I'm wanting to put new shocks and struts on my 1986 iroc z. I believe the rear shocks were Bilstein but don't know what struts would have came stock. How can I find out?

 

Stock, AFAIK they were all "GM". Pretty sure they weren't Bilstein. Those were popular replacements some years ago but might not even be available anymore.

There aren't many choices these days. Koni for top of the line, KYB for a mid-line upgrade, Monroe or Gabriel for stock replacement. IMO Gabriel is the absolute bottom of the pile. Of course there are any number of Chinese type garbage. There are also other "brands" (names printed on boxes); parts stores, various suspension products lines, etc.; but only a small handful of actual mfrs. Pay more attention to what comes out of the box, than the name printed on it. Today, that goes DOUBLE for "AC Delco"; since GM long since spun that off, and the successor corporation is pretty close to the very embodiment of modern corporate evil, you could end up getting almost ANYTHING from them, based solely on what provides THEM the highest profit. Don't fall for the sucker bait thinking it's "as good as original".

Shocks are a bit more plentiful since the same ones fit 93-02. Not as obsolete yet as 82-92 struts.

 

Thanks for the info. I have found the Bilstein on Hawks motor sports and the KYB struts there as well so that might be what I go with. What about brakes, rotars, drums and shoes? I have found AC Delco on Oreillys but says they have to be ordered. Would you do that route or is another brand better for those parts?

 

Which letter of which word wasn't completely clear and/or needs further explanation?

I would NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES buy ANYTHING labelled "AC Delco" except for spark plugs and filters, if I could get it from ANY other reliable source, or if I could verify what it ACTUALLY is and assure myself that I'm not about to enjoy the "warm fuzzy" ripoff on a buncha chinesium dog plop. AC Delco is just a brand name; no longer a mfr of most things. They buy stuff globally from the low bidder, same as any of the other global parts vendors. There's NO TELLING what's gonna come out of one of their packages. For example, just the other day, I needed some relays for my truck; and all I could conveniently find at the moment was AC Delco. Here's what was in the package. Given that it's a brand I trust anyway, I bought it, regardless of whose name was on the box. (bag, in this case)




Again, pay attention to what's INSIDE the box, NOT the printing on the OUTSIDE of the box.

For brakes at a stock kind of level, that might include Raybestos, Power Stop, and so forth.

 

The product photo for the premium Raybestos gmt400 brakes is the same photo as the AC Delco Gold / Pro gmt400 brakes on Rockauto. I'm just sayin.

 

Zackly... that's the deal with most AC Delco branded parts. They're just re-boxed something else. The trick at all times is to identify what the "something else" actually IS. Could be something good, like the Denso relay, or Raybestos brake parts; could be ... something else. Only way to know is to look at the parts.

Pay more attention to what's INSIDE the box than the printing on the OUTSIDE.

 

If Koni doesn't fit your budget, get KYBs...

 

Check with Sam Strano.

stranoparts.com

 

Don’t mean to thread-jack, but is Acdelco that bad now? They’ve been my go-to for when I’m not sure what brand to pick.

 

You never know until you look inside the box.