I am planning on replacing the shocks and struts on my car. I am all stock looking for good performance with good ride also. I don't want much do I?
Any help choosing would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

From more $ - Koni then dropping in price you have KYB and Monroe.

 

Koni yellows up front and QA1 single adjustable shocks out back

 

I'm running the yellow adjustable Koni's based on suggestions from others. Pretty sure I have them on the lowest setting which feels close to factory. What ever setting I had, I turned it down because the ride was too stiff, it didn't feel like the shocks were in unison with the rest of the suspension until I lowered the settings. I like them, would be nice if the adjustment screw thing up front had more beef, and you didn't need to remove the rear lower bolt in order to adjust, but both are not horrible, that would be my one suggestion for room for improvement. If Bilstein made shocks for our cars, I'd be all over them, run B8's on my 545 and love them.

 

Bilstein made struts and shocks for our cars but stopped making the struts. They still make the B6 shocks though. Part # 24-192934.

 

It looks like Koni yellows for me. I too would buy Bilstiens if the struts were still available.
Thanks for all the replies.

 

Happy with the KYB adjustables so far. Did front and rear. The max setting is definitely firm, i'd say track only. Im riding fronts at 2 of 4, and rears i believe 4 of 8.

 

I have this idea to find a pair of IROC Bilstein rear shocks for my Formula. They'd probably need rebuilding, so would be stupidly expensive. Some of you smarter guys should talk me out of that.

 

Your IROCs have them, don't they? Were they on all 85-90 IROCs, or just the earlier years? That 11-mile 1985 IROC shows them in several pictures in its ad.

That was a big promotional campaign, the new 1985 IROC having race-inspired Bilstein rear shocks, "Delco-Bilstein," so, of course, I had to put a set on my 1983 Z28 HO in late 1984.

I hadn't realized until this thread that Bilstein had rolled back its product line for 3rdgens. They offered struts and two different shocks: one shock for stock ride height, and one shock for lowered cars. I purchased the struts and for-lowered shocks a while back and finally put them on my Formula last year. They aren't as stiff as the KYBs I'd had on since the mid-90s. But those 30-year-old KYBs are still solid and strong, definitely well-made.

I thought I still had the empty Bilstein boxes with the part numbers, but I can't find them. Pretty sure I have pictures on my laptop, so if I find them, then I'll post one. Who knows? The lowered part number might still be available somewhere on the net.

 

Here are the boxes for Bilstein rear shocks for lowered 3rdgens (right) and front struts (left), both of which are apparently discontinued, but maybe somebody can still find them in stock somewhere.

 

Yes, on all the IROCs. They started to be replaced with "equivalent" AC Delcos sometime in '89. My black G92 has the black Delcos and my '89 'vert has the Bilsteins. I've also seen the Bilsteins on '90 IROCs so I'm not sure how GM decided what gets what.

 

My Formula isn't lowered, so I don't know if those would be right for me. I was more thinking about getting a pair of Bilsteins from an IROC getting parted and sending to Bilstein for rebuilding. Probably a crazy way to do it.

 

We have a lot of good junkyards out west. I occasionally still see an IROC, but I used to see a lot of them. It never occurred to me to look at their shocks, but I'll keep an eye out from now on.

 

Is this possible? I saved my factory struts/shocks in case this becomes a reality.

 

Yes, through Bilstein

 

That's pretty cool. Have you verified that Bilstein can actually do it for our original factory shocks and struts? Do they repaint back to original? My factory Formula shocks and struts are black which always made me wonder if they are Bilstein's or something else. Pretty sure a GM part number is on them, don't recall Bilstein on there anywhere, but now I'm motivated to dig them out and look.

 

The birds never got the Bilstein rear shocks.just Iroc.
and yes, the Bilstein stuff can be rebuilt as long as the shaft is in good shape.
sent them pictures of a strut I bought from tgo, guy put channel locks or vice grips on and screwed up the shaft where seal rides, they said not able to rebuild that.
The guy told me they are good to go, ready to use, glad i looked at them befor putting on. Sooo I'mlooking for 1 strut.

 

Are you implying that only IROC's got Bilsteins and ONLY the Rears? What was used up front in the IROCs?

 

That is correct. Up front were "specially tuned" Delco struts to match the rear Bilsteins

 

I pulled a pair out of an IROC at the junkyard once. Still have them. The fronts were just regular AC/Delco front struts.

 

Here's what I ran with:

- KYB Excel-G Struts - 236001
- KYB Gas-A-Just Shocks - KG5562
- Moog Front Springs - 5662
- AC Delco Rear Springs - 45H3025
- KYB Strut Mount - SM5027 and SM5028
- MOOG Sway Bar End Links - K5252
- BMR Strut Tower Bar - STB003

I also added a Wonder Bar at this time.

I eventually swapped out the Hawks 17" wheels for the factory wheels and some Falken tires.
I also swapped out the Gas-A-Just shocks for some Excel-G's in the rear.

The higher performance shocks and struts just aren't worth the trade off in ride quality on an otherwise low performance vehicle for me.

