I can get a set of KYB GR-2 Gas fronts & Gas-a-just rears for $143.0 which is quite a bit less than Bilstein or Konis.

Are the KYBs too soft of stiff as compared to the better ones, or are they closer to factory settings?

The car (1987 Z28) is going to be driven on the street with future plans of a larger motor etc etc.

Any opinions or personal experiences????

I have them in both my cars and I think they are a great shock for a daily driver/strip car.

Ageed, I just got them in my car too. Comparable to factory ones. I also added Eibach Prokit springs too and handles much better now.

Bob

I think for the money, it's hard to beat the KYB's.
I have them on all my vehicles. Sure Konis and Bilsteins are better, but for a daily driver you get good bang-for-the-buck with the KYB's.
-Rich-

i have those saem struts and shocks.. and i like them alot even for a daily driver there just fine..

They leave a little to be desired in hard cornering, but overall for the price you can't beat them.

KYBs are a good replacement shock. They were a bit too soft for me, so I replaced them with Bilsteins, which I like alot better.

mine are pretty cool

and $96 for them shipped to the door is cool with me

Where are you guys getting these prices???

I just ordered a set from TireRack.com. They were the cheapest that I found. They were 43 a piece for GR-2 Struts in the front, and 29 a piece for Gas-A-Just's in the rear. The total came to 144, but all the warehouses on the east coast are out of stock. Had to have them shipped from Reno, Nevada for an extra 17.88.

My total bill came to 170.20. Not too bad, but where on earth did you get them shipped to your door for 96, Vic?

And RadarRunner, where are you looking at yours for 143?

Thanks fella's

KZad

Have 'em all around, love 'em. Installing my friends used eibach drop springs soon after I get the car back to make it that much nicer.

i only have the struts, from tirerack, ordered them about 2 months ago, the very next day they were here. total was like 96.43 or something

I got my price quote from shox.com & it also mentioned free shipping on KYBS

I have the KYB GR2 Struts and KYB Gas-a-just shocks and I love them. Good street shocks and struts to have. Worth the money in my opionion but if your gonna do them urself, get a spring compessor for the struts. I would rent one or borrow one if u can find one.

What do you need a spring compressor for, 91? I did my Struts Last night, and my Shocks the night before.

Shocks took only 1.5 hrs .... and the Struts took 3 hrs, including torsion bar bolts, and and oil change while it was up.

I found no need for a spring compressor.

KZad

ALL 1982-2002 CAMAROS ARE MODIFIED MACPHERSON STRUT Suspension! Springs are located OUTSIDE of the struts. The springs seat under the lower control arms and up against the body (frame).

There is NO need for a spring compressor....

That's the beauty of it! EASY replacement!!!! Unbolt...and bolt!
Done!!!! It took me about half hour to replace my front struts, but the rear shocks kinda sucked! Had to pull back the carpetting
and loosen up some trim panels around it to get to the mounting bolts... that took about an hour, both sides total.

Replaced my 11 year old ORIGINAL shocks/struts with
KYB...WOW, what a differance!!! The car is much stiffer over
bumps now!!!!!!

Anyways... Just my thoughts on this post!!!

F-bodies are the best!!!!!!!!

Laters......

I have the KYB'S and i like them a lot, barely any problems with them! For the price you can not beat them!

They kick ***:rockon:

justed installed them on my car this passed weekend and i love them, they are stiffer than stock and perfect for a daily driver.

Hi am a new member living in Australia. I am able to readily purchase Gabriel shockers, could you tell me if there are good models available or is there a stock standard type. I have heard that KYB are very good, but to get them here is a little more of a job.

I'll throw in my vote for the KYB's. I've had them on my car for about a year and I love them, especially for the price difference between them, Koni, and Bilstein.

If all you can get is Gabriels, then they're probably better than what you have on there now. If there's any way that you could get the KYB's instead, I KNOW you would like them much better.

These KYBs must really be the best value for money around. I will have to see if I can get one of these suppliers to pick up some for me on the next trip. I have a new set of tires to go on, so guess I will wait for the shockers. Thanks for the thumbs up on the KYBs. I got a great deal on a full set of Pirelli 6000 and can hardly wait to get them on the car especially since I just in stalled a subframe connector and strut tower brace. Wont know what to do with all this road-gripping power. Thanks again.

Is this guy serious??? Australia or not, please stop calling them shockers!

Sorry to get you confused. I have be here 18 years and gotten to the phrases. Here we call them shockers. They really are shock absorbers.

i had them on my last camaro, 89rs. now on my new car 91rs i put them on again with the eibach prokit. this thing handles great with dunlop sport a2 tires.

I just did the GR-2's all the way around and they seem great. However, in a hard corner they don't respond to bumps in the road as well as they could. The Koni or the Bilstein or hell even the adjustable KYB's would probably be better but for the money I'm stickin with the GR-2's. They have a pretty decent ride and have a decent initial dampening rate (my tires hardly ever rub my inner fenders over drops in the road anymore). I got mine from Summit for like $141.75 to my door 3 days later.

Only just posted a special on struts and shocks for my car from a local supplier. He has GM Delco hd shocks and struts for around the same price as what I can order the KYBs for. He says they are of the hd type for IROC and TAs. My question is it worth going thru the process of ordering the KYB or getting the Delcos locally. I would rather have the best and the cost would be about the same. I dont have much experience with the different types. Please respond as the special wont last long. But like I said I want the better ones.

