Is there any article online that gives a breakdown of what changing the rebound or compression stroke ratio will do to the car's handling? And can someone please explain what preload is? Thank you!

 

Have a look at "How to shock tune your chassis" in http://www.bilstein.com/motorsport_spec.html

Simple explanation but good enough, I suppose.

Preload can be defined as the amount of spring compression when no load is bearing on the spring. Usually changing the preload will change the spring response to a given load. It is also useful to make sure the spring does not become loose when you attempt to become airborne

[Edited by Luis on 04-23-2001 at 01:42 PM]

 

here is a quick lesson in rebound and what it does. Lets look a tthe front of the car.......
Say you go into a turn
brake ..turn in..... you are pointed towards the apex....
when you go to apply the throttle you have a push/ understeer... this happens becasue the wieght shifts to fast from the front of the car to the rear.... adding rebound to the front end of the car will hold down the front tires contact patch longer.....allowing more weight to be held on the front contact pacthes longer giving you more steering from turn in to the apex.......
Appling mre bump to the rear of the car also can help...butr that is a whole different thing.

 

... and if you want a more indepth coverage of suspension issues, read: http://www.se-r.net/suspension/shock_tech.html and http://www.se-r.net/car_info/suspension_tuning.html

Both provide excellent information for the inquiring minds.