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KYB shocks suck!

747mopar

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Long before I was a member here (or I would have known better) I ordered a complete suspension package that included KYB shocks, well they suck!

After a year of trying to find a rattle in the rear of my car I finally saw something that struck my attention, there was an odd red oxide color just above the shock? A closer look revealed that the shock was contacting the bottom of the crossmember which had worn the paint off causing the rust! I pulled the shocks thinking the bushings were shot but they were in perfect shape, there's no other reasoning other than they made the eyelet entirely to close to the top of the shock! I picked up some Monroe shocks at the local parts store and couldn't believe the difference, yeah the rattle is gone but man does it feel so much better, I'll never buy KYB again.
 
Goldielocks & the three shocks.... KYB's ride like a truck & try to rattle anything & everything off the car.... Monroes are cushy & quiet but they are so soft the handling suffers... Bilstiens are Just Right.....
 
Seems I agree with folks. The KYB's that came with my Satellite rode like a lumber wagon! I'd feel every small crack in the road. Switched to Comp Eng 3 Ways for the track & dramatic improvement in street ride. We'll see how the 9 way Rancho rears & QA 1's on the front feel for the few street miles. KYB no good.
 
When people praise KYB's I usually keep my trap shut, but I hate the effin' things and for the life of me, don't know what they see in them.
 
Another vote for Bilesteins. Ride great, no complaints for 5 years and 7000+ miles.
 
When people praise KYB's I usually keep my trap shut, but I hate the effin' things and for the life of me, don't know what they see in them.

20191014_160652.jpg


That's what they see!:rolleyes:
 
When people praise KYB's I usually keep my trap shut, but I hate the effin' things and for the life of me, don't know what they see in them.
In the case of a heavy car with really soft springs, the KYBs act as a crutch and stiffen up the ride.
 
My suspension is all new and plenty stiff without any help so we'll see. I've been wanting to put some Bilsteins on it but have plans for ditching the factory suspension altogether so I'm not wasting any money knowing I'll be going with coilovers eventually.
 
THe difference between the KYBs and Bilsteins was immediately evident. The car rode better, took the bumps better but handled as good or better. It didn't skitter or skip across bumps in the road, it soaked them up and allowed the suspension to work.
 
My suspension is all new and plenty stiff without any help so we'll see. I've been wanting to put some Bilsteins on it but have plans for ditching the factory suspension altogether so I'm not wasting any money knowing I'll be going with coilovers eventually.


My advise? Do lots of research before making that change...
I've worked on/driven a few cars with the Alterkation stuff, I wasn't overly impressed...
Yes they mostly seem to drive nice cause R&P is tight & responsive but they have serious geometry issues... The Ackerman angle is completely wrong...
One point where this becomes abundantly clear is at parking lot speed, make a turn to full lock in either direction, a properly designed suspension/steering system turns the corner easily... The Alterkation starts to turn but the cars slows down & stops, it takes a little throttle but the car will continue the turn but it feels like it's binding... Then you feel a weird sensation as the inside tire reaches a point where it steps over itself... Basically the inside tire & the outside tire turn a different radius circle, well Ackerman describes the difference in those circles & a properly designed steering will be able to turn the wheels to make those two circles... AlterKation isn't even close...
People assume they are buying a super well designed & thought out system but what they are being sold is something entirely different, most folks call the stuff Mustang II suspension & that is sort of true, the design was used on the Mustang II, but before that it was used on the Pinto...
But face it selling Hotrodders a Pinto suspension isn't gonna impress many people.. Mustang II sounds much cooler...

But here's where it gets tricky.. Sure Ford designed the suspension for a cheap car but it was basically a decent low end design, however it was designed for a short wheel base fairly narrow car, as you increase the wheelbase and track width naturally dimensions of components need to change to maintain that geometry... Well something happened along the way...
 
There have been no recorded instances of a Magnum Farce, RMS or any other coil over suspension system providing a competitive advantage on a road course. The fastest road course Mopar that I've read about was the Andy F/Tim Werner red '68 Valiant, followed by the Mopar Action '69 Valiant Green Brick.
Both had the torsion bar setup intact but with significant chassis upgrades.
 
There have been no recorded instances of a Magnum Farce, RMS or any other coil over suspension system providing a competitive advantage on a road course. The fastest road course Mopar that I've read about was the Andy F/Tim Werner red '68 Valiant, followed by the Mopar Action '69 Valiant Green Brick.
Both had the torsion bar setup intact but with significant chassis upgrades.
My advise? Do lots of research before making that change...
I've worked on/driven a few cars with the Alterkation stuff, I wasn't overly impressed...
Yes they mostly seem to drive nice cause R&P is tight & responsive but they have serious geometry issues... The Ackerman angle is completely wrong...
One point where this becomes abundantly clear is at parking lot speed, make a turn to full lock in either direction, a properly designed suspension/steering system turns the corner easily... The Alterkation starts to turn but the cars slows down & stops, it takes a little throttle but the car will continue the turn but it feels like it's binding... Then you feel a weird sensation as the inside tire reaches a point where it steps over itself... Basically the inside tire & the outside tire turn a different radius circle, well Ackerman describes the difference in those circles & a properly designed steering will be able to turn the wheels to make those two circles... AlterKation isn't even close...
People assume they are buying a super well designed & thought out system but what they are being sold is something entirely different, most folks call the stuff Mustang II suspension & that is sort of true, the design was used on the Mustang II, but before that it was used on the Pinto...
But face it selling Hotrodders a Pinto suspension isn't gonna impress many people.. Mustang II sounds much cooler...

But here's where it gets tricky.. Sure Ford designed the suspension for a cheap car but it was basically a decent low end design, however it was designed for a short wheel base fairly narrow car, as you increase the wheelbase and track width naturally dimensions of components need to change to maintain that geometry... Well something happened along the way...
Fella's, this post was about crappy rear shocks so when I say I'm planning on eventually ditching the suspension I'm talking about the rear only. Yes I agree, I've looked at different setups but see no reason to change the front, the rear on the other hand has been a real pain. Some of it is because the car is lowered 2" and some of it is likely the fault of the company that made the leafs but at the end of the day there's no adjustments to correct things with. You want to raise or lower it.. buy shims or have the springs re arched, pinion angle is off... shim it... etc. I just want a solid rear that doesn't flex and move around so much with adjustability built into it. I'll likely build my own torque arm setup.
 
There have been no recorded instances of a Magnum Farce, RMS or any other coil over suspension system providing a competitive advantage on a road course. The fastest road course Mopar that I've read about was the Andy F/Tim Werner red '68 Valiant, followed by the Mopar Action '69 Valiant Green Brick.
Both had the torsion bar setup intact but with significant chassis upgrades.

I owned Tim's Red Valiant for a couple of years. I thought about getting the license plate "ONRAILS" because it handled so good. Guess what the rear suspension was? 40+ year old leaf springs with custom valved Bilsteins and AR Engineering front leaf spring hangers and a Firm Feel sway bar.
 
We met at the Mopar Alley show in 2013 or 2014 when you had the car there. I know who has it now, a friend of mine that is also in our Sacramento Mopar club.
 
We met at the Mopar Alley show in 2013 or 2014 when you had the car there. I know who has it now, a friend of mine that is also in our Sacramento Mopar club.

Are you talking about Larry? If so, he sold it this spring. I believe it went to Southern California.
 
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