Kyb's are really nothing more than a one step over stock kinda shock so dont expect too much out of them, a set of stock ones wouldnt be much worse yet prolly cheaper, although the kybs for rear shocks are quite cheap, I put a pair on my old 91 I had, and they were nice, but yet the originals had 173,000 miles on them so pretty much anything would feel good at that point anyways. Basically the kyb rears and stock replacement front struts actually turned out to be a nice combo for handling.

I think the people giving KYB's a bad rep should try putting some new springs in the car to preserve those shocks... Unless they just want to keep replacing shocks or buy expensive ones that will take acting as a bumpstop for a year or so longer...

I have Monroe Sensatracs which ride like a DREAM for over 3 years now... BECAUSE I CHANGED THE SPRINGS AT THE SAME TIME!

Not like they're performance shocks, but coupled with the stiffer and lower springs, they have performed admirably and held up to plenty of hard abuse on some of the worst roads you can drive on

i have seen very few comments on the kyb agx adjustable struts. they seem to be designed to a much higher level than the stock relacement kyb's. does anyone have long term experience with these (i know they are newer)?
i have a set on the front of my camaro, but it will not see the road for the first time in it's new incarnation until spring. the new incarnation also includes coil overs and tubular a-arms and k-member from aje.
Eric B

How do you know your struts/shocks are shot? I know my car still has the original ones it came with and doesn't keep bouncing after a bump and it handles fine as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure new one's would be better but for just normal driving I think my car does fine.

ive always stuck with bilstien, but my car now has koni's and i couldnt be happier!

Fast chick, push down on a corner of your car and let go, the car should bouce back to position and stop. if it keep bouncing theya re shot. my old 88 bmw, you would push as hard as you could down, come back five minutes later and the front end would still be bouncing!

Well using that formula I guess my 18 year old shocks and struts are still in fine shape then.

For a good handling replacement Strut & Shocks KYB is the way to go. Yes, you can buy the other two brands if you have unlimited funds and sticker shock dose not faze you. I replaced my stock Bilsteins on my 87 IROC-Z with KYB GR-2 struts & Gas adjust rear shocks and I am very happy with the results.

My suggestion to the first poster is his remarks and choice of words SUCK and not the KYB products.

IIRC Konis and Billys have a lifetime warranty and can be rebuilt.

Are they on any of your cars????? Life time warranty are for poor products. I had Bilsteins on my car for 22yre and the front struts started leaking, big deal lifetime warranty. Take them of the car and send them for a rebuild and get them back in a few months with your car up on jack stands.
My opinion is if something dose not fail in the first year it good for a lifetime.

Actually yes I have a set of Koni yellows on one and I picked up a set of Billys for next to nothing for the other. There's a place locally that I can bring them to when I decide to have them looked over but I don't have a problem sending them in either. IIRC, the Billys can be re-valved for optimum performance as well.

Who knows if you are the original owner with a receipt maybe you could have contacted them explaining the leak and they may have done an exchange for you so you would be back on the road right away. I don't see anything wrong with a seal leaking after 22 years.

Idon't either...I got my use out of them. By the way they were stock on the 87 IROC-Z.

Yes, reviving a dead post.

I purchased KYB GR-2s and KYB Gas Adjust shocks/struts.
Kept the stock springs, 120% difference over stock shot shocks/struts obviously.

My OPINION.
They are great, Nice feedback and handling IMO.
Didn't get top dollar shocks/struts due to limited budget.
Had to do a 60mph lane change in about 5 feet to the bumper of the BMW infront of me(He was talking away on a cellphone then slammed on his brakes because he did not see the cop who had someone pulled over on the side of the road). I was glancing back to check my blind spot for a lane change, when i looked back forward, there was literally 5 feet to his bumper.

The car let loose a little in the back end, but for a 60mph last second lane change, It did it beautifully.

Now I am NOT saying that all of this is due to the KYB shocks/struts, but i'm sure they helped. All this on a mostly stock 89 RS.

Only things I have done with the suspension are Idler arm, shocks/struts, General Altimax RT 225/60R 16 on PEP BOYS proline alloy 16's(free trade for stock 15s) and swaybar endlinks(poly) front and back.

KYB's are by far not the best you can get, but look at the price.
If you have money for Blistiens/Koni's/etc, get them.
But if you don't have money for them, IMO the KYB's are damn good for the money. Haven't had a single problem with them and the ride quality is pretty good. That is MY EXPERIENCE, yours may vary.

also, im pretty sure about this, but may be wrong.
someone stated that the 4th gen pulled .92 on the skidpad.
Correct me if i'm wrong but a tech article on TGO states that a stock 3rd gen pulled .98 on the skidpad.

Happy 100 posts to me

I have read every post here. I will not try to argue that KYB's are better than Bilstein's. I like the Bilstein's. What bothers me is why so many people feel that you only need equipment that you are using to the limit. Won't it give a problem sooner?
I always try to buy things that are better that I need. I get better life expectancy and am happier with them in the long run.
For the shocks/struts so what if I put them on a V-6 boat anchor car. I will never use them to their potential but what I do use is much better than stock. As for the lifetime warranty it is better than having to pay to replace when worn out.
I understand they are more expensive than the KYB. As said before buy what you can afford but do not skimp. In the long run it isn't worth it.
When checking out shocks years ago the only new ones I found that were good were Monro Sensatrac and Bilstein. All the others I checked were no good right out of the package. Everything I checked was much easier to compress and had no pressure to expand back out. I know that the valving will make them easier to compress slowly by hand but if the don't expand quickly afterward then it is all the spring doing the job of expanding them in real use. I felt that they should expand at about the same rate as the springs so that they complement each other.
Am I wrong?

