Different shocks front and rear?
Was wondering if it was okay to run two different brands front and rear. Was planning on buying the full tokico dspec shocks but the rears are no longer available. As I've already ordered without knowing this I now have fronts but no rears. Would Koni yellows suffice? Thanks. Any input appreciated
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 8,625
Likes: 1,394
From: Aurora, Colorado
Mixing street shocks won't result in your Z throwing itself off the road and stomping on you, if that's what you're asking. But the rebound and bounce rates of the front and rear shocks won't be matched, so it's far from an optimal situation. Why not simply cancel your order and return the front tokicos?
Thanks. Considering doing just that. I guess that was the reason why the front shocks were so cheap.
Was thinking since the tokicos are adjustable I could try to adjust them and attempt to balance it out with the rear
Was thinking since the tokicos are adjustable I could try to adjust them and attempt to balance it out with the rear
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 8,625
Likes: 1,394
From: Aurora, Colorado
The problem with mixing different brands is they each have their own scaling for adjustability. Tokico d-specs, for example use a single adjustment to vary both bounce and rebound settings. A single adjustable (SA) shock like the Koni Sport 8241s are preset for bounce, and have an adjuster for rebound settings. It's practically impossible to adjust a mixed set front-to-back.
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,316
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From: Northern California
Mixing street shocks won't result in your Z throwing itself off the road and stomping on you, if that's what you're asking. But the rebound and bounce rates of the front and rear shocks won't be matched, so it's far from an optimal situation. Why not simply cancel your order and return the front tokicos?
Technically speaking, you COULD adjust the two different brands to work with one another but it's hit or miss. With a matched set, you are able to start at zero F&R and play with the settings to suit you, knowing that zero F&R will be a pretty well matched base point, unlike two different brands where the zero points may not be the same.
If you still want adjustability from non-coilovers , I (and I bet dkmura along with others) would recommend the Koni Sports you mentioned. These are single adjust (jounce/rebound controlled by single ****) like the D-Specs and are MORE than capable for anything short of a GT or Production club racer and/or serious autocrosser needing to have separate adjustment on both compression and rebound settings.
EDIT: Me and David stink, er, think alike (at the same time of the night too.... scary) although he's more technically correct on the single adjustability of the Konis.... but I meant the same thing.
Last edited by MicVelo; Nov 7, 2017 at 07:20 PM.





