KYB gas adjust shocks...

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We offer both KYB and Bilstein. In respect to our Mopars sales Bilstein sales are 2 to 1 over KYB. I have personally ran both on my cars over the years and for budget conscience people the KYB are a happy medium in my opinion between a lower cost shocks like Monroe or Gabriel and high end Bilstein, Viking or Fox. Honestly I tend to use KYB on my daily drivers as I rack up miles quickly. Om my classics I like to invest my money into the suspension. I want experience the best in handling and performance and feel the difference over just driving my daily driver. That's half the fun. But as with the hundreds of threads on this site on KYB vs high end shock there are commonalities across the board when in comes to KYB's biggest being harsh ride. But just as others have posted shocks are designed to dampen and not support the vehicle.

James From
PST
There you have it , the words of a pro.
 
I put a set of KYB's on my Barracuda years ago and removed the rears less than a year later. They were too harsh of a ride.

When I redid my car over the last couple years I upgraded to the 1.03 bars and Bilstein shocks. I've had my car for over 30 years and now it rides and handle better than it ever has. I would never put a set of KYB's on anything I want to handle and ride nice.
 
FYI They came out in the 70's just as radial tires were starting to become accepted by the public. I installed my first set on a 72 Challenger in 1977. KYB was/is the largest manufacturer of hydraulic systems in the world. They manufacture landing gear for commercial jetliners. Not a junk product.
All hydraulic fluid shocks "self adjust" ,when in use the internal valving will restrict fluid flow under hard compression. It is not adjustable in the "common" sense in that you don't have programed valving internally that can be switched by a knob or rotation of the shock. Usually to make the shocks extra stiff at normal driving.
Just like calling a camshaft of a certain grind "junk" because you didn't like how it performed for you. You might have the wrong parts combination. Just like it is the combo of parts that makes an engine strong or blah so is the suspension system. The shock absorber or "damper"as originally called is just a part of the total suspension. Springs, shocks, tires, sway bars. weight of the components all add up to the suspension. It depends on the application and expectation of the user. They are different. It always seems to be easier to criticize something just to be negative. Not every body likes the same cars, women or food. Who is wrong or right ??
 
FYI They came out in the 70's just as radial tires were starting to become accepted by the public. I installed my first set on a 72 Challenger in 1977. KYB was/is the largest manufacturer of hydraulic systems in the world. They manufacture landing gear for commercial jetliners. Not a junk product.
All hydraulic fluid shocks "self adjust" ,when in use the internal valving will restrict fluid flow under hard compression. It is not adjustable in the "common" sense in that you don't have programed valving internally that can be switched by a knob or rotation of the shock. Usually to make the shocks extra stiff at normal driving.
Just like calling a camshaft of a certain grind "junk" because you didn't like how it performed for you. You might have the wrong parts combination. Just like it is the combo of parts that makes an engine strong or blah so is the suspension system. The shock absorber or "damper"as originally called is just a part of the total suspension. Springs, shocks, tires, sway bars. weight of the components all add up to the suspension. It depends on the application and expectation of the user. They are different. It always seems to be easier to criticize something just to be negative. Not every body likes the same cars, women or food. Who is wrong or right ??

First, just because KYB as a company makes high end hydraulic systems for other applications does not mean one of their cheap products isn’t junk. That’s actually a logical fallacy you’re arguing there. It’d be like saying the Plymouth Cricket was a high performance car because Plymouth also built the Hemi ‘Cuda. Just isn’t true, one doesn’t have anything to do with the other.

Second, a shocks ability to adapt is based on its design, the amount of valving it has, weight of the oil used etc. They can’t magically adjust to everything, and a bad design may in fact be unable to adapt well to ANYTHING. In my opinion the only reason people run KYB’s and like it is because they also run undersized factory torsion bars. It doesn’t make the KYB gas-adjusts the right shock for that combination, but the too harsh shock response is masked by the overly soft spring response. Neither is good and the combination could still be better. How many people that still run KYB’s have tried Bilstein RCD’s or Hotchkis Foxes on the same car? I’m sure there’s a few, but I bet that number is a lot lower than the number that run KYB’s.

