I am starting to hear the sounds of a broken strut on my passenger side of my 1992.

The potholes here in Illinois are unforgiving. I already had to replace a tire and z28 hubcap from the same wheel. Must of hit a bad hole to cause so much damage.

What do you guys (and gals) reccomend if I want to upgrade and what would be the cost?

Also if I decide to save money what would be the best bet other than factory replacements.

I am looking for a smooth ride with performance handling.

Thanks

 

If you want to spend the money, I always reccomend KONIs. They would be about $700-800 for all four depending on where you get them. Hotpart.com has pretty good prices and free shipping.

 

Koni build excellent shocks, but i am more a fan of KYBs "AGX" series. They are very similar to the konis (twin tube, adjustable), provide an excellent ride, and are half the price.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1∂=KYB-735001&N=700+303113+4294908216+4294908198+4294925022+115&autoview=sku

-Z

 

If I'm not mistaken, the KONIs are single tube. I'm fairly certain that the rears are. The KYBs are a nice shock, but not in the same class as KONIs in terms of dampening and longevity.

 

If you want a good shock without paying out the ***, get the Tokico illuminas. There adjustable and pretty decent. I got them cause i couldnt afford KONI but wanted a good strut/shock.

 

You might think about replacing the strut towers (e.g. Spohn or UMI) and adding a Strut Tower Brace. Do the STB at least.
Firm up your front a bunch.

 

What do you guys think about Billstein?

 

To clarify, the Konis available for our cars are twin-tube in the front, and monotube in the rear.

As far as Bilsteins are concerned, i've never owned a pair, but i get the impression they are the standard for stock performance. Their only shortcoming is that i dont think Bilstein offers any adjustable shocks.

-Z

 

holy **** dude! i paid under $50 for both rear shocks! as you know mine were gabriel ultras. got them from autozone.

 

shocks and struts are kinda one of those things where you get what you pay for.
for the most part, there isnt too much brand hype, so its not like a cheaper shock/strut will outpreform a more popular expensive one.
me, im going with kyb agx's as soon as i get my tax refund.
i could afford konis, but then id have no money left for the rest of the suspension and subframe connectors.

IMO, as long as they are better than stock, and adjustable, you will be happy.
if you arent, you can always adjust something till you are happy.

 

I agree that KONIs are not for everyone. They are pretty price prohibitive. But, if you want performance, you have to pay for it. It took me almost a year to get mine. Got the rears, then saved and the parents helped with the rest for Christmas for the fronts and the new mounts.

I've always wanted to take an otherwise stock car, run the cheaper brands on up to the KONIs and look at the differences in performance. I've had the Monroes which are comparable to the Gabriels, and compared to the KONIs, they are...well, 305 TBI < LS1. The mid range brands, such as Tokico and KYB are a step up from the Monroes and Gabriel but you are still getting what you pay for. They are alot better than the stock ones at any rate.

The Bilstein HDs are supposed to be a higher performance version of the stock shocks and work better with lowering springs. They, however, lack the warranty of the KONIs, aren't adjustable, and last I checked, are more expensive.

J&M (hotpart.com) makes a nice strut mount. They are what I run and I reccomend them.

 

I think the verdict for nitetrider is "buy the best you can afford", you wont regret it.

-Z

 

You got that revearsed. You should get the upper strut mounts 1st, then the STB. The STB is pretty much pointless with bad upper strut mounts.