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Taking the knowledge and experience learned with the 4000 Series of dampers, AST is now building the new 5000 Series dampers. One key design feature of the 5000 Series are their inverted strut design, which makes for a very stiff strut assembly, providing better suspension geometry under heavy lateral and braking loads seen in a road course environment. Want to know more about the various AST models? Please go to this page or click the "AST Shocks" button along the top of any page on our website.
Another key feature on the 5000 series shocks and struts is modularity, which makes them easily upgradeable. This provides an upgrade path for customers on a tight budget that want an adjustable, high performance, race-ready shock but can't quite afford the double adjustable 5200 or triple adjustable 5300. Simply purchase 5100s, and when you're ready, send your ASTs to an authorized rebuild center to upgrade them to 5200s or 5300s with remote reservoirs. Rest knowing that your shock absorber investment will perform today and in the future, as your budget and needs grow.
(Click on thumbnails for larger image. Mitsubishi EVO 8/9 5100 shocks shown; springs and camber plates are optional)
This product entry is for a set of four AST 5100 series inverted struts and shocks and the main price shown above is for the struts and shocks only, with perches made to accept your 60mm coilover springs (or 2.5" with the included adapters). Please see below for more details on what is included and what is optional to this AST 5100 Shock kit.
Parts Included in the basic AST 5000 kit:
2 AST 5100 Single Adjustable (12 adj, Rebound only) Monotube Front Inverted Struts (no reservoirs) with alloy steel strut bodies and adjustable height perches
2 AST 5100 Single Adjustable (12 adj, Rebound only) Monotube Rear Shocks (no reservoirs) with threaded aluminum shock bodies and adjustable height perches
AST upper spring perches for 60mm springs, for use on the front struts and your OEM upper strut top mounts (we do not recommend using the 5100 dampers without the Vorshlag camber plates)
Adapter rings for the front struts to use your 2.5" inner diameter coilover springs
AST Tool Kit
There are several optional upgrades available with this kit, such as the coilover springs needed and to upgrade to a 5200 or 5300 series shock at the time of purchase (the 5100 shocks can be upgrade later for slightly more than the cost difference when new).
Optional Parts and Upgrades:
Vorshlag camber-caster plates (these are required for 5200 and 5300 dampers - this strut model uses a 16mm OD upper strut shaft in front, which is larger than the OEM upper strut mount is made to accept) with integral radial bearing upper spring perches.
AST Spherical Upper Rear Shock Mounts (RSM)
Coilover spring kit including 4 Hyperco 60mm ID springs
Tender spring kit including 4 Eibach 60mm ID tender springs
Upgrade to AST 5200 Double Adjustables (12 adj Rebound + 12 adj Compression) with remote reservoirs (front has hose, rear has piggyback)
Upgrade to AST 5300 Triple Adjustables (12 adj Rebound + 12 adj Low speed Compression and + 12 adj High speed Compression) with remote reservoirs (front has hose, rear has piggyback)
Optional components ordered at the time of the shock purchase include package discounting and pre-assembly at Vorshlag - so if you order the springs kit, camber plates, and RSMs the coilover kit will ship with everything assembled, bolts torqued, (optional) hydraulic hoses bled, all ready to install.
(click on thumbnails for larger image. Some pictures are from other vehicles and/or shown with optional components or series upgrades)
The Design
AST coilovers are monotube, high pressure nitrogen shock absorbers. Why do you care? Most other products on the market are twin tube designs and are not pressurized, or only have 1-2 atmospheres of Nitrogen in a little bag inside. Monotube shocks offer the biggest pistons for more control. High Nitrogen gas pressurization in Monotubes (8-12 atmospheres) means the oil will never cavitate around the piston. This is particularly important in environments where the vehicle makes rapid changes in direction such as autocross and road racing. Monotubes also allow for a wider damping range and can more easily provide a better ride with stiffer spring rates - we usually start with 3X the stock rates and often go to 6-7X the stock spring rates, even on street driven cars. This is the same technology used on $7,000-10,000 shocks packaged here in a competitively priced kit, all wrapped in a Lifetime Warranty with full domestic support.
ASTs are hand built in Holland
These shocks are built from scratch at the AST factory, with everything machined in house - these are not just simply inserts bolted into a stock strut body or a "one size fits all" strut insert slapped into some cheap import strut. They are shortened approximately 1" from stock height. This is important when you lower a car, if the strut or shock body is not shortened you will run out of travel quickly. Couple this with Vorshlag camber plates and you'll have one of the largest suspension travel ranges in the business. The shocks have adjusters that install permanently to the strut/shock - No need to carry tools with you to make adjustments, just reach in and turn a knob for 12 solid clicks of adjustment, each of which makes a consistent and significant change.
