...at least the single adjustable version. Or, if you're feeling spendy...the double adjustables.
CE 3 ways are junk.

Hmm, a difference of opinion, imagine that.

Is this a case of "One mans trash is another mans treasure"?

If the adjustability actually performs as advertised, the price advantage overwhelmingly goes to CE.

Bill,
Give me an example of the superiority of the QA1. Are they three and a half times better than CE's as the price would suggest? I will check out their website, but right now, I am looking a Summit and Jeg's. They all appear to be adjustable, but none state double adjustable. Remember, I'm talking about fronts and not coil overs.

There are other brands offering similar 3 ways, Summit for instance. Are these pretty much going to be the same pieces, just packaged by different companies?

For a street driven car I don't see any advantage to a multiple adjustable shock.. As far as the summit brand yeah they are probably being packaged by somebody but I would stick with a name.

CE 3 ways are junk.

I agree, try adjusting them...I couldn`t really tell what setting I was at.
Every position seemed the same..

Rowdy, CE quality doesn't even compare, not even in the same leaque as QA1 single adj. shock. I run them on my race car and the adjustibility is what sets them miles apart! And the ease of simply turning a nob to loosen or stiffen is amazing! You won't be disappointed!

Hello from Eureka,

Bob



















1

ce works pretty good on my car but they are a bitch to try and set im still not sure they are set the same .the qa1s may be worth the money but it depends on how much you have to spend

I'll give you my opinion...............run the junk shocks in the front and GOOD shocks in the rear where in these cars , mine included, are more affected by chassis tuning in the rear..........you definately need a single adjustable shock for the rear.........almost all of the cars I've observed respond favorably to stiffer shock settings in the rear

For a street driven car I don't see any advantage to a multiple adjustable shock..

That is exactly the advantage!
You wouldn't want to ride in my car when it's on the street and the shocks are set at their track setting. Generally, the rears are 1 or 2 clicks up from full soft on the street and 6-8 clicks of the dial for full race.
My fronts are "R" series coil overs but the same conditions apply and control the settings.
Big difference! :eek:

CE.shocks are JUNK

the summit brand shocks are i believe deutch(sp) tech. mike

That is exactly the advantage!
My fronts are "R" series coil overs but the same conditions apply and control the settings.
Big difference! :eek:

Did you have to alter the lower control arm to install coil overs? Do these take the place of the original coils?

I was wondering how the fronts could fit while looking in the catalog. I have a set of Delco Gas Coil Over's that I used to have on the rear when I had Lakewood Ladder Bars on it. Thought about trying them again with the Lift Bar and Adjustable UCA combination that I have on it now.

I fiddled with the undamaged CE 3 Way, as well as, a new one at the speed shop. I can't say that I detected obvious change, despite setting. Of course I was extending and retracting by hand, hardly equal to "real world" application, but I did expect increased resistance one way or another. I'm sure that the functionality relies on considerably faster action than I can possibly apply manually.

I'm sure that the functionality relies on considerably faster action than I can possibly apply manually.Nope. I can feel the change in dampening by hand on ALL of the adjustable shocks I've used including: Koni SPA1, Lakewood and QA1.

Shock Nut Trick....Using regular old gas shocks.

The 3-ways in the front are a waste of time and money with a stock trim street/strip chevelle or any A-body for that matter, whatever the brand they might be.

Did you have to alter the lower control arm to install coil overs? Do these take the place of the original coils?

I didn't alter...I replaced both original upper and lower control arms with tubular ones from Global West.
The lowers are made for the QA1 coilover setup.

At the risk of sounding arrogant( thats ok, go ahead I can take it) just relace the front shocks with your favorite cheap POS shocks ( Comp 3-way will do) and invest your money in the rears! Dont make a big deal over it, its very simple.......dont even waste your time debating the issue......its as simple as Apple pie!
P.S.(thanks Gary)......plan on chuckin those things at least once a year.....and BTW , they do respond to the click setting changes when they are new.

r.....and BTW , they do respond to the click setting changes when they are new.

Didn`t for me..straight out of the box brand new..could hardly tell one setting from the next.

Didn`t for me..straight out of the box brand new..could hardly tell one setting from the next.

I SWEAR THEY DID.............But a year later :sad:

I thought they did at first too, then I went back through the positions and couldn't identify which setting I was on. The more I did it, the less difference I detected.

I think my initial recognition was all psychosymatic, the box said it, my mind thought it to be so.