QUESTIONS ABOUT SHOCKS ?

[THE ZUKE]

Hi guys 

Since a few days, I have been reading a plenty of topics that deal with front and rear shocks.

Currently my cuda has KYB, which I am not satisfied.

Living in the countryside, there are many bumpy roads. The road behavior is much better since the change of the steering box by a BORGESON model. The car jumps a little forward on some small roads and bumpy roads.

In the next 2 weeks, I will also change the tie rod end that are still in 11/16 "and also the idler arm (They are tired) My car also has PST 11/16" solid adjustable tie rod sleeve and a big sway bar in the front not actually in the rear. I also live riding 2 off set bushings.

Then I will make a complete geometry of the front axle. The values ​​I have are as follows (in French)  :
Camber -0 degree 30 minutes
Hunting +1 degree 30 minutes
Total parallelism + 0 degree 15 minutes
The ideal is to have the camber to the maximum towards the negative and the hunt to the maximum towards the positive.

Now I read on several topics that the best shock were the HOTCHKIS sport suspension 1.5 street performance series or the BILSTEIN RCD classics. I do only cruising,  no track, no drag. I don't see the interest to take adjustable models.

What advice could you give me and which shocks would be best suited to my driving conditions?

[JS29]

 

[THE ZUKE]

You don't understand my questions ? 

[Brads70]

Shocks are one of those things that usually the more you spend the better quality you get. Even though you sound like you are building just a cruiser type car I'd still suggest the double adjustable QA1's as they can be adjusted for both compression and rebound to suit your prefered feel. If you buy a fixed ( non adjustable) shock you are getting something that is sort of middle of the road, meaning it's made to satisfy a high percentage of users. Truthfully 80% of the people driving these old cars don't expect them to handle or wouldn't know the difference between a so so handling car and a good one. But that being said  when we get into our beloved old musclecars after getting out of our daily drivers it really drives home just how much technology has improved since the 70's My 2007 Chevy Suburban out handled and out braked my Challenger in stock form. I wasn't having any part of that. But that's me, you might have a different requirement. I have the RCD Bilsteins for a couple weeks and with my combo it was out to lunch. QA1 double adjustables "worked" for me.  You can spend crazy money on shocks but you only need on the street what the car and driver are capable of. Just bolting on good shocks won't make your car handle like a modern car. It's the accumulated parts working together that get you there.  

[CudamanTom]

You don't understand my questions ? 

This is a common response for us folks that may not have an answer (or not much info to share) but wants to follow the thread to see the responses from others. 

For other forums, it can be an indication that something is spooling out of control between members and so the emoji dictates to sit back, eat popcorn and watch the show and read how the situation gets handled, or not handled. LOL

[blown motor]

I switched from KYB to Bilstein RCD and I like them. My car does not handle like a modern car but I don't expect it to. For me that's part of the fun of a classic car. The Bilsteins did improve the ride some.

[JS29]

You don't understand my questions ? 

I have the same kind of road conditions, and want to follow along to get the best information as well. I have a big block and want the same information as well.                                                                                         I will be looking to see how well you improve your car as I would be asking the same question, but you asked first.

[303 Mopar]

My go to shock are Bilsteins. I've run them on a couple of cars and they are a great performing shock and reasonably priced.  IMO adjustable shocks are overkill for most cars and driving conditions.  However, for my '70 Cuda I wanted high performing and handling suspension because it is a resto-mod with 18" wheels with a 392 Hemi. I went with Hotchkis Fox shocks that are single adjustable in the front. They ride a lot stiffer than Bilsteins which is what I was looking for and it corners like its on rails, but I've only adjusted the front shocks two or three times.  I would like to take the car to a road course on an open track day just to see what it can do and will probably mess with the adjustments then too.

[THE ZUKE]

Shocks are one of those things that usually the more you spend the better quality you get. Even though you sound like you are building just a cruiser type car I'd still suggest the double adjustable QA1's as they can be adjusted for both compression and rebound to suit your prefered feel. If you buy a fixed ( non adjustable) shock you are getting something that is sort of middle of the road, meaning it's made to satisfy a high percentage of users. Truthfully 80% of the people driving these old cars don't expect them to handle or wouldn't know the difference between a so so handling car and a good one. But that being said  when we get into our beloved old musclecars after getting out of our daily drivers it really drives home just how much technology has improved since the 70's My 2007 Chevy Suburban out handled and out braked my Challenger in stock form. I wasn't having any part of that. But that's me, you might have a different requirement. I have the RCD Bilsteins for a couple weeks and with my combo it was out to lunch. QA1 double adjustables "worked" for me.  You can spend crazy money on shocks but  only need on the street what the car and driver are capable of. Just bolting on good shocks won't make your car handle like a modern car. It's the accumulated parts working together that get you there.