If you rate Monroes up there with Bilsteins, your opnion SUCKS BIG TIME and is worthless with that comparsion.

I did not mean to even begin to give the impression that I feel that Monroe compares to Bilstein. I consider Monroe to be a fair, not good, fair stock replacement. Just meant to say that those were the only shocks that seemed like they worked properly. I did not mean that when on the car that Monroe would even begin compare to the Bilstein. As for me Bilstein is probably the best common replacement available.
I am sorry I gave the wrong impression. I am putting Bilstien's on my boat anchor 'bird as soon as it is road worthy. While it is being worked on and not running the old shocks/struts are fine. Once I get it running and movable under it's own power then it will be time to get the Bilstein's. Does a street driven DD V-6 need Bilstein's? Probably No. Can it benefit from it Yes!!! It may be unneccessary but I would prefer to put better on than I need. Last longer and do a better job.
Just for you DJP87Z28 I agree with you. If I feel that Monroe compares to Bilstein then I don't know anything and my opinion doesn't count!!!

I have KYB GR-2's in front and Gas-A-Justs in back. They are okay and my will certainly dive into a corner hard without any body roll, but my springs are also stiffer than stock. The previous owner had stock height replacements installed, when I first got the car I noticed they had MOOG tags on them so I called MOOG with the part #'s and the spring rates are much stiffer than stock.

So with the combination of the stiffer springs and the stiffer KYB shocks my car happily responds when being tossed into a corner hard.

That said, I wouldn't take a date for a ride in my car. The ride is far too stiff with every bump and vibration from the road being transmitted to the cabin. Maybe it would be better with SFC's to stiffen the chassis and reduce vibration/noise from the interior panels to.

But while the shock/spring combo I have is great for auto-x/track use, its not so great for DD use.

I can feel the difference between the vinyl painted road markings and asphault. I could run over a pencil and feel it.

What MOOG part numbers do you have? I thought the GTA's pretty much had the stiff springs as replacements by default. (5662 or 5664 up front and 5665 out back)

Tags are gone now, and I don't remember the PN#'s but the rates were something like like 800#+ in front and near 300# in the rear. Its stiff and bumps can be quite unsettling at the limit. But on smooth/dry pavement you can simply point and shoot.

You are aware that the shock is supposed to control the spring in both compression and rebound. That means the shock is supposed to "control" how quickly the spring rebounds, it should not be rebounding quickly.

Older kyb gr2 were built like crap. Newer ones were built like better crap. One problems this model line has is that for some odd reason, is that if you dont use it, lack of use aka "drove around for 100 miles and the car sat for 1 year" has a tendancy to kill these struts/shocks. Another situation that kills the older ones used to be the extreme climate shifts. The shity *** seal thats around the main piston in the struts tended to leak if its exposed from warm to cold shift. NY weather is a prime example. I haven't seen this happen on the newer ones though. Last thing that ive seen a few times is that when the strut/shock is in the fully extended position for too long, they just die flat out..

Also there not really racing shocks, there alot better than the monroe sensacraps or gabriels, but fall into the same line. Its just a better replacement shock. As far as daily drivers go there pretty dam good.

Another thing to remember, is that its possible you got a shitty set of parts, its happend to me multiple times when installing shocks and struts. Common sense would say if the box has dust stuck to it standing upright... your gonna get boned, but then again service managers never understand **** like this... srry for the rant.

AGX's i havent had much experience with, but ive heard good things from several friends, but there just spirited street cars, nothing crazy.


And as for the Bils~, Koni and HAL's, they all rock equally, but i like the Bilst overall.

WARRANTY PERIOD
KYB’s limited warranty is for the following periods for the following covered KYB products:

Lifetime: All KYB Shock Absorbers, Struts and Strut Cartridges (Except KYB Strut-Plus™, Electronic and Self-Leveling Units) Note: “Lifetime” means for as long as the original retail purchaser owns the vehicle on which the KYB products were originally installed.
One (1) Year: KYB Strut-Plus™, Strut Mounts, Boots, Hardware and Steering Stabilizers.
180 Days: Electronic and Self-Leveling units.

EVerybody has a opinion on what is the best Strut & shock combo because they bought that brand. So here is "MY OPINION " list for the best combo to use on 3rd gen cars for handling and NOT comfort.
1) Bilstien (have used)
2) Koni
3) KYB (have used)
4) Tokico
5) The brands in any order you want.

I knew I wasn't getting the right words. You are right I just did not know how to say it. The ones I checked would stay compressed and not want to expand at all on there own. If I am wrong in feeling that they should expand reasonably due to internal pressure I would love to know. I understand that the internal valving has a great deal to do with the expansion rate and it isn't a fast expansion but in a minute or two fully expanded.
Is this right???

I don't have a super intimate knowledge of it, but I think it depends on the type of shock. Oil filled may never expand, though I think gas charged ones should. However, I would guess any shock out of the box new should work the way it is expected, so I don't think compressing it and seeing how long until it extends again is a valid test.

i have the KYB gr2 shocks and struts with new moog springs ...i think for the price they are really good.

I beg to differ on that. No offense but my V6 boat anchor car will push just as hard in the corners as a V8 will, maybe even more. I'm sure some of us on the V6 board would agree. Not sure if you meant YOU wouldn't use them to their full potential, or if you meant the V6 won't.

And on my car, the KYB's held up pretty well, and still do.