As far as I know and have experienced after owning a few of these cars, the GM pieces are oil filled as opposed to gas filled. The gas filled ones respond a little better, but give up a little ride quality (as I was told by my local speed shop pro). When I first bought my 89 Formula 350, it had new GM shocks & struts and they worked well. Good control and nice ride. Once they started leaking, the ride quality and control went to hell in a hand cart. Hope this helps, but this is just my experience, I am by no means an expert.

Thanks. Didnt realize that they were oil filled. I had heard the same of the oil filled ones. Think I will try for the KYBs. Thanks for the help.

I have Tokico Illuminas (separate thread, but I'll post here too) and they're on setting 2 (1= soft, 5 = hard)... they corner r-e-a-l nice but the ride quality stinks. To be expected I suppose, but even still, my normal drives are at minimum 1 hour, so I wouldn't mind a little more dampening.

My question is this, under normal driving conditions, local and/or highway, will the Tokicos or the KYB GR2s dampen better? Is this dependent on the 'initial dampening rate' ? I noticed changing my Tokicos settings improve highway comfort noticeably, but not much on potholes and poorly filled expansion gaps on local roads...

Btw, I looked for the rear shock upper bolts this past wkend, but only had 30minutes. I lifted the carpet, rear panel, and seatbelt panel, but nada... where are they??

thanks

The upper shock bolts are behind where the back-rest part of the back seat would be. They are under the carpet, where the back area bends for the seat. They should have a piece of styro-foam (sp?) on top of them. You will need to loosen all of the back plastic trim pieces, then roll the carpet up on the edges (only a few inches is needed). This sounds pretty confusing, but should help. Any other questions, feel free to email me @ kzad@udel.edu

KZad

The KYB's are good for the money, but if you want something that you dont have to replace every year then you definately should save your pennies and go for something a little more expensive! JM2C

so they wear out quicker

do they have some type of factory warrenty?

I'm not really sure about a factory warranty or anything like that. In all honesty I really dont care because as of now they are shot after being on for a little over a year, and they only cost me like 40 or 50 bucks, or something like that.

I'm am definately going to go with a more expensive shock this next time around, like some Bilsteins and or Konis, or HALs. JM2C

Anyone else with KYBs that only last around a year? I thought they would last much longer than that.

I sure hope the KYB's that I just put in will last more than a year.

Front - GR-2
Rear - Gas-A-Just


Z

I went to a lot of trouble to order and am still waiting for mine to arrive from the States so I hope that they will last much longer than that. Anyone with more feedback?

I've had KYB's on my car for two years.
Haven't had any problems with them at all and I drive my car hard most of the time. There are certainly better shocks out there, but for the money, they are great.
Almost everyone I know uses KYB's on their daily drivers and I have them on my thirdgen, my wife's S10 Blazer and my Nova.
They're a large improvement over the stock shocks , but if you're gonna compare them to Koni's that are three times as expensive, of course they will fall short.
If you're going racing, spend the extra money and buy Koni's, Tokico's, Bilsteins, Hals or even Penskes (big $$$), otherwise they'll be just fine. An excellent shock for the money in my humble opinion.
-Rich-

This is my daily driver also and its just as I thought. I have heard so much of these shocks and struts that I have gone to a lot of trouble to get these. I know they arent the same quality as the Konis etc., but I dont intend to race the car. Only want a good handling one for the less cash. Thanks.

Is it hard to get the KYBs in Aussie land?

Obviously I'm just stating my opinion up above!!!!

I will agree that they are a great shock and strut for the money, but me personally, I would go for something a little more expensive the next time around.

I have had mine for close to three years and they are still in great shape! Considering i rarely drive the car, maybe 10-12k miles since i have had them on the car. So i guess my opinion does not hold much weight. For the money, they are great shocks/struts. I only noticed a difference when i put in the Eibach Drag springs, but that is b/c those are "floaty" and the supension felt a little lose but still rode as smooth as a thirdgen would. Possibly in the spring i might upgrade to the Lakewood Drag shocks and struts. Anyone using them? From what i have heard, they improve times at the strip too very nicely!

Do you guys know what the driving characteristics are of a bad shock or strut?

Welln if its like mine(struts/shocks are shot) then your going to bounce bounce bounce dive roll bounce dive roll, you get the idea, I'm fixen to order the kyb's here in the next couple days. I expect a 200% difference. I know what is there now is way shot. The ride realy sucks. I am looking at a set of stock ws6 springs to put in at the samr time. I dont want to lower the car, just stiffen the sus. a bit.

When my shocks went after i bought my car the car did just that, bounce! It also hit hard depending on what bump i had gone over. When i had the old ones taken out, if you held the front struts in the air, they would just decomress, fast! They were really shot.

Maybe you mean compress (like the shock would get shorter) ?

To Poorboy 8: KYBs are now available in a shock for the rear here in Aussieland. The struts that will fit my car are not. I have ordered the struts using my sister in the US and will match them up with KYBs for the rear when they arrive---hopefully any day now. Cant wait.

Nope! I meant they got longer, fall if you will when held up in the air! There was nothing left to them to keep compessed. There was little to no effort in trying to play the fronts like an accordian.sp You have the idea, just reverse it. Thanks though!

Sorry I mis-interperted your previous statement

If you've got nice roads to ride on and like to race a little the Koni's are hard to beat, and worth the extra expense. They are very tight. But if you're daily driving on the worst roads in the world (N.Y.C.) like I am - KYB's would definitely be the choice. I'm planning on a set right now. Not too sure of the Bilsteins - never used them.