Shock Help

Hey all,

I am looking for some advice as I try to wrap up my suspension/steering update. Everything is new front and rear on my 1973 Swinger. I have Hotchkis leaves in the rear with an additional 1" lowering block. Up front I have PST 1.03" bars. As I adjusted the front ride height and began my alignment, I found the car to sit higher on one side than the other. After some investigation, I removed the brand new rear KYB shocks and the rear dropped 1/2". This whole time I have been fighting to level the front suspension, it has been the back messed up. I have read tons of posts on here concerning shocks. I actually enjoyed the ride that the KYB shocks provided but they should not be raising the car. So, I have narrowed it down (I think) between the Bilstein set of 4 from PST and the Hotchkis (Fox) set of 4. The Hotchkis shocks show for lowered cars while the Bilsteins show stock height fitment. Anyone with lowered suspension that can provide some insight/opinions on either of these two options? Any help is greatly appreciated.

There are two different part numbers available for the Bilstein RCD's in the front. The stock height front shocks are 55-R082, but there was also a version available for cars that are lowered, part number 55-R081. Call PST and talk to them about what they have available, usually the R082's are the ones listed. It has been a few years since I bought the 55-R081's, so I don't know about the current availability. I'm sure @PST would know.

I don't have a set of the R082's, I have the 55-R081's which are for the 1" lowered cars. Piston stroke length on the 55-R081's is 5", the lower shock body measures 9" from the center of the lower mounting eye to the top of the shock body. So, from the lower mounting eye to c-clip on the piston is 14". The top of the shock body is recessed so the piston bottoms out before the c-clip hits the shock body.

I can tell you the 55-r081's will not bottom out with the stock LCA's, because I checked when I installed them on my Duster (although I have swapped the Duster for Hotchkis Fox's). The LCA's will hit the frame, even without any bumpstop on the LCA, before the shock bottoms. However, you DO need to run taller bumpstops for the UCA's, because the 55-R081's reach full extension slightly before the suspension reaches full extension with the stock UCA bumpstops. Not really a problem on a lowered car with larger torsion bars, because I've found that taller bumpstops are usually needed to keep the torsion bar adjusting bolts seated at full extension as well. That's on a lowered car with 1.12" torsion bars though.

I've run both the Bilstein RCD's and the Hotchkis Fox's on my Duster. It's lowered a little more than 2" from stock, and I run it with 1.12" torsion bars and now discontinued AFCO 20231m's (121 lb/in) rear springs. I did notice a difference going from the Bilstein's to the Hotchkis non-adjustable shocks. The Hotchkis shocks do a better job of controlling the big torsion bars and give a more solid feeling ride without being more harsh. It's a small difference from the Bilstein's though, they're still a great shock and I still have them on my Challenger and will use them on my Dart. I think the difference between the two is more noticeable because of the 1.12" torsion bars I have. With a set of 1.03's I think they'd be even more closely matched, the Hotchkis shocks just do a little bit better job with the larger bars.

I can't thank you enough for weighing in on this. It is great to have feedback from someone that has run both of the options I'm considering. I will call PST today and see what they have to say. I like the fact that they offer us a discount and their products arrive very quickly. I want to drive my car! LOL. Again, thank you. This site is an amazing resource due to all of the people on here willing to help anyone and everyone with any issue they encounter.

We have both the R081's(lowered) and 82's in stock. You will need to specifically request the R081's as the standard for us is the 82's.

If you have any questions please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks
James From
PST