 

Low performance in what context? In the ‘80’s, these cars were fairly high performing cars. Even today, the handling is with the best of them.

Did the front springs settle a bit after you drove the car around for a while? I got new front springs for my GTA many years ago, but I decided against installing them because I read on here that the Moog springs can raise the ride height a little over the stock OEM springs. However, since my car has 76k original miles in it, I don’t think I probably needed the springs anyway. So, I just kept them as spares with my other parts.

 

I put KYB G2 struts and shocks on my GTA about 15 years ago and they're still fine. I think they changed the name though and now they're called Excel-G.

 

They're low performing in terms of power and suspension in today's terms, in my opinion, especially when compared to the likes of Corvettes and cornering focused cars such as Camaro 1LE's and such.

My Moogs settled right at the factory 28.5" that they're supposed to be at. I think what most people see is that their rears have sagged and the Moogs bring them higher. I replaced front and rear and my car is square all around at 28.5".

I've seen low mileage Bringatrailer third gens that even have sagging suspension, so I feel that this is probably the most likely scenario.

I'm happy with how the Moogs ride, but they also help to stiffen up the front and they definitely don't allow as much body roll as the factory springs.

This is correct, Excel-G's are considered OEM replacement shocks, but are in many cases an improvement over factory. They are definitely an improvement over the almost 40 year old shock/strut technology.

 

I think you have to compare them to their era. In 10-15 years when your average mom and pop EV will be pullling sub 2.0 sec 0-60’s and sub 9’s in the 1/4 mile, that 6th gen Camaro ZL1-1LE and C8 Z06 will seem like slugs.

3rd gen handling is still at a top level, though. They were one of the best handling cars of the time. Only the Corvette Z51 could exceed them. Most road tests had them pulling .82g’s to .91g’s on the skid pad depending on the year/model. In ‘85, when they got the 16”x 8” wheels and wider P245/50VR16 Gatorback tires, handling climbed to .89g’s to .91g’s depending on the magazine. That’s still a pretty good number even today.

The 6th gen ZL1-1LE Camaro and C8 Corvette are pulling 1.+g’s on the skid pad. However, those cars have much wider tires, one of them is mid engine, and they have much better suspension technology than what was offered on the 3rd gen. Also, tire technology had evolved leaps and bounds since the early ‘80’s when the Eagle GT/Goodyear Eagle “gatorback” were the state of art in tire technology.

I remember reading a few articles about Dick Guldstrand getting .97g’s to over 1.0 full g’s with his suspension mods on an early 3rd gen. And, it seemed it didn’t take a whole lot to achieve those numbers if you already had a G92 or WS6 to begin with.

When I think of 3rd gens, I do think of low power, but that’s coming from the performance lens of today. However, when I think of handling, the 3rd gen ranks right up there even today. It’s even more amazing considering that it was a suspension design that was developed in the ‘70’s.

Thanks, that’s good to know. I was concerned that the Moogs would jack up the front higher than the OEM springs so I was leery of installing them. There was a huge thread many years ago on here about that. My GTA had 76k original miles when I pulled it apart. So, I don’t know how much sagging the springs could have had during that time. I do know time is a factor like you mentioned with those spring sagging super low mile trailer queens.

My OEM front springs have been off the car for many years now so I think time based spring sag is probably minimal. However, since you had no problems with the ride height on the Moogs and the fact they actually provided an improvement in handling over the factory springs, I think I will install the 5662’s when I finally get my car back together again. Thanks….

 

3rd Gen fun to drive and good handlers for their time but i own cars from 2004 and 2009 that blow it away. and they are not even top handlers. no real competition there. but guess what, my fav is the Formula. Love it!

 

2004 and 2009 is not the performance era of the 3rd gen, though. 1982 to 1992 was.

The 3rd gen was competitive in power during the ‘80’s. Of course, if GM designed a larger tube runner based intake for the 350, the performance would have been much better. However, even with the restrictive 305 based TPI intake, the 350 (L98) still had competitive power for the ‘80’s.

 

Agreed Was just responding to your statement:

 

i have the kyb adjustables front and rear on my 86ws6 and have no real complaints. i have them on the fourth setting and have been meaning to soften them up a notch or two. they’re definitely stiff on their lower settings. they serve their purpose well for the price.

thats cool bilstein rebuilds original shocks/struts. i would have hung onto mine had i known

 

Got it, thanks.

 

Give this a watch if you'd like, this is what I did for upgrades, full parts list in the description


EDIT: nevermind.. I realized I already posted this lol

 

I've been running the KYB Excel G all the way around with new AC Delco rear springs, and KYB Strut mounts for a few years now and they are great for what I use the car for which is nice weather commuter and summer cruising.

 

THE BEST!
probably a quadruple adjustable Penske Strut.
They'll make you one for about $8,000 a pair.

Jokes aside, the best shock in a reasonable price category is a Koni yellow.
They are better than stuff like KYB in every way.
Ride quality.
Longevity.
Handling.
Warranty.