Ok thanks  , Is it not difficult to find the right settings with the adjustable?
Yes I already understood (Because of my ex Mach1) that it is a set of things that will make a car witha good road behavior.
The adjustable, put you them in the front and back ?

[THE ZUKE]

You don't understand my questions ? 

This is a common response for us folks that may not have an answer (or not much info to share) but wants to follow the thread to see the responses from others. 

For other forums, it can be an indication that something is spooling out of control between members and so the emoji dictates to sit back, eat popcorn and watch the show and read how the situation gets handled, or not handled. LOL

Lol I thought it was my bad or not really good american language. 

[THE ZUKE]

You don't understand my questions ? 

I have the same kind of road conditions, and want to follow along to get the best information as well. I have a big block and want the same information as well.                                                                                         I will be looking to see how well you improve your car as I would be asking the same question, but you asked first.

Yeah sure. No problem 

For me the first big difference was the new power steering BORGESON but that's not enough. 

[THE ZUKE]

My go to shock are Bilsteins. I've run them on a couple of cars and they are a great performing shock and reasonably priced.  IMO adjustable shocks are overkill for most cars and driving conditions.  However, for my '70 Cuda I wanted high performing and handling suspension because it is a resto-mod with 18" wheels with a 392 Hemi. I went with Hotchkis Fox shocks that are single adjustable in the front. They ride a lot stiffer than Bilsteins which is what I was looking for and it corners like its on rails, but I've only adjusted the front shocks two or three times.  I would like to take the car to a road course on an open track day just to see what it can do and will probably mess with the adjustments then too.

Ok thanks for explanations, I live in the countryside. A plenty of roads are small and not good quality, very bumpy too.

I'm not sure that I should choose too rigid shocks. 

In my case, the adjustables are they the right choice?

For members who have adjustables, how do you adjust them? 

I know with one or two adjuster wheel LOL 

But is there a particular method or is it done step by step?

For the back, do you use adjustables shocks too?

[Brads70]

Shocks are one of those things that usually the more you spend the better quality you get. Even though you sound like you are building just a cruiser type car I'd still suggest the double adjustable QA1's as they can be adjusted for both compression and rebound to suit your prefered feel. If you buy a fixed ( non adjustable) shock you are getting something that is sort of middle of the road, meaning it's made to satisfy a high percentage of users. Truthfully 80% of the people driving these old cars don't expect them to handle or wouldn't know the difference between a so so handling car and a good one. But that being said  when we get into our beloved old musclecars after getting out of our daily drivers it really drives home just how much technology has improved since the 70's My 2007 Chevy Suburban out handled and out braked my Challenger in stock form. I wasn't having any part of that. But that's me, you might have a different requirement. I have the RCD Bilsteins for a couple weeks and with my combo it was out to lunch. QA1 double adjustables "worked" for me.  You can spend crazy money on shocks but  only need on the street what the car and driver are capable of. Just bolting on good shocks won't make your car handle like a modern car. It's the accumulated parts working together that get you there.

Ok thanks  , Is it not difficult to find the right settings with the adjustable?
Yes I already understood (Because of my ex Mach1) that it is a set of things that will make a car witha good road behavior.
The adjustable, put you them in the front and back ?

Yes I have them on all 4 corners. As for setting them , they did come with recommendations which if I remember right was the middle of the range then adjust from there.  Keep in mind my goal was optimum handling , your goals might be different. As I mentioned I started out with Bilsteins but I'm using composite rear leaf springs and those shocks just couldn't react quick enough. 

[Crash520]

I have QA1's on all four corners, I only have the single adjust sadly however, each click from soft up to max is very noticeable to the driver and makes a big difference to how the car reacts, you can tune them to your driving conditions easily

[jordan]

Hi Zuke,

     I see your issue that you are building a "cruiser".  But looking at the modifications that you have done and are still working on, don't come up short with cheap shocks because it is a "cruiser".  I think the roads in France have mountains and curves from what I remember.  You can turn your cruiser into a performance car and back to cruiser with the best shocks you can afford. 
     I run Bilstein shocks on my daily drivers and it makes a huge difference.  On my modified Cuda, I am running Afco single adjustable shocks (XV Motorsports Level 1) https://www.afcoracing.com/default.aspx.  They are easy to tune.  I set mine at full soft and went for a drive.  I turned up the compression one click at a time until I got the ride quality I wanted.  It is easy to take a click out if you are planning an easy long highway drive, or you can turn them up if you choose to do a track day.  The good thing with Afco is that they can build you a shock to fit your needs.
  I have read that the Fox shocks from Hotchkiss are very good.  I ran Fox on my old racing motorcycles, and currently have them on my performance snowmobile and I love them.  If I didnt have the Afco shocks, this is what I would have in my Cuda. 
  In conclusion, the shock will be the biggest factor in your ride quality.  Sure, a cheap Monroe shock can work, but a high quality, and adjustable shock is money well spent for the long run.  It is expensive and you won't regret it.  Just my opinion.    J