KYB gas-adjusts are junk. If you want cheap, you’d be better off with Gabriel’s or Monroe’s. If you want good, Bilstein RCD’s and Hotchkis Fox shocks are awesome. And while they may be intended for larger torsion bars and higher performance, they will still adapt better to factory suspension because of the improved valving they have. Maybe they’re overkill or a waste of money for stock parts, but that still doesn’t make the KYB’s good.

If you like the harsh, chattery ride you get from KYB gas-adjusts, you’re more than welcome to run them. But they’re not a good shock.
 
First, just because KYB as a company makes high end hydraulic systems for other applications does not mean one of their cheap products isn’t junk. That’s actually a logical fallacy you’re arguing there. It’d be like saying the Plymouth Cricket was a high performance car because Plymouth also built the Hemi ‘Cuda. Just isn’t true, one doesn’t have anything to do with the other.

Second, a shocks ability to adapt is based on its design, the amount of valving it has, weight of the oil used etc. They can’t magically adjust to everything, and a bad design may in fact be unable to adapt well to ANYTHING. In my opinion the only reason people run KYB’s and like it is because they also run undersized factory torsion bars. It doesn’t make the KYB gas-adjusts the right shock for that combination, but the too harsh shock response is masked by the overly soft spring response. Neither is good and the combination could still be better. How many people that still run KYB’s have tried Bilstein RCD’s or Hotchkis Foxes on the same car? I’m sure there’s a few, but I bet that number is a lot lower than the number that run KYB’s.

KYB gas-adjusts are junk. If you want cheap, you’d be better off with Gabriel’s or Monroe’s. If you want good, Bilstein RCD’s and Hotchkis Fox shocks are awesome. And while they may be intended for larger torsion bars and higher performance, they will still adapt better to factory suspension because of the improved valving they have. Maybe they’re overkill or a waste of money for stock parts, but that still doesn’t make the KYB’s good.

If you like the harsh, chattery ride you get from KYB gas-adjusts, you’re more than welcome to run them. But they’re not a good shock.
Just because you could not get them to work well with the car’s suspension, does not mean that no one else can.
 
First, just because KYB as a company makes high end hydraulic systems for other applications does not mean one of their cheap products isn’t junk. That’s actually a logical fallacy you’re arguing there. It’d be like saying the Plymouth Cricket was a high performance car because Plymouth also built the Hemi ‘Cuda. Just isn’t true, one doesn’t have anything to do with the other.

Second, a shocks ability to adapt is based on its design, the amount of valving it has, weight of the oil used etc. They can’t magically adjust to everything, and a bad design may in fact be unable to adapt well to ANYTHING. In my opinion the only reason people run KYB’s and like it is because they also run undersized factory torsion bars. It doesn’t make the KYB gas-adjusts the right shock for that combination, but the too harsh shock response is masked by the overly soft spring response. Neither is good and the combination could still be better. How many people that still run KYB’s have tried Bilstein RCD’s or Hotchkis Foxes on the same car? I’m sure there’s a few, but I bet that number is a lot lower than the number that run KYB’s.

KYB gas-adjusts are junk. If you want cheap, you’d be better off with Gabriel’s or Monroe’s. If you want good, Bilstein RCD’s and Hotchkis Fox shocks are awesome. And while they may be intended for larger torsion bars and higher performance, they will still adapt better to factory suspension because of the improved valving they have. Maybe they’re overkill or a waste of money for stock parts, but that still doesn’t make the KYB’s good.

If you like the harsh, chattery ride you get from KYB gas-adjusts, you’re more than welcome to run them. But they’re not a good shock.

That's what I did "for now". I put a new set of Monroe gas shocks on mine. It rides good for what it is. I plan to upgrade to Bilsteins when I rebuild the front suspension, install the disc brakes and put the rear sway bar on it.
 
Great thing about this country, Anybody can have their own opinion but not their own facts. Which plant built the Cricket ? The same one that built E-bodies ? I think European if you checked. And lets be honest, even a Hemi Cuda was of marginal quality back when it was built. As were most all cars in the 70's.
There is only one "best" in this world my friend, and that is God almighty.
 
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I got a set of new looking KYB Gas-a-just's off a 64 Dart at a pick-n-pull, $5 a piece. Thought they LOOKED better than the metallic green ones that were on my car forever so I bought them, $20 for all of them! Stiff ride, no problem for me. Have not 'adjusted' them yet.
 
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