Custom Valving and Lifetime Warranty Support
Vorshlag is setup to offer custom valving services to our customers, including dyno services on our Roehrig 2VS shock dyno; we can even rate your old springs if you are curious (fees apply). There's no need to find a third party company to get your custom valving applied - Just send them back to us or one of our AST Authorized Rebuild Centers we'll get you the rates you need (fees apply). We also provide the stateside warranty support on all AST shocks, covering manufacturer's defects for life (non-transferable), with better warranty coverage than most other shock companies.
Who is AST? Check out the video and additional company information on the AST-USA website.
Shock Tuning Help?
New to adjustable shocks, or have had them before but not the knowledge to tune them to alter the car's handling? We are here to help. Please click here for our AST Shock Tuning Guide to get a good head start on the process. Once you start using adjustable shocks, especially high end monotubes that make a noticeable damping change with each click, you'll wonder why you didn't start off with these sooner!
Choose the appropriate options and model alterations from the drop down menus below. These options will affect the final price as shown for each option. All optional packages and parts include significant discounts when purchased with shocks rather than buying the parts separately.
CAMBER PLATES : We highly recommend Vorshlag camber plates be used with AST strut kits. Easily adjust camber track side with Vorshlag camber plates. Over-sized spherical bearings are designed to withstand the rigors of street and track abuse. All components are plated for maximum corrosion resistance and long life. Please see the product entries on this website for more information about the Vorshlag camber plates and perches. Ordering this option includes the associated Vorshlag upper spring perches made to work with these plates, 60mm springs and AST struts.
REAR SHOCK MOUNTS : Optional Rear Shock Mounts include the AST Spherical design. We recommend the spherical RSMs for most users that see any competition use, such as autocross or track events. If the car is a daily driven vehicle only and/or the user is extremely nervous about bad roads and any additional NVH transmitted through a rear spherical mount, then reuse the stock rear shock mounts. The advantage to spherical RSMs is their ability to transmit reactions to shock forces instantly and directly instead of having a rubber bushing in the load path - something that shows up on a shock dyno plot.
SPRING PACKAGE : The price for the AST shocks are shown in the top right corner, and adding four 60mm coilover springs costs extra, per the dropdown option below. Vorshlag stocks and sells springs from Hypercoil, AST and H&R as well as Eibach Tender springs. We stock hundreds of Hyperco OBD series springs here at Vorshlag. The spring options listed include our GT package for daily driven cars, the GTS package for street cars that are also used in autocross and/or track events and the GTR package for race cars that predominantly see track use. You can also pick "Custom" and tell us the lengths and rates you want (note: this may incur a shipping delay for some unusual spring rates). All Hyperco 60mm ID springs are measured in inch lengths and rate is in pounds of force per inch of travel (lbs/in). To convert to metric length multiply inches x 25.4. To convert to Newtons/mm for rate you need to divide the lbs/in number by 5.7. To convert rate to Kg/cm divide the lbs/in rate by 57.
2 Front 60mm Coilover Springs, 7" Long
2 Rear 60mm Coilover Springs, 8" Long
The GT package is 400#/in Front, 500#/in rear
The GTS package is 600#/in Front, 700#/in rear
The GTR package is 800#/in Front, 900#/in rear
Please note: Higher rate springs can be slightly shorter in length depending on model
TENDER SPRINGS : AST struts are made to accept optional Tender Springs for a fully TUV approved set-up. Tender springs are fairly soft springs made with a flat coil wire and will compress flat (coil bind) at normal ride height. These sit either above or below the main coilover spring and expand only at full suspension droop (such as when the car is jacked off the ground or when you drive over a steep incline at an oblique angle), to allow the spring package to never "unseat" from the upper perch. For most competition set-ups they are unnecessary but some users like to add them for street use and/or off road (rally) use, both instances where you tend to see more suspension travel, and it can prevent any click or clunk when a spring unseats in these rare occasions. Tenders do not add or remove from the performance of the coilovers, but can sometimes limit inboard wheel and tire room for wider than normal setups. These do not alter the effective wheel rate in any way - once at ride height they compress flat and become little more than a spacer. When this option is picked, four 60mm ID tender springs (10-20 N/mm rate and 65-100mm long) and four 60mm dual spring spacers are added to the kit.
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