New Tires vs. Shocks Opinions

Just to keep some convo. going over the slow winter months lets discuss:What is everyone's thoughts on new tires vs. new shocks. If a sponsor approached you saying that he would buy 2 new tires for you EVERY race night or a shock budget of $2000, what would you take? For argument sake, if you take the tires, you are stuck with a run of the mill shocks for the year, let's say a QA1 51 series oil that you can valve yourself. If you take the shocks, you get the typical 4-5 nights out of a tire.Which one and Why?

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Originally Posted by bananahammack00

Just to keep some convo. going over the slow winter months lets discuss:What is everyone's thoughts on new tires vs. new shocks. If a sponsor approached you saying that he would buy 2 new tires for you EVERY race night or a shock budget of $2000, what would you take? For argument sake, if you take the tires, you are stuck with a run of the mill shocks for the year, let's say a QA1 51 series oil that you can valve yourself. If you take the shocks, you get the typical 4-5 nights out of a tire.Which one and Why?

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If your shocks are valved correctly, going from brand x to brand y isn't going to do much of anything for you. Shocks are overrated and underrated. Take the tires.

Tires all the way, don't under estimate a QA1 shock. I am by no means an expert, but have took the time to beginning learning/understanding shocks and have been fortunate enough to have multiply wins in three different classes on my QA1 builds (over high dollar sets). Moral to the story, if your shocks are close, two tires a night will have more impact then a $2000 set of shocks IMO.

Tires, Tires, Tires

Oh my easy call....TIRES

I'm not real surprised that there hasn't been any votes for shocks. My thoughts are in-line with what others have said. I was hoping someone would pick the shocks and explain why. I have used both bilstein and qa1s 50/51 series shocks, but considering upping my shock program next year. It is just tough for me to allocate the next " price tier" for bulb top (or comparable) shocks. Especially at the price some builders are getting now. My next question is what builders are doing other than simply re-valving shocks for you? Lets use BHE or Integra CPD shocks for example; are you paying their prices for simple valve changes and their "tribal knowledge" or is there more to it now? Looking at integra base valve shocks, they are getting ~$440 a shock vs. ~$250 a shock for QA1 28 series or even $150 for the QA1 51 series. Assuming they are valved equivalent to each other, how much improvement would there really be? The shock discussions have been beat like a dead horse on this site, but from what I can gather, the weekly Saturday night racers don't need that high dollar stuff, and shock guys are charging big bucks simply because they can?

2 tires all year or 2000 total? No brainer, simple math 2 tires a night times 30 nights is for sure more money than 2000

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bananahammack00

I'm not real surprised that there hasn't been any votes for shocks. My thoughts are in-line with what others have said. I was hoping someone would pick the shocks and explain why. I have used both bilstein and qa1s 50/51 series shocks, but considering upping my shock program next year. It is just tough for me to allocate the next " price tier" for bulb top (or comparable) shocks. Especially at the price some builders are getting now. My next question is what builders are doing other than simply re-valving shocks for you? Lets use BHE or Integra CPD shocks for example; are you paying their prices for simple valve changes and their "tribal knowledge" or is there more to it now? Looking at integra base valve shocks, they are getting ~$440 a shock vs. ~$250 a shock for QA1 28 series or even $150 for the QA1 51 series. Assuming they are valved equivalent to each other, how much improvement would there really be? The shock discussions have been beat like a dead horse on this site, but from what I can gather, the weekly Saturday night racers don't need that high dollar stuff, and shock guys are charging big bucks simply because they can?

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Ive had a few different builders shocks.. BHE is worth the money, I called and gave him a blank check to send me whatever he felt I needed and however many and explained I wanted the best. He sent me 7 and they were 440 each and well worth it. His shocks made my car work like a new car. Its not a scam, you get what you pay for. I bought other shock packages and got rid of them all.

integra
terry Phillips
zero one FOX